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NBA Trade Rumors: Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon Deals Considered by Pacers
March 23, 2021
The Indiana Pacers are reportedly open to considering trades for Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon ahead of Thursday's deadline.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports reported Brogdon, in particular, could be a trade piece as the Pacers look to hand the primary ball-handling duties to Caris LeVert. Goodwill's report says teams are "monitoring" Sabonis, who seems highly unlikely to be moved by the deadline.
Brogdon is putting together a career-best season in 2020-21, averaging 21.6 points, 6.1 assists and 4.7 rebounds while knocking down nearly 40 percent of his threes. He and Sabonis have been Indiana's offensive catalysts in what's been a frustrating, injury-filled campaign for most of the roster.
The Pacers are 19-23 and tied for ninth place in the Eastern Conference heading into Tuesday night.
Brogdon is in the second season of a four-year, $85 million contract that seemed like a slight overpay at the time but now looks like a solid value. The Pacers could find a number of contenders willing to part with young players and draft picks in order to add Brogdon's combination of ball-handling, shooting and perimeter defense.
Finding the right trade package may be difficult over the next 48 hours. It may be smarter for Indiana to play through a holding pattern into the offseason when more teams will have tradeable contracts or cap space they'd be willing to spend on Brogdon.
The idea of moving Sabonis at this point, following two straight All-Star appearances, seems more like wishful thinking from teams. Sabonis is a 24-year-old building block signed to a well below-max contract through 2023-24; it would take a massive haul for the Pacers to even consider moving on.