Wall, of course, was a disaster, and Paul George and Ty Lue’s desire for a “traditional point guard” to handle the ball meant the team couldn’t bring back valuable backup center Isaiah Hartenstein. Not only that, but Paul George’s influence seemingly factored into the roster being so bad, as he was by all accounts a primary driver of the John Wall signing. Kawhi and PG are quiet guys by nature, and while they work very hard and play hard, the lack of locker room leadership was noticeable. The rotations were a mess, the team seemed dispirited at times, and there just seemed to be a lack of leadership. But it’s also because the Clippers disappointed all season, going 44-38 compared to 42-40 the previous season despite getting 56 games of PG and 52 of Kawhi Leonard versus 31 and 0 the year before. It’s partially because George’s knee injury kept him out of the playoffs, resulting in yet another early Clippers’ exit. On paper, the season doesn’t sound so bad – though 56 games is still quite low. His production was right in line with his Clippers’ averages, with slightly lower points, rebounds, and assists being negated a bit through reduced turnovers and efficiency back in line with his first two seasons. Paul George did also, somewhat controversially, represent the Clippers at the 2023 All Star Game. Paul George technically did play his most games in a Clippers uniform at 56 (though because the 2021 season was just 72 games, he played a higher percentage of games that year). The other main hope was for PG to play in more games compared to the 48, 54, and 31 in his first three Clippers’ seasons. In short, the expectation was for Paul George to play at an All-Star, All-NBA Third Team level as the Clippers’ second-best player on hopefully one of the best teams in the NBA. In terms of production, considering Paul George has been steady-ish for his Clippers’ tenure, the expectation was more of the same: 22-24 points, 5-6 rebounds, and 5-6 assists per game with strong defense. Playing without Kawhi Leonard was not as rosy for PG, who was expecting to return to his place as the Robin to Kawhi’s Batman in the Clippers’ quest for a ring. After an injury riddled 2022 campaign where he played in just 31 games and had his lowest scoring efficiency (True Shooting of just 53.8) since his third season back in 2013 (excluding his extremely shortened 2015 season) and the second lowest of his career. Postseason Stats: Missed all five playoff games with a knee injury ExpectationsĮxpectations were high for Paul George coming into the 2023 Clippers season. Key Regular Stats: 23.8 points, 5.1 assists, 6.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 3.1 turnovers in 34.6 minutes per game across 56 games played (all starts) on 45.7/37.1/87.1 (5.3 FTA attempts) shooting splits (58.8 True Shooting) Our e xit interview series on the 2023 Clippers continues with a review of Podcast P himself, Paul George.
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