CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) — Tyrese Maxey was asked to wait. Be patient, and the millions will come.
Maybe an NBA championship, too.
Maxey had some doubts a year ago when the Philadelphia 76ers asked their guard — who was not yet an All-Star, who had not yet dropped 50 points in a game three times — to hold off on signing a contract extension until this summer.
The 76ers’ reasoning was solid: Maxey would open the offseason with a salary cap hold of $13 million dollars, a low figure by NBA standards which allowed the Sixers to enter free agency with roughly $65 million to splurge on building out the roster, notably adding a potential superstar to join him and 2023 NBA MVP and Olympian Joel Embiid.
Enter, Paul George.
With money to burn, the 76ers enticed George to leave the Los Angeles Clippers and sign a four-year, $212 million contract. The 76ers and team president Daryl Morey didn’t forget about Maxey, either. The NBA’s Most Improved Player, Maxey was rewarded for his wait with a five-year, $204 million extension. The 76ers committed more than $400 million in salary to two players they believe position them as the top contender to dethrone the NBA champion Boston Celtics.
The 76ers gave Maxey his due for the biggest assist of his career.
“By being patient, he allowed us to put this offseason together, to really put us in position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year,” Morey said.
The 76ers have believed they were legitimate contenders for years, only for a flurry of second-fiddles to pass through town without much to show beyond postseason busts for their time here. Philly fans can reel off the list of lemons with ease, from Ben Simmons to Tobias Harris; from Jimmy Butler to Al Horford; from Markelle Fultz to James Harden.
The 34-year-old George and Maxey both held their first formal press conferences on Tuesday at the 76ers’ New Jersey complex, complete with ownership, the front office and even the All-Star duo, insisting this time — for real now! — this season could be as good as it gets in Philly.
“I think we are set up,” team owner Josh Harris said. “It’s hard not to be excited about this team. I’ve been here for the last 10 years, 12 years, and this is among, if not the best team, we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Maxey took a leap of faith the money would still be there for him a year later and the 21st overall pick in the 2020 draft has found a home in Philadelphia.
“I understood what the end goal was,” Maxey said. “Sometimes you have to realize that.”
George, who has averaged 20.8 points over a 14-year career, wanted to move on from the Clippers and declined a player option in his contract for $48.8 million in 2024-25 that ended a five-year stretch with the team in which he averaged at least 21.5 points each season.
George said “Philly was No. 1″ for his top choice in free agency because the 76ers “kind of fit my game and fit where I was at in my career.”
Perhaps.
The 76ers, though, rose to the top spot more because they offered about $60 million more than the Clippers' offer, one George called “disrespectful.”
George said earlier this month on his podcast that he “never wanted to leave LA” and would have signed with the Clippers had they offered the three-year, $150-million extension they gave Kawhi Leonard. George also wanted a no-trade clause. George said the Clippers wouldn’t give him a four-year, $212-million contract, or any deal without the promise of a no-trade clause.
He said Tuesday there was no “ill will” toward the Clippers. He thanked the organization for allowing him to play in his home city and for a “legitimate shot to chase a championship every season.”
George essentially traded a Big Three with Leonard and Harden in Los Angeles for a chance to join Maxey and Embiid and form a formidable trio in Philly.
“Joel has secretly been one of my closest All-Star Game friends,” George said. “It kind of felt inevitable that at some point, we would link up and be teammates.”
George was wooed at his California home by a contingent that included Harris, Morey, coach Nick Nurse and even 76ers legend and Hall of Famer Julius Erving. Weather delays forced a late arrival at George’s home.
“The good Doctor cracked open a vodka,” Harris said. “It was a long journey.”
One the 76ers hope ends with a championship.
It’s been a rough road toward one for a franchise that hasn’t advanced out of the second round of the playoffs since 2001 and hasn’t won it all since Erving led them to the NBA title in 1983.
Even George -- who has yet to win a title in previous stops with Indiana, Oklahoma City and the Clippers -- knew what the immediate goal was in Philly.
“Obviously, winning,” George said, before a beat, “and to get past the second round.”
Embiid, George and Maxey will have some help. Morey used the available cap room and roster space to bring back Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr, and bring aboard Andre Drummond, Caleb Martin, KJ Martin, and 2024 draft picks Jared McCain and Adem Bona.
“Most of my ideas are going in in pencil,” Nurse said. “I've got some thoughts on things. But I really do think we'll experiment and try a bunch of different things.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
Dan Gelston, The Associated Press
