THE PACERS HAVE EARNED MY RESPECT
A week or so, after taking the Eastern Conference and maybe a game or two in the Finals, Haliburton was talking about how the Pacers have been underestimated all season long, how many critics considered their success of last year a "fluke" and shit like that. I was thinking like man, dude must've been reading this blog, because that's exactly how I felt about Indiana's 2024 postseason showing and to some extent this year's also. But dudes have now firmly earned my respect, for what it's worth. IMO, there's no reason to believe if Tyrese didn't get hurt or whatever, they probably would have taken Game 7, in OKC.
Obviously though, this is a team that needs and upgrade or two. If Haliburton is incapacitated, you can't put the onus on Siakim because he's too old in NBA years, and frankly put, even though Pascal is a star, he's never been a superstar. You know, he ain't KD type shit. But dude really tries.
I'm also hoping that Myles Turner sticks around. Yes, it's frustrating at times seeing the biggest man on the team, especially one as mobile as he is, going through stretches where he has like zero impact. But if they retain Turner, instead going out trying to fill a specific position, their roster is such that Indy can just go for whoever is the best free agent on the market. But ideally yes, they would make an addition that'd edify the frontcourt, preferably a big who like rebounds and plays defense. Why not? The Thunder - and especially Jalen Williams - were like killing them in the interior.
HALIBURTON FALTERS
No disrespect, but I was looking forward - one way or another - to Tyrese proving ineffective in Game 7. I thought it was going to be something like the crowd getting in his head. Instead he came out the gate ultra-hot, easily looking like the best player in the contest, and then fucked up his ankle at like totally the worst time.
To some extent, I think there are legitimate questions as to just how much an "MVP" SGA is, you know, how much he deserves that title, because in the grand scheme of it all Haliburton has been more or less playing just as well, up until Game 7. You know what I'm saying? There were games during this series where you're like 'is SGA really MVP'?
"THE FUTURE OF THE NBA"
You now have these news outlets dubbing OKC and Indy 'the future of the NBA', with the current youth movement being something I first predicted at least three years ago. But anyway.... if niggas is playing in the Finals and winning championships and shit, obviously they're the present, not the future.
The Thunder, in my humble opinion, didn't overly impressed. I'm genuinely convinced that the Pacers had OKC's fandom shook more than vice versa. That's one of the advantages of being the underdog - there isn't as much pressure to succeed, so to speak. But still, even if Indiana did proceed to win the championship, it would've been hard to argue that the Pacers' roster is superior. It's more like Indy just had the bigger heart, which is understandable considering the road they took to get here.
Indy relied more heavily on the three which, as the series progressed, did appear as the preferable strategy, so long as the shots were going in. I was hoping that, given the size of OKC, the Finals would prove the end of the smallball era. Obviously that's not going to happen just yet, if ever. But I think it did reaffirm that size does matter as teams, such as the Thunder, rely on drives and midrange shots. In other words, if other squads don't have the adequate size/talent to defend the key (which most don't), it's going to be virtually impossible to dethrone the defending champs.
IS OKC OVERRATED?
I know that's a funny question to ask, considering they just won the championship. But I think they are overrated in the sense that many of us presumed, or I guess you can say assumed they'd best the Pacers more convincingly.
The Thunder also seems to have issues sometimes maximizing all of the major pieces on their roster, which isn't really anything new, as I remember last postseason Josh Giddey getting lost in the sauce. I'm not saying that anyone was neglected in 2025 per se, but again, you have to believe this team could have played better - or perhaps smarter - during the Finals. Like I don't foresee Mark Daigneault winning COY anytime soon. If you have a team who, on paper, is better than everyone else, than you're not just supposed to win games; you're supposed to dominate.
But I guess now that the roster is used to each other, we'll really see what's up next season. I'm looking forward to dudes, if healthy, winning 70 games next year. Like I hope more pundits start calling out their less-than-stellar performance rather than dickridin. Now that OKC has won a championship, they'll prolly need that extra encouragement to stay motivated.
It'd be cool if Chet Holmgren especially learned how to play better or more consistently in the post. Maybe he will, as he ages and get fatter(?). These days, it's like you have to push bigmen to bang down low, to take advantage of their size instead of relying on jumpers, and you don't want to wait until too late, kinda like how the Cavs have done with Mobley. Conclusively, OKC could really benefit, imo, from adding some versatility to their offensive style/strategy, because dudes may have struggled more than they should have versus Indy.
