If we end up in a situation where Paul George is not wearing a Philadelphia 76ers uniform next season, it would likely be due to the team making one of the riskiest and potentially most short-sighted moves in recent franchise history. By my estimation, the only reasonable way the team parts ways with George this offseason would be by attaching the number three overall draft pick to him, in order to become free of one of the association's worst contracts.
We have come a long way from last June when Philadelphia went hard after Paul George and granted him a massive contract to join the team in free agency. Injuries took a toll on the talented wing during the 2024-25 season, and now his situation with the Sixers is looking far bleaker than anyone could have reasonably envisioned given his salary.
Surely, the team would like to explore options of trading him. But again, it's really hard to see that come to fruition without them dealing him away on draft night with the inclusion of their third overall pick as part of the package. And in the end, it's possible Philadelphia would end up taking back another problematic contract from another team by doing so.
George would likely have to be traded with the 3rd pick
Making a last-ditch effort to move George in this way would be a clear admission from this front office that they knew they failed with their move last summer. And really, it would be an indictment on their entire offseason strategy from 2024, given that number eight was at the middle of those plans.
Additionally, trading George now would mean forfeiting a draft pick with real value that could be used to select an actual franchise star for the future. With all that in mind, why even go through the trouble of trying to trade him away now? It's clearly far too much of an undertaking with far too much potential for even worse effects to come into play.
If you're the Philadelphia 76ers, you have to just double down on Paul George and your plan to run him next to Joel Embiid as your two franchise stars at this point. This situation is not exactly the greatest, sure. But it's clear that the alternative option the Sixers have is far, far worse. They have no choice at this point but to embrace the risk that comes with keeping George.