LA Clippers star Paul George is declining his $48.7 million option and will enter free agency, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Saturday.
George is planning to meet with teams that have enough salary cap space to potentially sign him and with the Clippers beginning Sunday night, sources added.
With George declining his player option, the opt-in-and-trade scenario for him will no longer be possible.
George, a nine-time All-Star, has spent the past five seasons with the Clippers — averaging 23 points, 6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals over a total of 263 regular-season games in Los Angeles.
Since being drafted 10th overall in 2010 by the Indiana Pacers, George — who was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2017 before being moved on to the Clippers two years later — has become one of the NBA’s preeminent wing players, even while recovering from a devastating leg injury he suffered during Team USA training camp in Las Vegas ahead of the 2014 FIBA World Cup.
George, the top free agent available this summer, is one of eight players to make at least nine All-Star teams since he entered the league, joining LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis. He also is a six-time All-NBA selection, including being a first-team selection in 2019.
After missing most of the 2014-15 season, however, George reestablished himself as one of the top two-way perimeter players in the league, including averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists this past season for the Clippers before they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks in six games.
ESPN’s Tim Bontemps contributed to this report.