2015-2017 Paul George & George Hill Era

Lore & Background

Before Paul George ever laced up a white jersey in Indianapolis, the Pacers were already a different animal. George Hill had become the emotional engine of the team—his pull-up threes in crunch time, his willingness to take the last shot, his habit of grabbing a teammate's jersey and saying, 'We're not done yet.' Under Frank Vogel, the team played with a physicality that reminded fans of the 2011 and 2012 playoff squads, but with a modern shooting layer that made them harder to defend in space. Then came the trade. In July 2017, the Pacers sent Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. For a city that had watched PG13 grow from a rookie into a superstar, the departure felt surreal. The chemistry between Oladipo and the remaining roster was immediate; the new-look team could score from anywhere, hit the open man, and defend the perimeter with real pressure. Fans filled Bankers Life Fieldhouse with a fervor that hadn't been present since the Roy-era playoffs. The window, however, was narrow. Hill's departure in 2016, the physical toll of a heavy schedule, and ultimately Paul George's trade in 2017 closed the door. But for roughly two seasons, the Pacers were a team that made opponents fear them, and that memory still lives in the bones of the fanbase.

In Their Own Story

The arena hums before tip-off. You can smell the fresh wax on the hardwood, the faint sweetness of the concession stand drifting under the lower deck. A fan in a faded white #1 jersey—Hill's number—stands near the baseline, watching the warmups. George Hill bounces the ball, lines up a three from the left wing, and it swishes with that soft, hollow thud that makes the whole building exhale. Then the PA announcer's voice cracks with something almost reverent as the new name is introduced. The crowd noise shifts from a roar to a wall of sound, a single sustained note. Paul George runs the floor, and for one suspended moment, the city believes again. The ball is checked in. The era begins.

Reader's Guide

2015–2016: Frank Vogel takes over as head coach, and the Pacers lean into a defensive, physical identity. George Hill is the undisputed floor general and clutch scorer, while Victor Oladipo emerges as a legitimate All-Star-caliber wing. The team scrapes into the 2017 playoffs as a lower seed and gets eliminated in the first round, but the foundation is laid. 2017: The season's turning point arrives in February when the Pacers execute the trade with the Los Angeles Lakers, acquiring Paul George in exchange for Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, and a first-round pick. The roster instantly jumps a tier. Hill and George share the backcourt with a natural, almost telepathic rhythm—Hill's shooting gravity opens driving lanes for PG, and PG's defensive versatility lets Hill attack the rim. The team finishes as a top-five seed and returns to the postseason with genuine confidence. 2017–2018: Paul George takes over as the undisputed franchise face. The Pacers push deep into the playoffs before the season's cruel footnote: George suffers a torn Achilles tendon in a late-season game, ending his year and, in practice, the era. Hill departs in the offseason, and the window that had felt so wide suddenly narrows to a crack of light. The era ends not with a bang but with a single, devastating sound—a tendon popping—and the quiet understanding that the next chapter would be about survival, not contention. It set up the Victor Oladipo-and-Malcolm-Brognon rebuild that followed, but the memory of those eighteen months remains the high-water mark of the modern Pacers identity.

Did You Know?

• Paul George was drafted by the Pacers in 2010 and played for Indiana from 2010–2017; he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in July 2017 for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis.
• George Hill was renowned for his clutch three-point shooting and for consistently taking the final shot in close games, earning a reputation as one of the league's most reliable closing guards. He was traded to the Utah
• Frank Vogel's defensive schemes during this stretch emphasized perimeter pressure and switching, making the Pacers one of the most physically disruptive teams in the East.
• The 'next man up' philosophy—where rotation players were expected to step in and compete at a high level—became a defining cultural marker of the Vogel-era Pacers.