Paul George is headed to the Oklahoma City Thunder
By Ben Gibson
In a surprise no one saw coming, the Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
The Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Shelburne heard Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis were part of the deal, soon followed by Royce Young confirming.
This trade comes as a surprise considering the Los Angles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Houston Rockets were involved in the majority of rumors.
Paul George has been traded to OKC, per sources
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2017
Hearing Oladipo and Sabonis going to Indy
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 1, 2017
Just to confirm it all: It's Paul George for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo. No picks.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) July 1, 2017
The trade will likely be frowned on by fans, but it most likely tells us a few things.
- Boston likely didn’t offer more than a late round pick, similar to reported offers from the Lakers.
- The market for Paul George as a rental was worse than the rumors made it sound.
- The Pacers are serious about finding players they believe will stay with the team long-term.
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The trade also makes sense for Indiana as far as not making any of the teams in the Eastern Conference any better. While a trade to Boston might have gotten a slightly better return (if they had a better offer), you didn’t make a team in your conference any better.
For what it is worth, Oladipo averaged 15.9 points a game so far in his career while grabbing around 4.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists a game in his career. He is more of a shooting guard than point guard, to his fit with Lance Stephenson should be interesting, to say the least. His defense has been a mixed bag so far in his career, but he isn’t terrible on that side of the ball.
In Sabonis. they get a second-year player that averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds a game last year with the Thunder. He was the 11th overall pick in the 2016 draft.
Next: 4 guards for the Pacers to consider
The trade wasn’t a blockbuster, but it simply may have been the best offer Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers received.