Paul George Suspended 25 Games For Violating NBA Drug Policy

The NBA has suspended Sixers forward Paul George for 25 games for violating the league's Anti-Drug Policy. The suspension is effective immediately, starting with tonight's game vs the Pelicans.

Before the suspension, 16pts, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game while shooting 42.4% from the field, and 38.6% from 3. It felt like the big 3 of Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and George finally hit their stride after hardly playing together last season. The vibe around the team was that things were heading in a positive direction.

Now they will be without Paul George for 25 of the remaining 35 games in the season. He can return for the March 25th game vs the Chicago Bulls.

The Sixers are a .500 team this season when Paul George does not play, though Joel Embiid missed many of those same games. They are 16-11 when George does play. Currently, they are 26-21, good for 6th in the Eastern Conference.

George released the following statement to ESPN about the suspension.

“Over the past few years, I’ve discussed the importance of mental health, and in the course of recently seeking treatment for an issue of my own, I made the mistake of taking an improper medication. I take full responsibility for my actions and apologize to the Sixers organization, my teammates and the Philly fans for my poor decision making during this process. I am focused on using this time to make sure that my mind and body are in the best condition to help the team when I return.”

One caveat is that the suspension does give the Sixers some cap savings. According to Yossi Gozlan, this will grant them a Luxury Tax Credit of $5.8 million. Making converting both Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker into standard contracts more feasible. They may have had to otherwise trade one of Quentin Grimes or Kelly Oubre Jr.

But it means they will be without one of the big 3 for the next 25 games. George may not be the All-NBA player he once was, but his impact on the court was clear. George gave them another athletic defender, and could still drain shots from deep.

Now they need to sruvive without him for 25 games, and try to stay out of the play-in tournament. There are 6 back to backs within those 25 games, meanign they will likley also be without Joel Embiid for at least 6 of those games too.

Obviously not ideal for a team that has struggled at times when those 3 are not on the court together.

The NBA Trade Deadline is Febiary 5th. It will be interesting to see how this impacts their plans.