The Indiana Pacers are reportedly “strongly weighing” offering a contract of 3 years in the $48 million range to Max Strus, according to a report from Marc Stein.
Stein isn’t the only reporter to have mentioned the Pacers as a possible Strus suitor. Jake Fischer included Strus among possible targets for the team in free agency and Zach Lowe mentioned on his podcast that some people think that the Pacers will be a team that goes over the mid-level exception in an offer to the Heat’s shooter to lure him away from contending teams vying for his services.
There’s one problem with this potential move as the Pacers roster currently stands: they really don’t need another 6’5” wing that can play the shooting guard and small forward positions. Indiana has the following players that will spend plenty of their time on the floor at those positions right now: Bennedict Mathurin, Buddy Hield, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Chris Duarte, and Ben Sheppard.
So a Strus pursuit only makes sense if the Pacers are moving at least one of those six players and maybe even two. As it stands now, the team only has one available roster spot and one clear position that could use more depth.
“I would probably say the 3/4 spot is where I maybe see a hole where it would be good to place another player,” Pacers GM Chad Buchanan told 107.5 The Fan when asked what one position do they need more competition at in an interview the day after the draft.
It’s clear the Pacers see what everyone else does. They need more guys that can play both forward positions with some size. Jarace Walker is probably much more likely to move up a position to the five than move down to the three in lineups. Right now, the only guys that fit that bill of being able to play small and power forward for the team are Jordan Nwora and Kendall Brown. Maybe Nesmith since he was thrown out there often as an undersized four last season.
So IF the Pacers are truly interested in the Miami wing, I’m going to trust that there are other moves they have planned that go alongside that one. They’ve also been connected to Harrison Barnes and Grant Williams in rumors as well but none with any contract details thrown out there.
Whether or not the Pacers should want Strus long term in a vacuum is another story. Personally, I’d be weary that Strus isn’t going to look as good once he’s outside of Erik Spoelstra’s system and the Heat culture of it all. It’s not easy to think of a player the Heat found on the fringes of the league, turned them into a good role player, and then they continued to ascend once they left the organization and got paid. Even some of the guys that got paid to stay in Miami have taken a step back after getting their deal.
He has one great season shooting 41% from 3 on good volume (2021-22), one league average 35% season from 3 (2022-23), and a half season of below average 33.8% during his time in Miami. In the playoffs, he’s struggled and shot just 32.8% from deep over eight playoff series. While he would bring needed playoff experience, he himself hasn’t always performed well in those games as he made just six of his 32 attempts (18.8%) in the NBA Finals. Strus has been a good piece for the Heat and shown that he can be a capable defender on a good team defense but I’m not sure he adds anything that this Pacers team is lacking currently.
It’s also possible that Strus’s agent is using the Pacers as a rumored interest since they are one of the few teams with cap space to try and up his market above the MLE. It’s hard to see why anyone from the Pacers would want this leaking out before free agency begins so they can get charged with tampering and lose a second-round pick if they actually do sign him.
The wording here in the reporting was careful though where Stein said they were heavily weighing offering him the contract and not that they had already done so. I’m sure the Pacers front office is heavily weighing many different free agent paths right now. That’s kind of their job—to consider all possible options that lay before them.
It brings back memories of the Pacers being the oft-rumored favorite to sign Ricky Rubio days before free agency began in 2019. That, of course, never ended up happening as they signed Malcolm Brogdon instead. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens on Friday night at 6 p.m. when free agency officially begins.
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[…] after missing the sarcasm. Obviously the Pacers have an abundance of those type of players and are rumored to be interested in another couple in Max Strus according to multiple reports and recent NBA Champion Bruce Brown according to Marc Stein. While neither of those make complete […]
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[…] also reported specific details of a contract they could offer Max Strus and says they are the leading team at the moment to pry Obi Toppin from the Knicks via trade. […]
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