Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Paul George announced on Tuesday that he planned to sign a contract extension with the Indiana Pacers before the beginning of the season. You know it’s a slow news month for a team when the biggest announcement is in regards to their star player signing an extension that everyone already knew was a forgone conclusion.
Pacers fans knew George would be sticking around for the next 4-5 seasons unless they were one of the gullible people who believed he was leaving town for the Los Angeles Lakers, but now they have their confirmation.
Getting the contract negotiated and signed before the season kicks off is a smart move by both sides. Doing so will allow George to solely focus on basketball (take note, LeBron) while giving the Pacers’ front office a full season to evaluate their upcoming free agents in Danny Granger and Lance Stephenson from both a performance and financial aspect.
So we know when the contract will be signed, but we don’t know the money part, and it wouldn’t surprise many if the Pacers were attempting to get George to take less than max money on this deal. Why? Because the Pacers have extended themselves, salary-wise, by handing out large contracts to Roy Hibbert, David West and George Hill.
Now, I’m not saying those contracts are horrible and that nobody saw George becoming a max-worthy player last season, but the Pacers have backed themselves into a corner come 2016. As of right now, only Hill is signed through 2016, with rookie Solomon Hill as an exception based on his team option that season.
This will change over the next couple seasons, but giving George a max contract now could hurt their ability to re-sign players like Hibbert and West come that time.
But, the money side of the contract will be announced at a later date (my guess is October since this was their big September story) and we can worry about whether the Pacers can keep a starting lineup of Hill, Stephenson, George, West and Hibbert together for the foreseeable future.
