Two former teams of Paul George, the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, are currently competing in the 2025 NBA Finals.
On the other hand, George is currently a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, who had a forgettable run in the 2024-25 season.
The 76ers finished 13th in the Eastern Conference with an abysmal 24-58 record with George barely making any impact on the team.
Coming to PG13’s stints with the Pacers and the Thunder, the 35-year-old has faced major flak for not being on either team. However, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas has a different take on the situation.
Agent Zero is known for his vicious takes on all things related to the NBA. But the former Washington Wizards star didn’t take a shot at George for being the reason for the Pacers vs Thunder finals.
Instead, Arenas believes it shows how talented George was during the prime of his career that two teams who were involved in blockbuster trades around him ended up in the 2025 NBA Finals.
“I mean, that just says a lot about the talent that he was,” Arenas said on Gil’s Arena. “That he was that valuable to keep getting moved for these certain pieces, that’s all it really says.”
He added: “You know there’s guys out there that had names and they got traded for nothing. At least, you know, at least these trades turned into something.”
Now, that’s one way to look at it, but the majority of the NBA community still used it to take a shot at George’s legacy.
The Pacers drafted George with the 10th overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft. Considering he was a lottery pick, it made sense for Indy to have high hopes for him.
With that said, George spent seven seasons with the Pacers, averaging 18.1 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game. He also won the NBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2013.
On top of that, George earned four NBA All-Star selections and how can one forget his legendary battles against LeBron James’s Miami Heat? All things considered, PG13 was an excellent player in Indiana.
However, George had a major fallout with the Pacers in 2017 and found himself on the OKC Thunder the following season. Although George played just two seasons for the Thunder, it was undoubtedly the peak version of him.
He averaged 25.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 3.7 assists per game. George was an All-Star in both seasons and also finished third in the 2019 NBA MVP race.
At the time, it somewhat made sense for the LA Clippers to send a humongous trade package around Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to acquire George. However, in hindsight, it feels like a terrible move.
