The Pacers have one roster spot open as their roster currently stands with free agency starting at 6 p.m. tonight. While they can make moves via trade to open up more slots, there is one archetype that they absolutely have to add to the team before the start of next season.
A 6’5” wing that can play both the two and the three!
Just kidding to those of you that didn’t instantly close this window 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 both of these players would likely signal some other players leaving, there are plenty of players even in a weaker free agency class that would make perfect sense as additions that fit precisely what everyone knows they are missing: a 6’8ish dude that can play small and power forward.
“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 position on the roster still needs more competition.
One thing we know is that the Pacers are going to spend some money. Teams that don’t reach the salary floor have real consequences for the first time if they aren’t at 90% of the salary cap before the first day of the regular season. Teams that don’t reach the floor only get 50% of their share of luxury tax payments (goes down to 0% in 2024-25) and they still have to pay what I’ll call a cheap tax (the amount is the salary floor minus the team’s salary cap number) that gets shared evenly between every player in the NBA (instead of the previous CBA’s method of splitting that money between a team’s own players).
According to Bobby Marks, the Pacers need to increase their overall salary total by $18.5 million to reach the floor. They have a little over $30 million in cap space currently.
So who would be good options to spend at least some of that cap room on? Let’s flip through the market in search of some players that fit that combo forward mold and can play on both ends of the floor at both positions.
The Big Swings on Possible Long-Term Fits
These are the players that are going to cost something to acquire: a large contract, giving up some assets in a trade, or possibly both. I think there are seven players that fit:
- Trade Options: OG Anunoby, De’Andre Hunter, Jaden McDaniels
- Restricted Free Agents: Cam Johnson, PJ Washington
- Unrestricted Free Agents: Khris Middleton, Jerami Grant
Among the trade options, OG Anunoby would be expensive by all accounts and risky with just one year remaining on his deal. The Raptors seem to have no desire to move him but if the Pacers were able to make it happen I’d have to trust that Tyrese told Kevin Pritchard and company that Anunoby wants to be here long term. Him switching agencies from Klutch to CAA certainly can’t be seen as a negative from the Pacers POV.
Jaden McDaniels might be the most intriguing to me though the Wolves may have no interest in trading him and if they did it would probably take a large bounty. His defense both at the point of attack and as a help defender plus his still improving offensive game would be exactly what the Pacers need. He can defend all the way down to the one as we saw against the Pacers when he defended Haliburton and at 6’9” he has the size to defend larger wings that have long been Indiana’s kryptonite.
We’ve heard rumors on Hunter already that the Pacers have talked with the Hawks. He’s on a reasonable long term contract for a quality wing who can capably play on both ends. The concern with him is that he missed a lot of games over his first four seasons.
With the restricted free agents, you could maybe quarrel with me putting PJ Washington on this list as his ability to play down to the 3 on both ends may be questionable but he’s shown enough ball skills and defensive ability for me to have him here.
Cam Johnson is a really good shooter with the Suns finals appearance as playoff experience that fits the bill but as a RFA you’d have to try to overpay to maybe 4 years, $110-120 million to get the Nets to question whether or not they should sign him.
The unrestricted free agents are older but I included them in the long term possibilities because it would likely take a 4-year big offer to lure them away from their current teams. These would be big swings at moving up a step in the NBA hierarchy immediately with more seasoned veterans. Reports are that Middleton is likely to reach a new agreement with the Bucks and his recent injury would make me nervous about a large contract to the 31 year old. Grant fits the timeline of the rest of the group a little better at 29 and fits what the team needs on both ends. They would both be very expensive to the point where they may have to shed additional salary to sign them.
Short-Term Veteran Starters
- Trade: Tobias Harris
- UFA: Harrison Barnes—nevermind as Barnes has re-signed with the Kings for 3 years, $54 million according to Woj.
Tobias Harris is on the last year of a massive contract and will be making $40 million this season and will then be a free agent. By all accounts, the Sixers have been in no rush to trade him as a salary dump and now will be focusing on trading James Harden, who has opted in to the final year of his contract and will look to be dealt. Would something like Buddy Hield and Philly favorite TJ McConnell make any sense for the Sixers? Maybe. Harris would make sense as a stop gap veteran combo forward and the Pacers would be able to maintain cap flexibility into next off-season to either re-sign Harris or go after younger wings in free agency.
My favorite of these two options would have been Harrison Barnes, who has connections with both Rick Carlisle and Tyrese Haliburton and could have been signed as a free agent without giving up anything but cap space. I would have been okay with overpaying him significantly for one season (or maybe a 2-year deal with a small partial guarantee in second season) in order to be well above the salary floor and keep the team’s options open for next summer—but alas he returns to the Kings.
Not quite as big of swings but still long-term options:
- Trade: Jonathan Kuminga, Dorian Finney-Smith
- RFA: Herb Jones, Rui Hachimura
- UFA: Kyle Kuzma
I like the idea of all of these guys to an extent with them all fitting what the Pacers need to varying degrees but they all may come with a cost that’s more than you would like to pay. The Warriors are unlikely to give up Kuminga without some premium assets and as much as people talk about his potential he hasn’t been able to showcase it yet in Golden State. Dorian Finney-Smith is under a team-friendly contract for at least two more seasons before he has a player option for 2025-26. He would be the ideal 3-and-D role player as a combo forward to add to the Pacers but the Nets may have no interest in dealing him. He did slump a lot once he was traded to the Nets as he made just 35% of his shots in Brooklyn perhaps missing the easy looks provided by Luka Doncic.
The Pelicans declined a team option on Herb Jones to make him a restricted free agent. The Pelicans are limited to 4 years, $51 million for what they can offer themselves but they are still able to match any potential offer sheet that another team comes up with. Jones is limited on the offensive end but he’s a defensive stopper at the perfect position for the Pacers.
I’m not as big on Hachimura and it would be hard to trust a few good playoff games enough to commit the bag to him that it would take for the Lakers not to match. The Wizards were eager to give up on him for second-round picks.
Kyle Kuzma wants to be paid with rumors that he is seeking $30 million per season. The Pacers have the money to do it but you’re committing to him being your third-best player at that price point and it’s hard to see the Pacers getting to where they want to go with that being the case. He’s a good player that would surely bond with Myles Turner over fashion.
Young players with some upside
- Trade: Kenyon Martin Jr.
- UFA: Jalen McDaniels, Darius Bazley
These are young guys that could have plenty of room left to grow, the type of guys that are worth taking a chance on. I would be very interested in seeing what Martin looks like on a non-Rockets team as an athletic 6’7” dynamo. Some places list him at 6’6” but he’s played a lot of minutes at the four. It’s hard to say what it would take to get him since he’ll be an UFA next season and makes only $1.8 million currently. McDaniels didn’t contribute much to the Sixers in the playoffs but his length is still very appealing.
Veteran Bench Role Players
- UFA: Taurean Prince, Joe Ingles, Yuta Watanabe
These are the vets that are probably just going to continue to be the role players they are at this point. Joe Ingles could serve the dual purpose of adding an old wily veteran while still being able to contribute minutes of the bench. Prince and Watanabe are both solid if unspectacular role players that would be worthy of a rotation spot potentially.
The Pacers have plenty of options. They’ve probably discussed hundreds of possible paths to try and take this summer. Tonight, we get to see where they begin (after the hopefully quickly announced max extension for Tyrese Haliburton).
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