Clippers sign five-time All-NBA forward Paul George to multi-year extension

Sportsnet Staff @SportsnetDecember 10, 2020 - 7:51pm

Paul George speaks to the media about his contract extension with the Los Angeles Clippers and hopes it showed Kawhi Leonard and his teammates his commitment to stay with the team.

The Los Angeles Clippers have inked five-time All-NBA forward Paul George to a multi-year extension, the team announced Thursday.

Continuing our journey together.

We’ve signed @Yg_Trece to a contract extension. pic.twitter.com/iXRnzaPm27

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 10, 2020

While terms of the contract were not officially disclosed, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that George’s new deal is a max extension that will pay him up to $226 million over the next five years.

The Clippers are extending George’s contract for an additional four years, $190M on top of the $35.4M guaranteed him in the 2020-2021 season. George will have a new player option before the 2024-2025 season, Mintz said. https://t.co/3zrOc53WFT

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 10, 2020

George, 30, was traded to the Clippers in July 2019 after vaunted then-free agent Kawhi Leonard signed with the Los Angeles club.

Together, George and Leonard pushed the Clippers back to the Western Conference semifinals for the first time in six years — where they coughed up a 3-1 lead and fell in seven games to the Denver Nuggets.

Per Wojnarowski’s report, George’s extension puts him under contract with Los Angeles through the 2023-24 season, and he has a player option for 2024-25. Leonard, meanwhile, is under contract for two more seasons and is on track to hit free agency in the summer of 2022.

Home is where the heart is.@Yg_Trece | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/LNW9MNZYje

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 10, 2020

In his first season with the Clippers, George posted a career-high 53.9 per cent effective shooting percentage, averaging 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. He added 1.4 steals per game, one season removed from being the NBA’s steals leader.

George has made six NBA all-star teams in his 10-year career, though he missed nearly all of the 2014-15 season after suffering a gruesome lower leg injury in the off-season. The Clippers are the third team he’s played for, following the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers (who drafted him 10th overall back in 2010).

George was born in Palmdale, Calif., which is located in Los Angeles County. He attended Fresno State, three and a half hours north of Los Angeles.

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