I guess the only point we disagree on is, how much rim protection we need to be able to make Domas work.
You are writing "helping protecting the rim A BIT". A bit is not going to cut it.
After all i have seen from Domas, and having LaVine to share to court with him, we need proper rim protection.
A guy that can keep their backs clean, at all times. On the other hand, he already played with Myles Turner, who kind of is the perfect player next to him, as he can protect the rim, is agile and can spread the floor. It didnt work out though.
Who is that:
Tier 1:
Chet
Wemby
Mobley
Myles Turner (in theory, in reality, it already failed)
Embiid
Tier 2:
JJJ
Porzingis
Gobert
Tier 3:
Hartenstein
Pöltl
Kessler
etc.
I dont think any of these are gettable with the assets we have.
Maybe Pöltl or Kessler.
But then, again, Sabonis already had Myles Turner, who is the perfect player to complement his skillset and a two way star in Oladipo, and that team did not work out, as we know.
To the Houston defense:
It worked when they used their "magic zone" and only because of Sengun showing good defensive playmaking and running his ass off.
I have never seen Sabonis running out to the 3 point line, back into the zone, closing down passing lanes, etc.
The other times it worked for Houston was when Adams shared the floor with Sengun.
I disagree that Turner is the perfect player next to him simply because Turner is a C and not best when defending PFs (Sabonis needs to defend the C spot). In fact, a lot of your list are Cs that would be out of place being asked to guard PFs every night. The list of players that would be good fits at PF next to Sabonis would be guys like Jaren Jackson Jr, Evan Mobley, Chet Holmgren, Victor Wembanyama, OG Anunoby, Aaron Gordon, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Johnson, PJ Washington, Dorian Finney-Smith, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, Jaden McDaniels, etc. All of those guys have (at least) good size & length, can defend the PF position at a good level, is a versatile defender, can help with rim protection, and can space the floor.
As for you rim protection point, I'm not saying rim protection is not important, but if you surround Sabonis with a couple of long, athletic forwards who can help protect the rim, the rim protection component can be passable and if you combine that with a defensive roster that is strong in other areas on that side of the ball (defections, turning the other team over, preventing transition defense, preventing penetration, closing out effectively, etc.), you can put together a solid defense. Putting Murray and Washington next to Sabonis allows that rim protection component to at least be passable IMO considering their size, length, athleticism, and the rim protection skills they have shown to date. For instance last year, Murray averaged 1.0 BLKs per 36 min last year and Washington averaged 1.2 BLKs per 36 min. That's really all you can ask for without lucking into drafting a unicorn (like Jaren Jackson Jr) or emptying the warchest to try and trade for one.
Let's also put it this way...of the top 10 defenses this year, 6 of those defenses were not top 10 in blocks per game. And to take that further, 2 of those 6 defenses were not in the top 15 and and another 2 of those 6 defenses were not even in the top 25. In fact, the team with the fewest blocks per game (Miami) was the 9th best defense this year.
Now blocks per game aren't the only form of rim protection. You can obviously deter shots without putting your hand physically on the ball. Looking across the past 2 years of data and filtering to only look at defended shots that came from closer than 6ft, below is their opponent's defensive field goal % and the delta from their opponent's typical field goal % for each of those 3 guys...
Opponents 0-6ft FG% when defended by
Murray = 56.2% (6.5% lower than their opponent's typical FG% from 0-6ft)
Opponents 0-6ft FG% when defended by
Washington = 57.6% (5.9% lower than their opponent's typical FG% from 0-6ft)
Opponents 0-6ft FG% when defended by
Sabonis = 59.6% (4.3% lower than their opponent's typical FG% from 0-6ft)
So technically, all 3 of those guys hold their defenders to a lower 0-6ft FG% than they usually shoot, and Murray and Washington are better than Sabonis at doing that (hence they can help him with the rim protection component of the defense).
I think your recollection on the Indiana situation is a bit murky. Let's go through it...
2017-18
A 21 year old Sabonis (entering his sophomore season) and 25 year old Victor Oladipo were traded to Indiana.
Oladipo breaks out and averages 23/5/4 with a .577 TS% and leads his team to a 5th seed with a 48-34 record. He makes the all star team, 3rd team all nba, 1st team all defense, wins most improved player, and is 15th in MVP voting. Certainly an intriguing two way star on the rise.
Sabonis, on the other hand, is entering his sophomore season and averages 12/8/2 with a .567 TS% (averaging 24.5 mpg) coming off the bench. Hardly a core piece at this point in his career, but a solid contributor.
2018-19
A 26 year old Oladipo is just now entering his prime and coming off of his breakout season. His numbers fell off a fair amount as he averaged 19/5/6 with a .519 TS%. Definitely not the star in the making that some were hoping for, but if that wasn't depressing enough, Oladipo ruptured his quadriceps tendon in January of 2019 and would be out the rest of the season (and potentially the entire 2019-20 season).
Despite the Oladipo regression and injury, the progression from the 22 year old Turner (5th in DPOY voting that year) and the 22 year old Sabonis (runner up in 6MOY voting this year) allowed them to still grab the 5th seed with a 48-34 record (although, they did not have their lead cog/star for the playoffs to help them advance).
As I alluded to, 22 year old Sabonis was still a bench player (although now a very good bench player due to the 6MOY voting). He averaged 14/9/3 with a .590 TS% (averaging 24.8 MPG). He's still not the player he is today.
2019-20
A 27 year old Oladipo is out with his serious injury for almost the entire year (the guy that is supposed to be "the guy"), but 23 year old Turner and 23 year old Sabonis continue to progress (in fact, this is the year Sabonis makes his first all star team by averaging 18/12/5 with a .586 TS% logging 35 MPG). Not to mention, Malcolm Brogdon and TJ Warren are added to the roster which are solid players to fit around Sabonis, Turner, and Oladipo (if he can come back healthy and return to his 2017-18 form).
The team ends up finishing 4th in the standings with a 45-28 roster (which technically was a 50 win pace if it wasn't for the shortened season) despite not having a true #1 star next to Sabonis. Oladipo is able to come back from his serious injury towards the end of his season, but isn't the same caliber player he looked like during his 2017-18 season.
2020-21
The next season rolls around and it's becoming clearer and clearer that Oladipo won't be able to return to form. The Pacers move on from him and his large contract for LeVert and some low value picks.
The rest of the season doesn't go too well as guys like Turner, Brogdon, Warren, etc. miss a significant amount of time leading to them finishing 9th with a 34-38 record.
2021-22
Next season rolls around and it's clear the Pacers are looking to rebuild/reset now that they moved on from the guy they thought would be their #1 guy. They make the "famous" trade of moving Sabonis for Haliburton and end the season with the 13th seed and a 25-57 record.
So as you can see, your comments around Sabonis' time in Indiana are misleading at best. When Oladipo was at his best, Sabonis was a 21 year old sophomore coming off the bench. When Sabonis grew his game and made his first all star team, Oladipo was out for almost the entire year and no longer the same player when he came back.
I bet the conversation would be very different if a Brogdon, 2017-18 version of Oladipo, Warren, Sabonis, & Turner were able to play together during that 2019-20 season. Again, that team was a 4th seed that year despite not having a true star/#1 guy on the roster for basically the entire year.