OKLAHOMA CITY — Don’t blame the refs, blame the Clippers.
They created this monster. They sent it out into the world.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, top-seeded in the NBA playoffs for the third consecutive season, are running roughshod over opponents. Kicking everybody’s butts and driving everyone up the wall.
And, oh, Clippers what did you do?
This Oklahoma City juggernaut, built to last in an era that would otherwise be remembered for its parity?
It was spawned on July 6, 2019, when the Clippers traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and a boatload of draft picks to the Thunder in exchange for Paul George, whom they paired with free agent Kawhi Leonard, mortgaging their future on the failed bet that two Southern Californians would lead the franchise to its first NBA title.
And by a boatload, I mean a battleship-sized boat — sent to sink the rest of the NBA.
The defending world champions — who have the Lakers in the blender at present — were built largely through that trade, in which the Clippers relinquished their first-round pick in 2022, 2024, 2026 plus pick swap rights in 2023 and 2025.
The Thunder’s 125-107 victory Thursday at Paycom Center gave them a 2-0 in the best-of-seven second-round series.
Undefeated so far this postseason, Oklahoma City soon will dispatch the shorthanded Lakers and then go marching on toward its title defense.
In 2025, they became the second-youngest team in league history to win it, capping their franchise-record 68-win season. This year, Gilgeous-Alexander likely will repeat as MVP after leading the Thunder to a 64-18 regular-season record.
SGA, the stylish, maddening, smooth-operating Canadian point guard, is the head of the boa constrictor. And the young, selfless team around him is putting the squeeze on opponents with ridiculous depth, much of it stockpiled via that trade.
That includes the 2022 first-round pick, which became Oklahoma City’s second-best player, Jalen Williams (who is injured and hasn’t even played in this series). Also, 2023 first-round pick Cason Wallace, an elite defender and efficient offensive contributor, delivered the dagger Thursday with eight fourth-quarter points.
Thunder guard Cason Wallace, right, defends Lakers forward LeBron James, left, during the second half of Game 2.
(Nate Billings / Associated Press)
George is now playing for the Philadelphia 76ers, having left the Clippers in free agency in 2024. But they’re still paying the Thunder for his services, which got them only as far as the Western Conference finals in 2021.
The Thunder definitely don’t need reinforcements, but because the Clippers failed to make the playoffs this season, Oklahoma City will be in play in the draft lottery Sunday — between Games 3 and 4 — with a 1.5% chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick, and a 7.1% chance of moving into the top four.
With that possibility in mind, the Thunder didn’t hesitate to trade another of their 2026 first-round picks (and three future second-rounders) for sharpshooting guard Jared McCain, the Corona kid whose 13 second-half points Thursday were absolute backbreakers.
So while Lakers coach JJ Redick has talked about limiting the Thunder in those minutes when Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t on the court, forward Rui Hachimurahas the correct assessment: “We’ve focused on Shai a lot, but we gotta give these other guys more respect. They’re great players.”
There is, after all, more than one component to a buzzsaw.
The Clippers should have imagined it could go like this.
They were locked in on Leonard, I remember. And the mega trade, as the Clippers saw it, was to get Leonard and George.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer — one of the richest people in the world, valued at $133 billion, according to Forbes — wanted what he wanted.
I’m no financial expert, but if someone tries to sell you a piece of pie for $28 million — humbly, I think you should pass.
Leonard wasn’t going to stay in Toronto, where he’d just led the Raptors to a title. And he wouldn’t have wanted to play second fiddle [or third] to LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the Lakers. And he would have been much better off as a Clipper if his team had draft picks to fortify it for the coming seasons and a burgeoning star at point guard.
Who could’ve known SGA would become a perennial MVP candidate?
Well, SGA did.
“Mentally, I tell myself every night that I’m the best player on the floor and I want everybody in the arena to know that and feel that,” he said on the NBA’s “Pass the Rock” series, not long after he was traded.
“I wanna be known as one of the best players to play the game. Watching guys like Kobe growing up, I go to school and the debate is, who’s better, Kobe or LeBron? Who’s better, Kobe or Michael? I want those conversations to be about myself.”
Imagine that, this driven personality in a Clippers uniform, a less-reticent star beside Leonard — and a Thunder team that wasn’t built to absolutely terrorize the league for years to come.
