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Making Sense of Paul George’s Brief Sixers Tenure After the Blockbuster Jaylen Brown Trade
By Sean Barnard
Published:
The Philadelphia 76ers played some salary cap gymnastics to open up a max-contract slot to sign Paul George in 2024, hoping he would be the difference-maker in getting over the championship hump.
This proved not to be the case.
George’s tenure in Philadelphia was relatively underwhelming. After signing the four-year, $211.6 million contract, the nine-time All-Star suited up for 78 of a possible 164 regular-season games. Following the all-in push to court the six-time All-NBA forward, the wheels fell off in his first season, with Joel Embiid’s limited availability the driving force. George suited up for 41 games and posted averages of 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.8 steals as the Sixers limped to a 24-58 finish.
The Sixers collectively put forth a more competent organizational effort last year, with George being a part of this. He finished with averages of 17.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.7 steals while improving his efficiency to 43.9% from the field and connecting on 39.2% of his shots from beyond the three-point arc as the Sixers finished the regular season with a 45-37 record. George missed the first 12 games of the season as he recovered from offseason knee surgery. He also received a league-mandated 25-game vacation for violating the NBA’s drug policy, which kept him out from January 31st to March 23rd for a grand total of 37 games played.
On the bright side of the suspension, the 36-year-old got a chance to rest his body while the rest of the league continued going through the grind of the season, and this paved the way for him to play his best basketball at the most important time. After he served his suspension, George posted averages of 21.0 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 2.2 steals while shooting 47.2% from the field and 41.5% on three-point attempts across the final 10 games of the regular season.
He carried this momentum into the postseason, and largely looked like the best wing in the Boston series while matching up with Jayson Tatum and the Sixers’ own Jaylen Brown. Across the seven-game thriller, he posted averages of 17.4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.4 steals, while shooting an absurd 55.0% on three-point attempts. He played excellent defense on the Celtics stars, and if it were not for this series, the Celtics organization very well may not have been willing to make the Brown trade:
While no one on the team impressed during the four-game sweep at the hands of the Knicks, George still had a respectable level of production. Across the series embarrassment, George averaged 14.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3 assists, and shot 41.9% from three.
On a wider scale of the conversation, it is impossible not to view George’s tenure in Philadelphia as an overall failure on the court.
The Sixers have still failed to break through the second-round barrier, and they took some major salary cap risks that they will still feel the effects of, just to lose in a different style. But truthfully, George was brought here to be the complementary piece to the Sixers’ established stars, and he mostly was this when he was able to play. For what it’s worth, he shared the floor in just 42 total games with Joel Embiid, and the former MVP suited up for just 57 total games across the past two seasons.
Side note: I don’t think George being bullied out of continuing his podcast upon arriving in Philadelphia has been enough of a story. The most recent video on the Podcast P YouTube channel was posted nine months ago. The last full podcast that was posted was on July 28th, 2025, which VJ Edgecombe had the honor of being a guest on.
This is both a bit funny and sad to me. Player podcasts have become a polarizing topic of late, but Podcast P always came off as innocent to me. It felt like nothing more than a way for George to chat with his buddies, and they weren’t chasing hot takes or quotes the way that occurs on plenty of others. My guess would be George had enough of the negative comments after his first season went so south, and pulled the plug heading into the second year, with the hassle no longer being worth it. I will be curious to see if it makes a return when he gets set up in Boston, although I can’t imagine the reception will be much different depending on how their season is going.
George was never a full personality fit for Philadelphia, but there was an aloof charm to him that I always kind of appreciated. Perhaps no clearer example of this was when he got trapped by Eagles fans celebrating the Conference Championship victory on Broad Street amid the 2024 Super Bowl run. My guess would be George had no idea the NFL playoffs were even happening:
I don’t know what it is about Paul George that makes teams agree to the most ludicrous trade returns, but it feels nice to end on the right side of one. Bringing him to Philadelphia was worth a swing and an accomplishment that the organization pulled off, even if it did not work. Even for the critics who claim there was no chance of it ever working, and was a waste of money, I challenge you to take a scroll through the other available free agents that offseason and come up with a better suggestion than the direction the Sixers took.
The legacy for George in Philadelphia should be remembered as the pathway to Jaylen Brown. If the aging veteran had not shown up and played at a high level in the seven-game series victory over the Celtics, this type of trade would likely not be possible. It is also only possible to pull off trades of this caliber when you have a player to swap in at this contract level, and George provided this opportunity. Signing George to a max contract to trade him away for a player like Brown two years later should be considered a win.
Boston has taken the stance that the motivation behind the Brown trade is financial flexibility, which feels a bit empty considering George’s price point. Philadelphia is a ways away from having a clean salary sheet themselves, but getting a better player who is seven years younger is a spark that would not otherwise be possible without George’s presence. Out with the podcasts and in with the Twitch streams. The Sixers still have plenty of work to do on the floor.
Sean Barnard has covered the Philadelphia 76ers and general Philly Sports for over six years in a variety of roles and for multiple outlets. Currently works as a Content Writer for DraftKings Network, Sixers/NBA Insider for Philadelphia's Fox Sports the Gambler, and co-host of Sixers & Phillies Digest on Youtube. Forever Trusting the Process.