The Indiana Pacers have been active in the trade deadline by using their cap space to help facilitate deals for other teams. The Milwaukee Bucks are sending them Jordan Nwora, George Hill, and Serge Ibaka and three second-round picks. The Bucks are getting Jae Crowder from the Nets and the Nets are getting either two or three second-round picks. This is according to reports from both Woj and Shams.
It is unclear what the Pacers are sending out in this deal or deals. The Pacers have to send out something to make the trade legal. It could be cash considerations, it could be the top-55 protected second-round pick from the Spurs, it could be players, or it could be the draft rights to an international player that will never actually come to the league.
The Pacers are also now at 17 players on the current roster after having waived Goga Bitadze so they’ll still need to do something with two players on the roster. It’s possible that both Ibaka and Hill could be immediately waived depending on how the transactions are structured and ordered but it may be more likely that the Pacers send out at least one player to Milwaukee or the Nets, waive one or two and then possibly buyout the veterans at a later time. Don’t be surprised if one or two of Terry Taylor, Oshae Brissett, or James Johnson end up being let go to make these trades work depending on what else the Pacers are able to do before the deadline. Update: Jake Fischer reported that Terry Taylor is being waived and Tony East of Sports Illustrated confirmed it.
Nwora is the intriguing part of the deal for the Pacers. He’s a big wing! The Pacers desperately need bodies that are his general size and he’s still pretty young at just 24 years old. He’s shooting better this year from behind the arc at 39.2% than he is when he’s inside the arc at 37.9% but he’s a nice flier to take on a third-year player averaging 6 points in 15 minutes per game.
The Pacers don’t need any more combo-sized guards but it would be a second homecoming for George Hill who was the player the Pacers originally acquired for the draft pick that was Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs and Hill was the starting point guard for the last great Pacers teams that challenged the Heat in the conference finals in consecutive seasons nearly 10 years ago.
Serge Ibaka had asked the Bucks for a trade after he fell out of the rotation and he joins a very crowded center group in Indiana which makes it even more likely that he is ultimately bought out or waived.
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