The Indiana Pacers and the Oklahoma City Thunder, meeting in the NBA Finals starting Thursday, are linked by the trade they made nearly eight years ago: sending Paul George from Indy to OKC.

Each team can trace its current stars to trading George away.

When George, now a nine-time All-Star, requested to join Kawhi Leonard with the LA Clippers in 2019, the Thunder leveraged the situation to acquire future MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as well as draft picks that have yielded All-Star Jalen Williams and rookie Dillon Jones, with more still to come, including this year’s No. 15 and No. 24 selections.

After Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis — whom Indiana acquired for George — developed into All-Stars, the Pacers spun them forward. Sabonis was the centerpiece of Indiana’s blockbuster deal for All-NBA pick Tyrese Haliburton. And trading Oladipo for Caris LeVert ultimately landed the Pacers starter Andrew Nembhard and reserve Ben Sheppard via draft picks acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 2023 LeVert deal.

Since other NBA teams won’t be able to trade George in his prime, let’s study these deals to see what other teams can actually learn from how the Pacers and the Thunder traded their way into young rosters that reached the Finals.

The trades:

• Oladipo and Sabonis for George (July 6, 2017)

• George to the Clippers for Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, five first-round picks and two swaps (July 6, 2019)

Lesson 1: ‘Scared money don’t make none’

This dates back to the Thunder’s original trade of acquiring George from Indiana. Oklahoma City was an unlikely destination for George, who had only one guaranteed year remaining on his contract in the summer of 2017 before a player option allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent.

Many small-market teams, operating conservatively, would have feared George leaving in free agency and would have never seriously pursued a trade. Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti, who also built Oklahoma City’s first Finals team (2011-12), thought bolder.

In a “SportsCenter” documentary on George’s free agency, Presti cited a famous lyric from A Tribe Called Quest’s 1993 song “Midnight” as justification for the move: “Scared money don’t make none.”

“If you expect Paul George or any player to have any confidence in you as an organization, you have to demonstrate it yourself,” Presti argued.

Although pairing George and Carmelo Anthony with Russell Westbrook didn’t produce the kind of playoff result the Thunder expected in 2018 — they lost in an opening-round upset to the Utah Jazz — George re-signed with the team that summer. That put Oklahoma City in a prime position when George eventually asked out a year later.

The Thunder might not have viewed trading for George as a huge risk, partially because Oklahoma City did not have to give up any picks in the deal. So, the lesson isn’t exactly that teams should recklessly mortgage their future to win now. But being opportunistic can be bold in its own right.

In the short term, this lesson is likely to apply most directly to Kevin Durant‘s anticipated trade from the Phoenix Suns. A small-market team could take advantage of Durant’s possible 2026 free agency to get him at a bargain return for his talent. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported last week that the Timberwolves were serious about their pursuit of Durant at the trade deadline, and while much has changed in the wake of Minnesota’s run to the Western Conference finals, adding Durant is certainly still worth exploring.

Lesson 2: Don’t be afraid to utilize leverage

On paper, the Thunder’s return on George was preposterous. In subsequent years, trading large numbers of unprotected first-round picks and swaps has become normalized, but it was unthinkable when the George trade transpired.

Of course, Oklahoma City knew the Clippers weren’t just getting George. They also were using him to land Leonard, the top free agent on the market and just weeks removed from leading the Toronto Raptors to the championship as Finals MVP.

Still, many NBA decision-makers would have avoided pushing too far at the risk of scuttling the deal entirely. And asking for all the picks could have seemed greedy since the Thunder also were acquiring the promising Gilgeous-Alexander. He wasn’t yet seen as having MVP potential, but he did show All-Star upside as a rookie starter for the Clippers on a playoff team at age 20.

But Oklahoma City was willing to simply keep George and refused to back down from its demands. The Thunder have made shrewd moves since then and gotten somewhat lucky. Gilgeous-Alexander proved such an incandescent star, but it’s everything the Thunder received in the George deal that sets them up as a potential dynasty.

