Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George is declining his $48.7M option and will enter free agency, sources tell ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
George is planning to meet with teams that have enough salary cap space to potentially sign him and the Clippers beginning Sunday night, sources added.
By declining his player option, the opt-in-trade scenario for George 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 pre-eminent 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 on the market 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 re-established 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 losing in six games in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks.
