When the Philadelphia 76ers announced that Joel Embiid was shut down for the remainder of the season, many fans suspected that would mean the end of their push for the postseason and expected Paul George – who was battling through multiple injuries – to go down the same road as his teammate. Today, his fate was revealed.
Shams Charania of ESPN reported that George received injections in his left adductor muscle and left knee today and it was determined that he’ll miss the rest of the season. George is also expected to be out for at least six weeks.
Throughout the season, George suffered through a series of lingering injuries such as two bone bruises in his left knee, a tendon injury in his left finger, and most recently left groin soreness, which caused him to miss seven of Philadelphia’s last eight games. In total, George participated in just 41 of the 76ers’ 67 games this season.
When George did play, he was largely underwhelming and his days of being an all-star caliber talent seemed distant. He averaged 16.2 points per game, which was his worst output since the 2014-15 season, on 43% shooting from the field and 35.8% from beyond the arc, alongside 5.3 rebounds per game, 4.3 assists per game, and 1.8 steals per game.
The real reasons why Paul George struggled
It’s easy to blame injuries for George’s struggles this season, but there is much more to the story. With Philadelphia being demolished by injuries, his star counterparts in Embiid and Tyrese Maxey were in and out of the lineup frequently, which prevented the trio from developing chemistry in their limited time together. The three of them played together in just 15 games this season in which the 76ers went 7-8.
Another byproduct of the mass amount of injuries that Philadelphia endured is that George’s role changed almost every game depending on who was available. However, with George being one of the most portable players in the NBA, one would suspect that he’d impose his will during games where he was the first or second option by default, but that largely wasn’t the case.
The 76ers also failied to consistently maximize George's talents as he was given too much freedom to self-create off the dribble, which often resulted in poorly constructed post-ups from the mid-range. Philadelphia should have involved George in more two-man actions and set up more opportunities for him to catch-and-shoot off the ball. Maybe the 76ers will incorporate such actions next season – assuming their big three is healthy.
The 76ers may face a harsh reality
Arguably, the most troublesome aspect of George’s first season in Philadelphia was his inability to stay on the floor – not his performance. Unlike Joel Embiid, George entered this season fully healthy, but he still suffered from various injuries in different areas of his body throughout the past few months.
This is alarming since George will turn 35 years old on May 2nd and is still in the first season of his four-year/$212 million contract. In just five months, 76ers fans have grown tired of George and some are wishing for him to be traded in the upcoming offseason. Perhaps those fans would have a different tune if Philadelphia’s big three proved it could be a lethal force, but that was simply not the case.
When a front office signs an aging all-star caliber player to a maximum contract, there are two risks at play. The first risk is that said player could regress and the second possibility is that he could endure more injuries due to older age. Unfortunately for the 76ers, they seemed to encounter both instances in just the first of a four-year commitment to the nine-time all-star.