Can George get better? The 76ers lineup may be younger and therefore ahead of schedule

Paul George was injured again.

According to the latest reports, George's injury occurred during offseason training, and the specific injury was in his left knee. After the injury, George had undergone knee arthroscopy surgery as soon as possible. But whether he can catch up with the new season's battle has become an unknown. Conservative estimates are that he needs to reassess his injury before the training camp begins in order to decide on the next move.

Last offseason, when the 76ers signed a four-year, $212 million contract with George (the last year is the player option), the team's managers probably did not expect that Pickled Pepper's contract would deteriorate so quickly.

Although there was an optimistic prediction at that time that in the 76ers' luxury lineup, George no longer needed to undertake too many heavy offensive and defensive tasks, nor did he need to do his best every night. He only needed to show 60% or 70% of his personal state to ensure a basic output of 20 points per game, which is enough for Philadelphia.

But it is extremely ironic that George did not even average 20 points per game later. Last season, he only played 41 games and could only output mediocre data of 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists. Not only the data, Paulo also stays away from the 76ers system most of the season. He has never fully understood the coaching staff's tactical intentions as to how to cooperate with Philadelphia's new teammates.

What's worse is that the three giants that the 76ers have been promoting before the season are also far apart. During the regular season, George only played 15 games together with two other giants Embiid and Maxi, and even when the three were on the court at the same time, Philadelphia's basic indicators were still negative. In the end, not only did the 76ers not seize the opportunity to compete for the championship, but instead became a lottery team early at the end of the season.

When he said that back to George, he was far more worrying than that. Since joining the 76ers, his body has not been truly healthy. As early as the preseason in October last year, Paulo suffered an injury. In the next six months, he was troubled by knee injuries, finger tendon injuries and groin injuries. By March this year, George had received injection treatment for injuries to his left adductor and left knee, and he was simply reimbursed for the season.

But just a few months later, George had another surgery on his left knee.

It is also in this context that people can't help but want to ask, will George's health improve after his legs are damaged by injuries again and again?

At least from the current situation, the answer to this question is already very unoptimistic. Because George's injury constitution was not revealed after joining the 76ers. During his five years of playing for the Clippers, he has been troubled by various injuries. Except for 74 regular season games in the 2023-24 season, his attendance with the Clippers has not reached the basic passing line of 60 games in the remaining four seasons.

In addition, judging from the situation in recent years, George's aging curve has become increasingly obvious, and the trend of physical aging is also accelerating. In this case, it will only become higher and higher if he expects him to fully recover his knee injury and no recurrence of any injuries in the future.

Therefore, based on George's current injury, his 35-year-old age and his next three years and $160 million contract, it is no exaggeration to say that he is carrying the league's number one poison contract now.

Of course, George is not the only one in the Philadelphia team. Since winning the regular season MVP, Embiid has also started the "sick leave" mode in the past two seasons. During this period, he has only played 58 regular season games in total (two years), and he has not been labeled as healing until now.

On paper, the 76ers still have the top lineup talent in the league. But due to the word "injury", this theoretical combat power is becoming increasingly difficult to fully realize in reality...

, but the 76ers are not always shrouded in bad luck. At least, in terms of salary structure, the team is still relatively healthy at the moment. Although Philadelphia spent a lot of money on George last season, since only the Big Three in the team had high salaries and the annual salary of other mercenaries was strictly controlled. Therefore, the team's total salary expenditure was only US$170.4 million throughout the season, which was slightly lower than the luxury tax line.

Next season, if there are no major operations in the future, Philadelphia's salary can still be maintained at the offline level of US$185 million (luxury tax). The relatively stable salary structure also adds some patience to the team's senior management, allowing them to wait for George and Embiid to recover with a more positive attitude.

In addition, with the continuous injury of the team's core, the rise of the young man also gave the 76ers new hope, giving the team room to prepare for both in the future.

For example, last year's rookie McCain, before he was injured last season, he became Philadelphia's new thigh, with his average score soaring to 20+. The poor record last season made Philadelphia lucky to win the 1st year of the draft. VJ Edgecom, who was selected with this sign, shocked everyone with a 28+10 game in the summer league debut... If these young people can continue to steal the show in the new season, this youth storm may become an opportunity for the 76ers to innovate their lineup in advance and rejuvenate their lineup in advance. By then, even if George returns from injury, he may face a new situation of competition within the team...