One year ago, Oklahoma City and their general manager Sam Presti shocked the NBA by dealing Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis for Paul George. The move was viewed as heist at the time- Oladipo and Sabonis were solid but unspectacular young players, while George was an in his prime all-star- but a risky one. PG had only one year left on his contract, and a known desire to play for his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
Presti made the deal anyways. He knew, better than most, the risk he was taking- Victor Oladipo’s subsequent rise was beyond anything even his former team could have predicted, but Presti was always higher on him than the league at large.