NBA Rumors: Is Mike Dunleavy On The Trade Block?

It came to surprise to some that T.J. Ford will not be traded or on the block. But, surprisingly, small forward Mike Dunleavy is on the trade block even though he plays well in Jim O’Brien’s system and offense.

Though it doesn’t come to much of a surprise due to the fact that Dunleavy has been through some injury problems lately. Dunleavy also takes a bunch of cap space with his $10.5 million.

Here’s what Mike Wells says from the Indianapolis Star:

“The Pacers have a logjam at the wing spot with the addition of Paul George last month. The problem the Pacers are running into with Dunleavy is that he’ll make $10.5 million next season and there are concerns about whether he can regain his touch from the 2007-08 season when he averaged 19.1 points and shot nearly 48 percent from the field.”

The Pacers say they are hearing calls from numerous NBA teams on power forward Troy Murphy. But they can’t trade him due to health concerns of the other power forwards/centers like Jeff Foster and Tyler Hansbrough. The Pacers hope to land a point guard in any trade they try to make.

We’ve got a lot of young talent that’s needing experience,” said president Larry Bird. “You like to see if we can get something done, especially at the point position.”

Lance Stephenson so far is the answer and if he plays well, not too much is to worry about. But Indy could use a solid back-up. However, expiring contracts are coming in next year’s off-season, so there will be a lot of opportunities there.

Indy is going to clear a lot of cap space there. It’s going to be interesting.