The Paul George Trade: A Game-Changing Move That Led to the 2025 NBA Finals
As it turns out, the Oklahoma City Thunder's journey to becoming a contender in the NBA was fueled by a single trade: the one that brought Paul George to the team from the Indiana Pacers in 2017. Remarkably, both the Eastern Conference champion Pacers and the Western Conference champion Thunder were built from assets each team received in exchange for dealing George.
How the Thunder Built from Trading Paul George
The Thunder acquired George from the Pacers on July 6, 2017, in exchange for a 25-year-old Victor Oladipo and a 21-year-old Domantas Sabonis. Both Oladipo and Sabonis quickly became key contributors to the Thunder's success, though their peak came in a pair of first-round playoff exits.
In 2020, the Thunder traded Oladipo to the Houston Rockets as part of a four-team deal that sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets. In return, Oklahoma City received Caris LeVert and a pair of second-round draft picks. One of those second-rounders became the 32nd overall pick in the 2023 draft, which the Thunder packaged with the No. 29 overall pick in the same draft for a 2024 first-round draft pick from the Pacers. That selection was one of two first-round draft picks that Oklahoma City dealt to the Toronto Raptors in January 2024 in exchange for Pascal Siakam, this year's Eastern Conference finals MVP.
Meanwhile, the Thunder traded LeVert to the Cleveland Cavaliers for a 2022 second-round draft pick, a 2023 first-round draft pick, and a 2027 second-round draft pick. The first two of those picks became Andrew Nembhard and Ben Sheppard, a pair of rotation players for this year's conference champions.
Sabonis played for the Thunder until February 2022, when they dealt him and some ancillary assets to the Sacramento Kings for Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson. Haliburton has developed into an All-NBA point guard for the Thunder and their best player. Finally, Oklahoma City flipped Hield to the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2024 trade deadline for a pair of second-round draft picks—the first of which they traded again, turning that selection into Johnny Furphy.
In one way or another, the Thunder turned George into Haliburton, Siakam, Nembhard, Sheppard, and Furphy. That is roughly a third of Oklahoma City's entire roster, half of its rotation, and both of its leaders. The team's success is a testament to the impact of a single trade that started it all.
