NBA's Playoff Contenders Should Look to Trade with the Indiana Pacers
As the trade deadline approaches, each franchise needs to do their own calculus on buying and selling. Two weeks ago, we took a look at what might be out there if the Indiana Pacers decided to become sellers and shake up their core.
The Pacers still have their eyes on the playoffs. Solomon Hill talked about it with Pacers.com's Greg Rapaport after a recent loss to the Pistons, “Every game is a real big game to us, but it's about what game can really put us in that playoff picture.”
Even if the Pacers want to keep their core together in a fight to make the playoffs, they could still make an intriguing trade partner for plenty of teams ahead of them in the standings. Committing to the same foundation, now and into next season, doesn't preclude them from acquiring future assets for some of their fringe contributors. Especially players who might not even be with the team beyond this season.
What the Pacers have to offer is not game-changing talent. Still, there are plenty of players on their roster who could add depth or fill a specific skill need for a playoff team.
Below, you'll find three possible trade scenarios. They are not based on rumors or reporting, simply a sense of what's plausible for the Pacers and the other teams involved.
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: C.J. Miles (SG), Lavoy Allen (PF)
Indiana Pacers Receive: Meyers Leonard (C), C.J. McCollum (PG/SG)
Although the Blazers' bench has been better this season, they are still really thin on the wing. With LaMarcus Aldridge trying to battle through a thumb injury and avoid surgery, they also suddenly have a lot of eggs in the Joel Freeland basket.
Miles has struggled this season, but he shot 38.8 percent on three-pointers his two previous seasons in Cleveland. He's also a capable perimeter defender and can swing between either wing position, depending on the matchup. His deal has three more years on it, but at an extremely reasonable rate of about $4 million per season.
Lavoy Allen has been a minor revelation—putting up some of the best offensive rebounding numbers in the league, playing physical interior defense and flashing a respectable pick-and-pop game. He's not a star, or even a star-in-waiting. But as a fourth big (or third if things go south with Aldridge's thumb), he would be a clear step up from Freeland or Thomas Robinson. He's also a free agent at the end of this season, requiring no commitment from the Blazers.
Leonard and McCollum are two former lottery picks who have become mostly irrelevant to the Blazers' present. Leonard has been around long enough that he's probably not a part of their future either. However, they are just 23 and 22, respectively.
From the Pacers' perspective, neither Miles nor Allen is irreplaceable moving forward. In exchange for moving them to the Blazers, a team that needs them right now, Indiana gets a chance to try out two talented young players and see if they can grow them into something useful.
McCollum's potential ability to slide between either backcourt position, hitting outside shots and creating for his teammates, is something the team really needs on the bench. Leonard is active and mobile. While he hasn't been particularly effective in the defensive scheme the Blazers play (which is very similar to the Pacers'), there is always the chance more reps and some coaching tweaks could get him there.
Cleveland Cavaliers Receive: Ian Mahinmi (C), Donald Sloan (PG)
Indiana Pacers Receive: Mike Miller (SG), Matthew Dellavedova (SG), Future Second-Round Pick
The Cavaliers traded for Timofey Mozgov to help shore up their interior defense. He has helped, but their defense can still use work. Mahinmi is fairly limited as a player, but he's mobile and defends the rim well. The Cavaliers have also been moving towards a more conservative defensive system, getting closer and closer to the way the Pacers play.
Like Mozgov, Mahinmi isn't going to solve all of the Cavaliers' defensive problems. But he has playoff experience, and for 12 minutes a game he can run around and be disruptive to help spell the rest of the front-court rotation. Both Mozgov and Love have injury histories and if either of them went down, Tristan Thompson is the only other playable big.
Since Dion Waiters was moved, the Cavaliers have also been in need of some depth at point guard. Dellevadova has been masquerading as a point guard with the second-unit but the results have been less than ideal. Sloan has been a solid fill-in behind the oft-injured George Hill and C.J. Watson. He has shown enough penetration and creation abilities to prove his utility, but not nearly enough to make him indispensable to the Pacers.
It might be hard, emotionally, to let Miller go given his relationship with LeBron James and the role James played in recruiting him. Still, this is a business and if cutting ties with Miller helps fill a need elsewhere and makes the team better in the aggregate, it should be a no-brainer.
Neither player moves the needle much for the Pacers, although giving Dellavedova a look as a second-unit offensive initiator seems like a worthy experiment. Mahinmi only has one more year on his contract. In exchange for finding his replacement one year earlier, the Pacers get to experiment with Dellavedova and a second-round pick for their troubles.
Detroit Pistons Receive: Chris Copeland (SF), Damjan Rudez (SF), C.J. Watson (PG)
Indiana Pacers Receive: Jonas Jerebko (PF), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (SG)
This deal is probably the trickiest, as the Detroit Pistons are caught between riding a wave of surprisingly good basketball and remaking this roster for the future. Assuming the Pistons are interested in pushing for the playoffs this season, without sacrificing any flexibility down the road, this deal has a lot to offer.
With Brandon Jennings likely done for the season, the Pistons need some depth at point guard. Watson, who is a free agent at the end of this season, is experienced, a good outside shooter and a more than capable defender. He is not an exceptional facilitator, but he can offer some depth without taking much off the table.
Copeland and Rudez both reinforce the Pistons' newfound commitment to spacing and are able to hit three-pointers and slide between either forward position on defense. Copeland's deal is up at the end of season. Rudez has two more years, but only at just over $1 million each.
Caldwell-Pope has been mostly disastrous, a shooting guard who has never demonstrated the ability to shoot. More than 3,000 minutes into his NBA career, he's still shooting under 40 percent from the field. It might be difficult for the Pistons to admit taking him in the lottery was a mistake, but it appears that may be inevitable. For the Pacers, it's another opportunity to take a low-risk flyer on a young wing talent.
Jerebko is also extremely interesting for the Pacers. He is a free agent at the end of this season, so there again is no financial risk. He's played well for the Pistons since Josh Smith was released, but did little in the prior seasons that would inflate his price this summer.
He can shoot threes, swing between either forward position and is a much more physical defender than either Copeland or Rudez. The Pacers have been committed to interior play from their frontcourt players, but a few months of Jerebko might make for an interesting look at what a more spread-out attack could look like.
Ultimately, there is nothing here that obviously swings the fortunes of any of these franchises. For the playoff teams, these deals are a chance to tinker at the margins and make some small improvements as they look towards the post season.
For the Pacers, these deals are all a chance to stay competitive while trading expiring contracts for low-risk looks at some possibly high-reward players. The idea of being trade deadline sellers, even of marginal pieces, may not be that attractive to Indiana. But the alternative is to find themselves replaying the same offseason goals they've had the past few years—looking in the NBA's bargain bin for the missing piece.
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