Victor Oladipo Thanks Pacers Teammates, Fans on Twitter After Trade to Rockets

Victor Oladipo is a Houston Rocket after the trade that also sent James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, but he said he will forever be a Hoosier in a lengthy message to Indiana Pacers fans and his former teammates.

The former Indiana Hoosiers star said this trade is "hitting me a little differently … but the one emotion or feeling that I keep coming back to is gratitude."

He called Indiana his second home and said, "As I stand at the beginning of a new chapter in my career I just wanted to tell you that I will never forget the love, passion, support, and encouragement I received from the people of Indianapolis and all the great business and personal relationships I have built there and throughout the Hoosier state of Indiana."

That he feels an emotional tie to Indiana is no surprise considering he played his collegiate basketball there and made both of his NBA All-Star Games with the Pacers.

He played for the Pacers since the 2017-18 campaign after starting his career with the Orlando Magic and Oklahoma City Thunder and helped lead them to the playoffs in each of the last three years.

Indiana will have to return without him this season, but it has a talented young core with Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon and, now, Caris LeVert.