Remember the 2017 season? Remember the dying embers of the Paul George era, shattering like a falling glass as they were swept by the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers? Remember the summer that followed, the trade rumors, and the eventual return package?
What a time that was. There was a lack of hope that's hard to explain, one that only comes about when you are forced to watch a slow-motion train wreck. It was clear how everything was going to end. Indiana Pacers fans weren't treated to a surprise or even a failure. Instead, the year, and the era, ended exactly how everyone thought it would.
During that summer, we got constant rumors about which team would be trading for the disgruntled superstar. There were stories about Brandon Ingram and the second overall pick in a stacked 2018 class, packages built around a young Jaylen Brown, and even an obsession with the value of the 2019 Brooklyn Nets pick the Cavs had gotten from moving Kyrie Iriving to the Boston Celtics.
But, one of the most insane options was one that came from the Pacers' front office.
In a time in which the Golden State Warriors had won two titles in three years and had just dominated the league in their first year with Kevin Durant, Indiana went to the villains of the league and offered them another star wing for half of the Splash Brothers duo.
Yes, the Pacers offered Paul George, who would go on to finish top-three in MVP voting two years later, for Klay Thompson.
While the original return of Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis eventually led to all of Andrew Nembhard, Ben Sheppard, and Tyrese Haliburton, the shooting display of a number one option ,Klay Thompson would've been incredibly fun to see.
Klay Thompson, best shooting guard in the league?
It's worth noting that Victor Oladipo came in and immediately was good enough to be an All-NBA third team member and the Most Improved Player of the Year. That season is one that has and will continue to live in infamy for all of Pacers history as one of the most fun years in franchise legend.
Oladipo was, for that one season, just a shade under what we can predict Thompson to be: an elite two-way shooting guard who could guard the opposition's best guard/forward and score at an elite efficiency, even if the valume isn't as heroic.
We never really got to see Klay as an on-ball creator in the way we did with Victor. Maybe he would be able to show more of his abilities away from Durant and Steph Curry. Maybe we would see more than two or three dribble isolations.
The truth is, this trade, as fun as it may have been and as perfectly as Klay would've fit Indiana, is it would not have helped the Pacers at all. Indiana took the Cavs to seven games in Oladipo's first year, staying afloat for another three years before the move of Domantas Sabonis for Tyrese Haliburton brought a short rebuild and a completely new direction.
The only people for whom that return would have been better are the larger NBA fan community, who finally could've answered the question of what a prime Klay Thompson would look like as the number one option on his own team.
Ultimately, the Pacers got Haliburton and the Warriors got two more rings with their franchise legend...
And Paul George got to hit the side of the backboard in the most publicized moment of his career.
Win/Win?
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