The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Indiana Pacers have both reached the NBA Finals, despite being one of the NBA’s smaller-market teams in their respective conferences. Both teams have rebuilt their franchises while recovering from a trade made that involves Paul George in some way or another.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Tyrese Haliburton would arguably not be in this position for their respective teams if they had not decided to move Paul George away from the team.
In 2017, the Thunder acquired George from the Pacers in what was considered a win-win trade for the longest time. George was traded for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, who ended up being the Pacers’ franchise players for the next few seasons. In February 2022, the Kings sent Haliburton, along with Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson, to the Pacers in exchange for Domantas Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, and a 2023 second-round pick.
In 2019, the Thunder traded away George to the LA Clippers in a massive trade. This trade involved sending Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, and multiple draft assets to the Thunder. Gilgeous-Alexander was a key part of the trade despite being in his rookie season. He came off playing all 82 games in the season for the Clippers before they traded him. He only averaged 10.8 points per game when the Thunder decided to invest in him. And now, that investment has paid off as he consistently averages over 30 points per game and won the Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson MVP Awards for them this season.
What Paul George Thinks About Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
The OKC Thunder defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals this season. Following the Thunder’s Game 4 win in that series, George went on his podcast to express his opinions about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He mainly targeted the foul-baiting criticism and compared Gilgeous-Alexander’s game to his own.
“…Shai, I think he does a great job of putting pressure on the officials by playing physical, where it puts the defender in a position to… the amount of separation that Shay creates makes guys swipe for the ball or guys lunge out to block a shot or it puts guys in a position where they’re out of control because of the physicality Shai plays with.”
“Shai’s super strong. He’s a lot like me, he plays with his shoulders, he bumps, he gets you off balance with his shoulders, he puts his weight on you, and then can stop on a dime. And he’s really good at like “All right if you put your arms out there I’m going to shoot through it, I’mma swing through it.” Um, so I think there’s more to it with Shai than him foul-baiting. I think he just understands how to play physical and get guys out of position to draw fouls.”
“Shai doesn’t need to jump out the gym. He doesn’t use athleticism to, you know, attack the basket. He’s crafty, he’s skilled, he’s pivot, he’s footwork. He’s mid-range, he’s got the mid post, he’s got the isolation. Now he’s unlocked shooting more threes, so you have to guard him further out. I just think all of that in collection it makes him that much better as a weapon. That’s why he’s so deadly because he’s a three-level scorer.”
Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged 31.4 points, 8.2 assists, and 5.2 rebounds in the last series to lead the Thunder to the Finals for the first time since 2012. Do you think both teams made the right move trading away Paul George? Or is this just a pure coincidence? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
