LA Clippers bring back James Harden, not Paul George
Grade: B-
Hours into the start of NBA Free Agency, it quickly became apparent that the LA Clippers were not going to bring back Paul George. In fact, the Clippers actually released a statement saying they were not going to do so. But don't worry, even though the Clippers weren't able to re-sign George, they did manage to bring back James Harden. For better or worse, the Clippers kept at least one of their big-name free agents. In what ended up being a move that I don't quite understand, the Clippers re-signed Harden to a two-year deal.
In my opinion, it doesn't really make much sense to keep the roster intact if one of their core pieces is no longer on the team. But I'm not the general manager and, at this point, I suppose you have to trust the plan the Clippers have in place.
That said, I want to be on record that I don't love this re-signing. Could it end up working out? Sure. But Harden did appear to take a bit of a step back this past season and I don't think the answer for him is giving him more volume and a bigger role.