George has a $48.8 million player option and can become a free agent if he and the team are unable to come to an agreement on an extension before June 30. Harden will be an unrestricted free agent.
Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said Monday that the team hopes to retain stars Paul George, left, and James Harden, right, to continue playing alongside Kawhi Leonard. George can opt out of his contract and become a free agent and Harden is an unrestricted free agent. PLAYA VISTA — Lawrence Frank didn’t hold back in reviewing this season, another promising Clippers season that again came up short.
The Clippers hope to have the three future Hall of Famers when the team moves into its new arena, the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. George, who averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists in the six-game series against Dallas, helped the Clippers reach their first Western Conference finals in 2021, after Leonard went down with an ACL injury in the middle of their second-round series.
“We want to retain those guys,” Frank said. “We’re hopeful we can but also understand and respect the fact that they’re free agents. Our intent is to bring him back but also realize that they’re elite players and they’ll have choices.” While Frank acknowledged the impact today’s young players are making in the league, he defended the team’s decision to extend Leonard, who missed the end of the postseason because of swelling in his surgically repaired right knee, something that continues to hamper him. Leonard missed the final eight regular-season games and Game 1 against Dallas. The two-time NBA Finals MVP played in Games 2 and 3, but he looked limited and the team held Leonard out for the remainder of the series.
Frank said he understands the skepticism that has crept up around the team after failing to advance past the second round for a second consecutive year after missing the playoffs altogether in 2022. He said that all players, even veterans, can up their game, learn new moves and plays.“I’m not here to sell or over promise something that we can’t deliver or sell hype,” Frank said. “I’m more dealing with what our reality is.
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