The Philadelphia 76ers‘ chances of chasing a spot near the top of the Eastern Conference took a big hit on Saturday.
The NBA announced a 25-game suspension for Paul George for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. It’ll be a costly suspension in a number of ways, including on PG13’s contract and to the Philly roster.
The financial details are fascinating by themselves, shared by ESPN’s Bobby Marks:
- George will miss out on $11,742,293 due to the 25 games he doesn’t play in during the suspension, which is the proportion of his contract that equates to 25 game checks.
- The 76ers receive a tax variance credit of $5,871,147.
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The tax variance credit is fascinating, because while the 76ers remain over the luxury tax, they’re a lot close to the line now.
It appears the 76ers could make a trade to get fully under the line, according to this post from insider Brett Siegel:
This essentially means the 76ers can dip below the luxury tax if they were to trade Andre Drummond, Kelly Oubre, or one of their other secondary guys and not take back significant money. https://t.co/8DPNoRQEC9
— Brett Siegel (@BrettSiegelNBA) January 31, 2026
Then there’s the matter of George’s spot on the roster.
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Can the 76ers replace Paul George while he’s suspended?
The 76ers have solid wing depth and so will be able to reallocate the minutes on their roster to fill in for George.
As far as signing another player, though, they’ve got to wait a bit.
Marks added in his post on X that George can’t be moved from the active roster to the suspended list until five games have passed in the suspension.
Only after those five games can Philadelphia sign a new player into the roster spot vacated by George.
