Paul George wasted no time flashing the part of his game that has always made him such a headache for opposing offenses.
In Boston’s preseason win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, George put together a line that looked sharp across the board: 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes, plus a game-high five steals. One of those takeaways was the kind that tells you a lot about why the Celtics wanted him.
The sequence started with George matched up on 76ers guard Labaron Philon, who came off a screen from Dean Wade. George navigated around the pick as Celtics center Luka Garza dropped into the paint to help, and that opened the floor for Wade, who had popped out to the 3-point line after setting the screen.
Wade is a career 36.7 percent shooter from deep, and with Garza unlikely to get a clean contest, Hugo Gonzalez helped off Tyrese Maxey on the wing to force Wade off the arc. By the time Wade drove toward the paint, the lane was crowded with George, Garza and Derrick White.
Instead of forcing a tough finish, Wade looked to kick the ball out. George saw it coming, reached in with those long arms and stole the pass. The play quickly turned into a crisp sequence that ended with Payton Pritchard burying a wide-open 3.
That’s the part of George’s game Boston is betting on. He has spent years making life miserable for ball handlers and passers alike, and the numbers back it up. He enters the 2026-27 NBA season with 1,601 career steals, which puts him 42nd all time and fifth among active players, behind only LeBron James, James Harden, Mike Conley and Stephen Curry.
He was the league leader in steals in 2018-19 at a career-high 2.2 per game, and last season he was still near the top of the list. His 1.7 steals per game in 2025-26 would have led the Celtics.
For Boston, that matters. The Celtics were already a strong defensive team last season, but they didn’t force many turnovers, finishing 28th in steals per game and 25th in points off turnovers. That wasn’t only tied to Jayson Tatum’s injury, either, since Boston also sat near the bottom of the league in both categories in 2024-25.
It’s just one preseason snap, but it fit the profile of exactly what George can add: veteran instincts, active hands and the ability to turn a routine possession into a change of possession in a heartbeat.
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The pressure comes from the calendar as much as the money. The Celtics have until Oct. 19 to get a deal done, and if they pass on that window, negotiations can reopen next July, when Pritchard would be in line for a longer and more lucrative extension. For a player whose stock is still trending up, that leaves Boston weighing the certainty of locking him in now against the possibility that patience could make the price tag even steeper. [Read more 🡒]