Since Paul George signed with the 76ers in free agency two years ago for four years and $212 million, his contract has aged like milk. Almost the second the deal was signed, it started looking bad for Philly, and it got to the point last season that it was viewed as untradeable and among the worst in the league.
Bill Simmons ranked the contract as the second-worst in the NBA back in February, and Sam Quinn had it as the fourth-worst in March. The cache around the contract is a big part of the reason that Boston’s trade for George seemed so unfathomable when it was executed back at the beginning of July.
But a lot has changed with George, his deal, and the landscape of the NBA, and that was evidenced as Quinn redrafted his 15 worst contracts on Monday, and PG didn’t even crack the top 10, instead coming in at number 12. Obviously, being on the list at all isn’t great, but that’s a pretty dramatic improvement from March.
So, what changed? A lot.
George played well down the stretch and in the playoffs
For one, George returned from suspension and looked quite good, including a great playoff performance against the Celtics. Also, the season ended, so the contract got another year closer to its end. Even with the assumption that he’ll pick up the player option, it’s now just a two-year, $110 million pact, which is infinitely more palatable for a player who’s still a net positive, even if overpaid.
On top of that, other deals have been signed or aged even more poorly than George’s, making his look better by default. Yes, his deal is still not good, but it’s more a reflection on where the league is headed and how the CBA is impacting the salary cap and what these contracts actually mean.
There are only 10 players in the NBA who will make more than George this coming season. Three of them appeared in the top 11 of Quinn’s list with even worse contracts: Joel Embiid (#1), Devin Booker (#6), and Anthony Davis (#11).Â
Almost every giant contract looks bad in today's NBA
Three others in the top 15 are barely paid less than George and rank in the NBA’s top 20 highest paid: Trae Young (#2), De’Aaron Fox (#5), and Donovan Mitchell (#15). The point is, in the modern NBA, it’s really hard to be on a max contract (or close to it) and actually be returning positive value.
In fact, the only players who make more than George this season and didn’t make Quinn’s top 15 are Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Jimmy Butler. Butler only avoided the list because his deal is expiring, and the only ones with more than two years left on their deals are, ironically enough, Tatum and Brown.
This offseason, the Celtics made a big bet that Tatum will continue to be one of the few players who’s worth this kind of money, that Brown will move into Quinn’s top 15 before long, and that George will play his way out of the top 15 entirely. Things are certainly trending in the right direction.
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