On Thursday, June 5, the NBA Finals will tip off at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, with the home team hosting the Indiana Pacers. It means that for the 7th straight season, we will not have a repeat champion after the Boston Celtics were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The victory in the NBA Finals will be celebrated since it will be the first basketball championship title for these cities. The Supersonics did win a championship in 1979, but that was in Seattle before they relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008 and rebranded the Thunder. This article will preview the series by providing three nuggets about these teams and the matchup.
1. Paul George trades revisited- Paul George has been an All-Star in this league for over a decade and has played for four teams in his career. Two of these four teams are the Indiana Pacers and Oklahoma City Thunder, who will face each other in the NBA Finals. However, George’s departure from both teams perhaps led to their rise to the summit. In July 2017, George was traded to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. In February 2022, the Pacers traded Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for a package centered around Tyrese Haliburton, who has been the catalyst that has pushed this team to the pinnacle of a championship. After spending the 2017-18 season with the Thunder, George signed a four-year, 137-million-dollar deal extension to remain in Boomtown. However, in 2019, an opportunity emerged for George to play with Kawhi Leonard in his hometown of Los Angeles. The Clippers pulled the trigger by trading Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, five future first-round picks, and two pick swaps to the Thunder. In 2022, one of those first-round picks selected turned out to be a young All-Star, Jalen Williams. George still has not made the NBA Finals, and one of his former teams will be lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy due to his trade.
2. Non-Luxury Tax Teams- the 2025 NBA Finals will be the first matchup in the luxury tax era (2003-present), and both two teams will not be taxpayers. The tax threshold was $170,814,000 this season, with 11 teams total exceeding that number. According to Spotrac, the Pacers ranked 18th in the NBA in payroll this season with a figure of $169,149,491, while the Thunder ranked 25th with $165,601,091. By comparison, the Knicks were fourth in the rankings with $188,877,651, while the Minnesota Timberwolves, whom the Thunder beat in the Western Conference finals, were second at $202,790,23. The Pacers and Thunder are built similarly, with a pair of sizable contracts for their point guards and top big men, with the rest of the roster filled out with reasonable veteran deals and rookie contracts. Yes, the 2025 NBA Finals matchup shows that small-market teams can plot and build toward championship contention.
3. Offense vs defense- the mantra offense wins, defense wins the championship will be tested in this finals matchup. The Pacers are ranked second among all teams in playoff offensive rating among the 16 teams to reach the postseason. Indiana only trails the Cleveland Cavaliers, who torched the Miami Heat in the first round before being put out by the Pacers. On the other hand, Oklahoma City has the best defense in the playoffs by allowing 3.4 fewer points than any other team per 100 possessions. The last matchup to feature a top-two defense and offense was in 2022- when the Golden State Warriors defeated the Boston Celtics. The matchup marks the 14th time since 1997 that a top-two defense and offense will face off. The top-two offense holds the edge 7-6 in those 13 series. However, nine of the 12 series were won by the team ranked better on the opposite side of the ball. In this case, the Thunder are ranked third in offensive rating, while the Pacers are ranked ninth in defensive rating. Let’s see how this edition of the debate will be settled.