Philadelphia 76ers introduce Paul George, celebrate ‘patient’ Tyrese Maxey
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia 76ers now have their “Big Three”, introducing Paul George on July 23 as the star forward joins forces with guard Tyrese Maxey and centre Joel Embiid.
The Sixers reeled in George with a four-year, US$212 million (S$285.3 million) max contract earlier in July.
They were able to do so because Maxey waited his turn for an extension of his own, giving Philadelphia’s front office the ability to manoeuvre within the salary cap.
Maxey, winner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Most Improved Player award, has since inked a five-year, US$204 million max extension, forming a core trio that should give Philadelphia fans hope to compete with the Boston Celtics, the New York Knicks and others in the Eastern Conference.
The Sixers finished seventh in the regular season last term, and lost to the Knicks in the first round of the play-offs.
“By being patient, he allowed us to put this off-season together, to really put us in position to be one of the very few legitimate contenders in the league this year,” Philadelphia president Daryl Morey said of Maxey.
Franchise owner Josh Harris was on hand at the team’s back-to-back press conferences for Maxey and George and he heralded the new group as “among, if not the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here”.
