Paul George’s first big move with the Boston Celtics wasn’t a bucket or a defensive stop. It was money left on the table.
George waived his trade kicker, a decision that gave the Celtics enough breathing room to stay under the luxury tax after also waiving Dalano Banton. That alone was a meaningful gesture, the kind that tells a team and its fans that a player is thinking beyond his own paycheck.
What makes it stand out even more is the context around it. George already took a major financial hit earlier this year when he was suspended during the 2025-26 season for violating the league’s anti-drug program.
That suspension came without pay, and it cost him almost $12 million. He went from making almost $51.7 million to about $40 million last season.
So when George gave up the trade kicker, he wasn’t just passing on a little extra padding. He was giving up money he could have used to claw back some of what he had already lost. In total, George has lost almost $16 million this year alone, with almost $4 million of that surrendered willingly.
That’s why this deserves more attention than it’s getting. George has already shown how he can fit into Joe Mazzulla’s system, but this was about something simpler: putting the Celtics first.
There’s also the bigger picture of who George is financially. Even after the suspension hit, he is still on track to have made around $500 million in NBA salary by 2028. That figure doesn’t include endorsements or shoe deals, which have added even more to his fortune over the years.
In that light, the extra $4 million he gave up may not have been a brutal sacrifice, but it still mattered. No one would have faulted him for taking it, especially after the money he lost earlier in the year. Instead, he chose the Celtics’ greater good, and that should go a long way with fans.
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