The Philadelphia 76ers were accused of having two massively overpaid players in the NBA back in March. Joel Embiid's $188.2 million over four years was considered the worst in the league. Paul George's $110.7 million over two years was ranked as the fourth-worst by CBS Sports.
Fast forward to mid-August, and nothing changed on the Embiid front. The Sixers' center is still considered the most overpaid player in the league currently. As for George, who now plays for the Boston Celtics, he's no longer viewed as the fourth-worst. Suddenly, he's outside of the top ten (down to No. 12).
How does that work?
Well, circumstances changed outside of Philly and Boston. Trades happened, and free agency went down. There are new contracts in the mix, which helped Paul George's case.
Trae Young's massive extension with the Washington Wizards shot him right up to No. 2. De'Aaron Fox's disappointing showing in the NBA Finals gave him an incredible kick down from No. 15 to No. 5. Devin Booker moved up slightly with Christian Braun, and Gary Trent's hilariously head-scratching $64 million deal gave him an immediate placement at No. 7 after being left off initially.
With changes around the league, George's slide down makes sense. However, the reason behind it is questionable.
"When I ranked George No. 4 on the March list, it was based on the assumption that the rest of the league viewed George as a negative-value contract," CBS Sports' Sam Quinn wrote. "Most of it might have, but the fact that Boston didn't touches on a pretty important concept when it comes to contract valuations: portability."
That's an interesting way to put it
Ah... Brad Stevens and the Celtics valued Paul George. Therefore, it doesn't seem so bad. Front offices can and will get it wrong over time. The Sixers believed that George was the perfect fit for their operation when they made the four-year, $211.5 million offer in 2024. They quickly found out that they overpaid.
Not only has George failed to produce like a max-level star in Philadelphia, but he was only available half of the time. Kudos to the Celtics for taking a risk and cutting ties with a superstar when they felt like they needed to, but don't forget that the masses--from fans to analysts--believe that Boston got fleeced.
This drop from No. 4 to No. 12 is doing some heavy lifting for the Celtics front office's image this offseason. Could George be a good fit for Jayson Tatum and the Celtics? Sure. He still showed decent role player value against them in the first round of the 2026 playoffs. But was it $110 million value? Not even close.
Daryl Morey and the Sixers made a mistake when they signed George to that deal, and they took heat for it for two years. If analysts are suddenly considering it not so bad because the Celtics say so, they have every right to feel some type of way.
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