After sending Paul George to the Thunder, where do the Pacers go from here?

The Pacers sent George to the Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis

First it was the Cleveland Cavaliers. Then it was the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. There was reportedly a three-team deal with the Cavs and Denver Nuggets in the works on draft night. The Celtics came calling again and again, and so too did the Houston Rockets after the Chris Paul trade. But after weeks of rumors, reports, and negotiations, the Oklahoma City Thunder swept in late Friday night to win the Paul George sweepstakes, sending the Indiana Pacers Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in return for the All-Star forward.

The Thunder do this move knowing full well that George is already halfway out the door to Los Angeles, but there's always the chance they could convince him to stay depending on what they're able to do this season. And even if he leaves, Oladipo and Sabonis weren't much to give up anyway. But enough about the Thunder; how George will fit with Russell Westbrook will be analyzed a thousand times over. 

What about the Indiana Pacers? Where do they go from here?

Once George informed the team that he wasn't going to be a part of their long-term plans, the Pacers had no choice but to move their superstar rather than lose him for nothing next summer. After seeing the return they got in this deal, however, you can almost make the case that they should have just kept him, hoped he made an All-NBA team next season and prayed the extra money they could offer him would be enough to entice him to stay. 

The reported negotiations mentioned Kevin Love. There were talks of the Lakers offering two first-round picks along with Jordan Clarkson or Julius Randle. The Celtics reportedly offered three first-round picks plus Jae Crowder and another player. Now were those reports accurate? Well, it's impossible to know the exact offers and what was specifically discussed, but it certainly seems like the Pacers could have gotten more for George, even on a one-year rental, than Oladipo and Sabonis. This feels like a move Indiana made because it was sick of negotiating and just wanted to get something done. 

It's like when you're looking for a parking spot and see one fairly close, but believe you can find a better one, so you drive around for 10 minutes looking for a marginally better spot only to come up empty. Yet when you go back to the original spot it's been taken, and at that point you're just so sick of looking for somewhere to park, that you park in the first open spot you can find, even if it's much further away than the one you could have just originally taken. 

Look, the Pacers were always going to be in a bad spot once George left town, as it's impossible to simply replace a player of his caliber, and his publicly stated desire to play in L.A. nuked their leverage in any trade negotiations. But winding up with Oladipo and Sabonis and no extra picks of any kind to speak of is disappointing. 

As the Pacers enter all-out rebuild mode now that George is officially gone, and Jeff Teague and C.J. Miles are likely to follow him out the door once free agency begins, they'll turn the keys over to Myles Turner, which is a good place to start. Every team in the league would love to have a player like Turner to build around. He's a 21-year-old big man who will likely average a double-double next season, and has shown a budding ability to knock down 3-pointers, and can protect the rim on the defensive end. 

After Turner, however, it's Oladipo and question marks. 

And Oladipo is a fine player. He's can score, he can facilitate a bit and he'll put up numbers next season with the ball in his hands all of the time, but I'm not sure I'd be thrilled to pay a high-usage guard who can't really shoot worth $21 million for each of the next four seasons. The Pacers are making a big bet that he'll continue to develop and turn into a player they can pair alongside Turner for the future. 

As for Sabonis, he had his moments for the Thunder in his rookie season, but he's also a big man who shot 39.9 percent, which is concerning to say the least. He's still just 21 years old, though, and to write him off completely would be unwise, but there is no guarantee he's going to be a part of the Pacers' long-term plans. 

T.J. Leaf, their first-round draft pick could be a solid player, but doesn't appear to be a franchise-altering addition. Lance Stephenson is back and there's really no telling how that will go. Glenn Robinson III is worth keeping an eye on. And veterans Monta Ellis and Al Jefferson are still around -- at least for now. 

Aside from Myles Turner being the face of the franchise, pretty much everything is up in the air for the Pacers as they try to rebuild after losing their franchise forward. As Kevin Pritchard and Co. continue to make moves to reshape this roster, things are going to get weird in Indiana over the next couple of years, and not in a good way.