[Observation] 2025, an NBA championship about Paul George

Tomorrow, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers will face the first game of the finals. There is a pretty terrible coincidence between these two finals teams, that is, the deal about Paul George, both became part of their finals lineup building.

In 2019, George decided to go to Los Angeles to join forces with Leonard, and the Thunder got Alexander and many draft picks from this deal. They selected Jaylen Williams and Dillon Jones, and the bargaining chips also included the No. 15 and No. 24 picks in the first round of 2025. The Pacers are also the beneficiary of George's departure. After George applied for a deal to leave Indiana, the Pacers received Oladipo and Sabonis from the Thunder, both of whom grew into All-Star players. Sadie Jr. later became the core asset of the Pacers' trade to get Halliburton, while Oladipo's trade brought LeVer to Indiana, and he was then sent to the Cavaliers for a draft pick, and the Pacers eventually got Nemhard and Shepherd.

Oklahoma City Thunder

In July 2017, Oladipo and Sabonis Jr. won George; in July 2019, George won Alexander, Gallinari, 5 future first-round picks and 2 swap rights.

I can't bear to leave the child and cannot trap the wolf

When George made a deal request, Thunder was not regarded as his ideal next home. In the summer of 2017, George also had a one-year guarantee contract. After the expiration, he is likely to break out of the contract and become a free agent and find another home. For many small-market teams that don't have much attractiveness, trading George in such a situation is tantamount to gambling.

Later, Presti talked about his thoughts at the time in an ESPN documentary about George. When explaining the motive for the transaction, he quoted a lyric: "Scaredmoneydon 'tmakenone. " in Chinese: I can't bear to leave my child and can't trap a wolf. "If you want players like George to build confidence in the team, you have to show them that," Presti said.

Although the Thunder were eliminated by the Jazz in the first round of 2018 and suffered a playoff Waterloo, George's contract renewal put the management in an absolute favorable position. The 2018-19 season was the absolute peak of George's career, with an average of 28 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals per game. He won the honors of first team and one defense at the end of the season. He was the steal king of the league that season. He ranked third after Antetokounmpo and Harden in the final regular season MVP vote. Because of this, the Thunder was able to trade it to the speedboat in the summer of 2019 and exchange it for incomparable bargaining chips.

In the past few seasons, it has been common to trade superstars with a large number of draft picks, but in 2019, the chips paid by the Speedboat were still quite shocking. The reason why the Thunder can start the price is because Presti knows in his heart that the speedboats exchanged for SGA and 5 first-round picks is not only George, but also Leonard's promise to join.

In Presti's opinion, the decision to trade George may have been a gambling element, but it is far from being a crazy decision. After all, in this deal, the Thunder did not give any future draft pick assets, which left them a backup plan and preserved hope for the future. This summer, Durant's situation is quite similar to George's back then, with only one year left for a contract. Will small-scale teams like the Timberwolves bet on KD?

Indian Pacers

Trading situation

In July 2017, George traded with Oladipo and Sabonis Jr.; In January 2021, Oladipo traded with LeVere and two second round picks; In February 2022, LeVere and a second round picks were obtained Rubio, a first round pick and two second round picks were obtained; In February 2022, Sabonis, Holiday, Lamb and a second round pick were obtained Halliburton, Hilder and Thompson.

Uncovering buried treasure

If the story of Thunder and George is a story about gambling, the story between the Walker and George must be a story about treasure digging. Oladipo has been in the league for four seasons at the time of the deal, but his true shooting percentage has never reached the league average. As the starting player of the Thunder in the rookie season, Sa's shooting percentage is even less than 40%. In the view of Pacers management, playing around Westbrook, these two players can only play puzzle roles, and their growth needs their own stage.

In the Pacers' first season, Oladipo's average ball holding time increased from 2.4 minutes during the Thunder period to 4.4 minutes. After Sabonis left for Westbrook, the offensive area began to move closer to the inside. In the rookie season, Sa made 159 three-pointers in a single season, and in the first three seasons of the Pacers, he made a total of 121 three-pointers.

Compared to Sasa, Oladipo's talent is realized faster. In his first season with the Pacers, Oladipo averaged 23.1 points per game, shooting 48%, leading the NBA steals list, was elected the fastest-progressive player of the season and was selected into the third team of the best team. However, due to the ruptured tendon of the quadriceps femoris, Oladipo's career trajectory was changed. After Audi was injured, Sa Sa took over the banner and grew into an All-Star insider.

Therefore, for other teams who want to copy the Pacers' successful route, it is crucial to find some treasures buried or suppressed by other superstar players in the inevitable transaction. For example, Kumingga, who is defined as an inappropriate system by Cole, Sohan, who cannot find a position around Wenban, and Kessler, who has been put on the shelves by Anji, are all like this..

Dare to trade the star and turn the bow

After coming to the Pacers, Sa gradually grew up to be an All-Star player, but the Pacers with him as the core also encountered the ceiling. After completing George's deal, the Pacers ended in the first round of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons, and missed the playoffs again in the next two seasons. Even so, managers of most small market teams may be patient with players like Sabonis and continue to build a roster around him. The Pacers management did not do this, and they chose Halliburton, who is four years younger than Sa and has All-Star potential. At the beginning of 2024, after Siakam filled in the fourth position, the Pacers ushered in the ultimate form and returned to the finals after 25 years this season. The decision of the

Pacers also tells us that there should not be so-called "non-sale products" in this alliance. When a team misjudged the value of a player, the team that hit the ceiling should take decisive action to avoid sunk costs.