Philadelphia 76ers Have 2nd-Best NBA Championship Odds After Signing Paul George, But Should They?

Paul George is causing a massive shift in NBA championship odds … Again. Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey lured George away from the Los Angeles Clippers with a four-year, $212 million deal. The nine-time All-Star will play alongside 2022-23 NBA MVP Joel Embiid and All-Star PG Tyrese Maxey. As a result, the Sixers are now on the odds board second behind the defending champion Boston Celtics to win next year’s NBA title. 

A similar thing happened in 2019. Reportedly, Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t sign with Los Angeles unless it traded for George. As every other NBA team does now, and should in this instance, the Clippers caved. They sent 2023-24 NBA MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a bevy of draft capital such as four unprotected first-rounders to the Oklahoma City Thunder for PG. 

All the Clippers fans in my life (and I unfortunately have a few since I live in Southern California) expected Kawhi and George to break their curse. Sportsbooks gave them more hope by making Los Angeles the NBA title preseason favorite at +425. Of course, that didn’t happen and the Clippers Clippers’d. 

A 2021 Western Conference loss to the Phoenix Suns was the furthest LAC advanced in the five-year Kawhi-PG era. The Clippers blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 NBA Bubble playoffs, the only postseason for which they had both Leonard and George. That said, I’m skeptical this move makes as big of a difference as the sportsbooks do. 

Does Paul George make the Philadelphia 76ers title contenders? 

I guess. If you have three All-Stars, you must be a “contender,” right? But, PG and Embiid are made of peanut brittle. Granted, George’s 74 games last season were the most he played while in LA. Yet, he didn’t play more than 56 games in his other four seasons with the Clippers. Embiid has never played 70+ games in a season and always breaks down come playoff time. 

Furthermore, it’s concerning when a team allows an All-Star with injuries to walk in free agency. Especially these Clippers, who are still in “win-now” mode, resigning James Harden to a two-year, $70 million contract this offseason and having Leonard under contract for three more seasons. It’s almost as if LAC knows they’ve gotten the most out of George. 

Paul George leaves the Los Angeles Clippers to go play for the Philadelphia 76ers, giving the Sixers the second-best betting odds to win the 2024-25 NBA championship. (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports)

However, Philly jumped the Thunder (+850), the Nuggets (+850), and the New York Knicks (+950) to win next year’s NBA title. OKC has one of the best young rosters in the NBA and signed C Isaiah Hartenstein Monday. Denver has the best player in the world (Nikola Jokic) and its 2022-23 title core is intact, aside from SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who take a pay raise with the Orlando Magic. 

The Sixers lost to the Knicks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs despite Embiid averaging 41 minutes per game and NYK being without All-Star Julius Randle. Plus, New York signed SF OG Anunoby to a huge extension and traded for SF Mikal Bridges to play with his former Villanova teammates PG Jalen Brunson, SF Josh Hart, and SG Donte DiVincenzo. 

Ultimately, the 76ers should be tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the fifth-best odds (+1000) to win the 2024-25 NBA championship. There isn’t a “proof of concept” for building title contenders around PG and Embiid. They’ve both played with perennial All-Stars and neither have appeared in an NBA Finals. 

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