With how he fits in Mazzulla Ball, there's a lot to like about how Paul George will fare on the Boston Celtics. Better yet, it sounds like George himself wants to play in Boston for the foreseeable future. We'll see if George fits as well with the Celtics as he hopes to be, but if he wants to put his money where his mouth is, he could do the team a massive favor.
George has a player option for $56.6 million next season. That is a hefty sum that he would definitely not recoup if he opted out of his deal. However, if he opted out, he could take less money annually but still get paid more overall if he opted out. He would also do the Celtics a solid if that's the route he takes.
Giving Boston that kind of cap flexibility simply gives them more options to add more help. Better yet, as good as George is, they would be paying more in the ballpark of what he realistically deserves. George is better than people give him credit for, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still overpaid.
Chris Paul did this after his first year in Phoenix. Even after he played a huge part in their run to the NBA Finals in 2021, he took less money annually but still opted for a pretty impressive payday overall.
If George has a similar impact for Boston, he could follow in those footsteps.
George has already done the Celtics a favor
What many forget is that George has done a favor like this for Boston already. When the trade happened, he had a 15% trade kicker, meaning he could have made a few million more on top of what he was already going to make. However, he waived it.
But why? Because doing so helped the Celtics' efforts to stay under the luxury tax, which gives them flexibility past this season. Even more impressive is that he did this after the money he lost because of his suspension last season.
So, because George has done this before, we shouldn't rule out the possibility that he could do something like this. It still works for all sides. George gets paid a good amount of money, and the Celtics get to open up more options for themselves.
This would all be contingent on George being not just a good fit, but an amazing fit for what Joe Mazzulla wants from him. If everything falls into place, this could work out so much better than many could have anticipated for all sides.
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