SHOUTOUT TO LU DORT
Speaking of being lost in the sauce, Dort is probably the fifth or sixth most-popular name on OKC, but he's like their glue guy. Lu may never be like a star in his own right, but in the grand scheme of things he's just as important to this roster as anyone outside of SGA and Williams and is arguably just as important as the latter. He's the one who, when defenders are paying so much attention to the stars, can do unexpected shit that like changes the momentum.
A GOOD, SCRAPPY WHITE
If I were able to put together my own NBA team, the rotation would definitely have to include a scrappy White, and I'm not talking about any of those European sissies. I mean an American whiteboy like T.J. McConnell, Alex Caruso, Tyler Herro if you want to take a more 'civilized' approach or even Austin Reeves, who's been developing swag of late.
As for McConnell, I'd have to presume these Finals raised his stock significantly. He's far from being a max player, and he's also kinda old in NBA years. But more than anyone on the Pacers' roster, based on the Finals, he deserves more burn next season. More importantly, he's proven to be exactly the type of player you want on your team during big games. He's a small, unpretentious Whiteboy - so much so that even if T.J. scores 40 points, it'd still be difficult for the opposing defense to focus on him. McConnell played better than Haliburton in at least two games during this series, but the D could never rationalize giving him the full Haliburton treatment.
There's a headline currently circulating insinuating that T.J. was like crying or some shit after losing Game 7. It's hard to imagine what, from a professional perspective, would compel someone being paid $10mil/year to play basketball to cry, you know, in public even. But that just goes to show not only how much dude wanted to win but how much he believed they could have won, even without their star.
And speaking of American whiteboys, you know, I never seen Cooper Flagg play, but I hope he knows or learns how to scrap. He's going to need that playing alongside the likes of AD and Klay. Coming into the NBA as an American white, you're already an underdog. That's one of the reasons, I believe, that Cooper has gone from being unanimously considered to be the next big thing to now analysts saying 'who knows how he'll pan out against the big guys'. Learn from Alex Caruso; learn from McConnell my nigga. A lack of athleticism can be mitigated by doggedness.
THE RISE OF THE TALL POINTGUARD
I'm sitting here ruminating over that stupid-ass Desmond Bane trade and thinking to myself that yes, the Magic could've used an upgrade at point, but they needed one more in the interior. Pointguard is the most stacked position in the NBA, like the easiest one to fill with a proficient player. Why? Because more people are playing basketball these days, and most of us are normal-sized, not giants.
But on the surface, the NBA is getting taller, not shorter. The game may have transitioned more towards the three, with guards traditionally being better shooters. But now, as compared to the past, people no longer believe that really-tall dudes are like too dumb to dribble type shit.
If you look at this year's Finals, you'll see that Haliburton is listed at 6'5" and SGA 6'6". Even looking at those dudes on TV, you can tell they're lengthy, like tall enough to reasonably play SF (in today's NBA).
Contrast this with back in the days, when tall points like Magic Johnson were considered anomalies. Even into the 21st century, PGs like Shaun Livingston and Michael Carter-Williams stood out due to their height. Now, we have a Finals with two tall starting points, and like no one even blinked twice. Meanwhile, this may have been the first time in history something like that happened, i.e. both starting points being taller than 6'5".
Most of the PGs in the NBA are still short, relatively speaking, but maybe we're witnessing the start of something new. It isn't unfathomable to imagine, say, Wemby and Holmgren one day being on the same team. Lu Dort, at the 2 (and listed at 6'4") is the shortest starter in OKC. Just something to think about, once again headed into next season. If you want to beat these guys, throwing all your disposable assets at Desmond Bane (listed at 6'5", tho he obviously isn't that tall) probably isn't the (complete) answer.
SHOUTOUT TO JOSH GIDDEY
I always wonder how it feels to be a starter on a team, get traded, and then the very next season the team wins a championship, like what happened to DeMar DeRozan. Well, the same thing just happened to Josh Giddey, whom the NBA world seems to have more or less forgotten about (probably by design, all things considered). Those two situations were kinda different because, I don't think anyone would argue that DeRozan is better than Kawhi. But with Giddey, it's not like Caruso isn't necessarily better - a better fit in OKC, yes, but probably not better all-around.
That was just one of a couple of shrewd moves the Thunder made last offseason to get to this point. It'll be interesting to see what they do this summer, if anything, but even moreso with the Pacers. I don't envy Indiana, because one of the worst predicaments you can be in as an NBA team chasing a championship is reliant on a superstar who is, well, unlucky health-wise. It's funny because, if you would have asked me just a week ago, I was on the verge of even concluding that Tyrese is blessed type shit. But this goes to show how you can't take nothing for granted.
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