A look at the players involved in George trade ahead of his return to Indy
Paul George knows he will be treated to a rude reception when he returns to Indiana as an opponent for the first time.
Not only are Pacers fans bitter about George going public with his demands to leave, but they will also have schadenfreude on the mind with the star-studded Oklahoma City Thunder playing well below expectations.
Those same fans are also loving the two players they got back in the trade that sent George to Oklahoma City. Victor Oladipo is one of the leading candidates for Most Improved Player and a lock to make his first All-Star Game, while Domantas Sabonis has been excellent as a utility big who can do a bit of everything on offense. And while George has been great in his own right, his personal success has been lost in all of OKC's troubles.
Here's how all three players have fared through the first two months of the season.
Oladipo has been nothing short of incredible.
The fifth-year guard is averaging 24.5 points per game, which ranks him ahead of established stars such as Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving for 10th in scoring. He's shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from deep, while also getting to the line 5.4 times per game. He's posting career highs across the board.
Two factors have contributed to Oladipo's breakout campaign.
One, he is finally the go-to option for the first time in his career. He never had steady coaching in Orlando and he played in a system utterly starved for pace or space. As for his forgettable stop in Oklahoma City, Oladipo became a casualty in Westbrook's triple-double hunt.
Two, Oladipo is playing with more stamina after undergoing a dramatic weight loss program this offseason. The results have been nothing short of staggering, as the guard has suddenly become the league's most prolific transition scorer while also adding an impressive pull-up game.
Sabonis has been a nice surprise given how poorly he played as a rookie.
The Lithuanian pivot was excellent as a fill-in starter when Myles Turner suffered a concussion at the start of the season. Sabonis instantly adapted to Nate McMillan's up-tempo offense, which weaponized his mobility in a way that didn't happen when he was in OKC.
Sabonis ran the floor beautifully, finished everything in the pick-and-roll, and even showed a playmaking touch from the elbow area, reminiscent of his father Arvydas. Everyone was sold after he dropped 22 points on 9-of-9 shooting along with 12 rebounds in a win over the San Antonio Spurs.
He hasn't been as effective coming off the bench, but Sabonis is still showing promising signs on a regular basis. At worst, he is a fringe starter who can rebound, finish with either hand around the rim, and make plays out of the high post while occasionally knocking down the outside shot.
George is playing great two-way basketball, as always, although much of that is being obscured by OKC's struggles at large.
Playing with two other high-usage players has allowed George to focus more on defense, and he is putting in work on that end of the floor. George leads the league in deflections, loose balls recovered, and steals while taking on the toughest assignment every night. He should be in consideration for another All-Defensive team nod.
George is the main reason the Thunder rank second in defensive rating. Without that, OKC would legitimately be one of the worst teams in the league.
On offense, the story remains mostly the same. George is a great secondary option who works best as a shooting guard coming around screens for open threes. He's making a career-best 40.9 percent from deep on 7.3 attempts per game, although the rest of his offense has been average as usual.