The Milwaukee Bucks have the best chance of encountering a similar situation if Giannis Antetokounmpo requests a trade. It’s unlikely the Bucks will have much trouble generating strong offers for Antetokounmpo. But they shouldn’t be afraid to wait on the ideal package — particularly if, as with George, it also sends Antetokounmpo to a desired destination.

The trades:

• George for Oladipo and Sabonis (July 6, 2017)

• Oladipo for LeVert and two second-round picks (Jan. 16, 2021)

• LeVert and a second-round pick for Ricky Rubio, a first-round pick and two second-round picks (Feb. 7, 2022)

• Sabonis, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb and a second-round pick for Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson (Feb. 8, 2022)

Lesson 1: Identify undervalued talent

Most of these lessons aren’t based on hindsight. Nearly all of these trades looked like wins at the time. The Pacers’ return for George was a notable exception. Oladipo had yet to reach league average in true shooting percentage during four NBA seasons, while Sabonis had shot worse than 40% as a rookie starter for Oklahoma City. Indiana correctly bet that both players were capable of more.

The Pacers surely saw that Oladipo and Sabonis would benefit from handling the ball more and playing with better spacing for Indiana. Alongside Westbrook with the Thunder, they served primarily in complementary roles that didn’t maximize their skills. Oladipo’s time of possession nearly doubled from 2.4 minutes per game in his one season with the Thunder to 4.4 with the Pacers, while Sabonis went from taking 159 3-pointers as a rookie to 121 total over the next three campaigns combined.

Oladipo’s breakout was more immediate. He jumped to 23.1 points per game on 48% shooting the following season while leading the NBA in steals per game, winning Most Improved Player and earning All-NBA third-team honors. Alas, that was Oladipo’s high point at age 25. The following January, Oladipo suffered a quad tendon rupture that altered the trajectory of his career.

As Oladipo was battling injuries, Sabonis was emerging, first as the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2018-19 then as an All-Star the following two seasons while starting alongside Myles Turner in a jumbo frontcourt. Sabonis is now a three-time All-Star who has twice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.

Betting on any individual player to follow that trajectory is a fool’s errand, but there are a couple of recent, potentially undervalued first-round picks to look at if they enjoyed better situations. San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan has had a hard time finding his place alongside Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs improved after Sochan went out of the lineup last season. If he played with a more traditional stretch than Wembanyama, it’s possible Sochan’s defensive versatility and athleticism would pop.

Jazz center Walker Kessler is intriguing because his on-court impact in net rating hasn’t matched his impressive rim protection numbers. It’s tough to say how much Utah’s young backcourt is a factor in that. Better defensive execution might highlight Kessler’s strengths while minimizing his weaknesses, and superior guards might create more opportunities for Kessler to finish out of the pick-and-roll.

Lesson 2: Don’t be afraid to trade a star

For as well as Sabonis developed with the Pacers, there was a ceiling on their progress. Indiana lost in the first round three consecutive seasons after the George trade then was en route to a second consecutive lottery appearance as the 2022 trade deadline approached. Another small-market team might have sought to retool around Sabonis, a proven star. The Pacers’ willingness to move on is the reason they’re now in the Finals.

Swapping Sabonis for Haliburton as the key members of a six-player trade seemed like a great move at the time. Four years younger, Haliburton already was an established Sacramento starter with All-Star potential on a bargain rookie contract. But the deal left Indiana with a guard-heavy roster and a glaring hole at power forward, a big factor in the Pacers going just 35-47 the following season despite Haliburton making his All-Star debut.

Everything came together last season, when Haliburton led Indiana to the inaugural NBA Cup final as an All-NBA pick and the Pacers added Pascal Siakam in a January trade to fill the void at the 4. Indiana reached the Eastern Conference finals in 2024 before losing to eventual champions Boston Celtics. The Pacers have now gone a step further, winning the East for the first time since 2000. Although future Finals trips are no certainty, Indiana has its contention window wide open with Haliburton entering his prime at age 25.

It’s tough to say which teams can benefit from this lesson. It depends on which established star becomes desperately sought by a win-now franchise willing to overpay. The broader takeaway is that, except for the league’s best players, there should be no such thing as an “untouchable” star. So long as your front office can prevent it from leaking and doing damage, it’s always worth taking the call just in case the other side is ready to make a mistake.