In the waning moments of Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday, four players played a pivotal role: Indiana Pacers guards Tyrese Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Thunder forward Jalen Williams.
After Williams (off a Gilgeous-Alexander pass) missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Thunder a 9-point lead with 2 minutes and 16 seconds to go, Nembhard hit a three of his own over Gilgeous-Alexander on the following possession.
Later, in the game’s decisive sequence, while Oklahoma City was clinging to a 1-point lead, Gilgeous-Alexander missed a pull-up jumper with 11 seconds to go. The Pacers scooped the rebound, got the ball to Haliburton, and the star guard hit the game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds left on the clock.
All four players (Haliburton, Nembhard, Gilgeous-Alexander, Williams) have been key cogs in their teams’ success over the last couple seasons. And all four can be traced back to a transaction from the summer of 2007, when a 30-year-old Sam Presti, general manager of the then-Seattle SuperSonics, made a trade that helped set the stage for the 2025 Finals.
Here’s how the Sonics’ sign-and-trade of forward Rashard Lewis helped build not one, but both of this year’s NBA Finals participants.
