"There is a growing feeling leaguewide that the 34-year-old picking up his $48.8 million player option for next season to force the Clippers to trade him is an increasingly realistic scenario after months of fruitless contract extension negotiations between the parties," Stein wrote, "The Clippers appear unwilling to offer a richer deal to George than Kawhi Leonard received in January and that has encouraged teams out there to make trade pitches for the All-NBA swingman.
As for the interested teams, Stein added, "I'm pretty sure that the Warriors are as interested in George as the Knicks — maybe more. Can Golden State assemble the likely multi-team trade that would be needed to win the PG-13 Sweepstakes? Stay tuned." Reacting to this news, George's former teammate Patrick Beverley sent out a post on X :Beverley played with George from 2019-2021 with the Clippers, and still has a close relationship with the nine-time All-Star. There seems to be a growing belief around the league that George could indeed leave the Clippers, and opt-in and trade scenarios seem to be on the table.Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn52@gmail.