Paul George makes surprising revelation about contract talks with Clippers

Mar 27, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; LA Clippers forward Paul George before action against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers were unable to come to an agreement on a new contract after months of negotiations, and the nine-time All-Star says there have been some inaccurate reports about how those talks went.

George discussed his departure from the Clippers during the latest episode of his “Podcast P with Paul George” show, which was released on Monday. The 34-year-old shared what took place leading up to him leaving Los Angeles. George said the first contract extension offer he received from the Clippers came in October and was for $60 million over two years. He found that “kind of disrespectful.”

George says the Clippers eventually got into the $40-45 million range per year, but he still felt that was too low. Once George found out about the three-year, $153 million extension Kawhi Leonard had agreed to, he said he informed the Clippers he would accept the same.

“Then I hear wind of what they’re gonna give Kawhi, so I’m like, ‘Just gimme what Kawhi got. Y’all view us the same. We came here together. We wanna finish this s– together. I’ll take what Kawhi got, no problem,'” George said.

Leonard also has a 15 percent trade kicker in his deal, which can act as a no-trade clause. A trade kicker entitles a player to more money if he is traded and creates a financial consequence for the team. George said he wanted a no-trade clause in his contract, but the Clippers would not do it. That is when he decided to ask for the full max of $212 million over four years.

“So then now, I’m like, alright, well then it only makes sense for me to do four years, $212 million. At least pay me the money,” George said. “If y’all gonna trade me then y’all gonna trade me, but at least now I’m not in a situation where I could have got more had I just gone to free agency (rather) than take this deal and y’all can just ship me wherever y’all want and now I’m on this deal that I didn’t even want.”

You can hear more from George:

PG details how contract negotiations with the Clippers affected his decision to leave LA. pic.twitter.com/PU3Z5gZ94z

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) July 8, 2024

There had been reports that the Clippers were unwilling to meet George’s demand of a four-year deal and wanted to give him the same contract they gave Leonard. Though, George did say he asked for a no-trade clause, which is different from a trade kicker. Perhaps L.A. was willing to offer the exact same deal Leonard got, and George wanted slightly more.