Ballmer has also displayed his willingness to spend on talent. Next season, the Clippers will spend $166 million per season on player contracts, the third highest in the NBA. That brings an $88 million luxury tax bill and includes paying stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George an average annual value of $44 million per season until 2025. Those two deals will expire a year after the Intuit Dome is scheduled to open. Asked to reveal the most challenging thing to deal with as a sports owner, Ballmer responded: “Injuries – they happen. We had an injury to Kawhi, and with this injury, we’re not sure how long he’s going to be out this year.”
Paul George Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: F
Born: 05/02/90
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:210 lbs. / 95.3 kg.
Salary: $39,344,970
Born: 05/02/90
Height: 6-8 / 2.03
Weight:210 lbs. / 95.3 kg.
Salary: $39,344,970
His first season in the league seemed from the outside to be a success story. He made the All-Rookie Second Team in the NBA and looked like the Clippers’s future at point guard. But his resilience was tested early: Kawhi Leonard had instructed the team to trade for Paul George, and so Shai became a trade chip, sent to Oklahoma. He maintains that the trade didn’t rattle him. “It didn’t really sting,” he says. “But it was surprising. It showed me at the end of the day, the NBA is a business. That’s what it comes down to. My job is to play basketball. That’s what I get paid to do, right? Whatever city that’s in, it won’t matter. I’m just blessed it’s in OKC.”
The Clippers have now signed both Leonard and George to long-term contracts. George signed a four-year, $190-million extension last December. Both Clippers’ stars have player options in their contracts aligned for the 2024-25 season. That also happens to be the same season when the Clippers plan to move into their new arena in Inglewood, Calif.
Andrew Greif: Paul George notes his approval to a couple of today’s agreements. pic.twitter.com/9slg7VJQRO
Teaming up with Leonard would be the fastest way there, so he placed the call, according to multiple sources. But Leonard didn’t just take the call as one native son of Los Angeles to another, ponder it and file it away. He used it. According to multiple sources, Leonard then called Westbrook’s teammate in Oklahoma City, Paul George, and told him he’d rather team up with him on a homecoming.
