It’s an NBA holiday: trade deadline day. While the biggest in-season deals have likely already happened for both the Pacers and the league in general, you never know what may happen in the final hours leading up to the 3 p.m. deadline.
To discuss what the Indiana Pacers deadline plans, I joined Tony East of Sports Illustrated on the Locked on Pacers podcast to discuss the team’s possible thinking heading into the deadline and ranking the rostered players by least likely to be dealt and most likely to be dealt.
While it feels unlikely that any major moves are coming for the Pacers tomorrow, they do have two open roster spots with James Johnson’s 10-day contract coming to an end (he’s widely expected to be re-signed for the remainder of the season after the deadline if they have the roster space). So, it is possible the Pacers could trade away one player and take back three more.
Here’s how I ranked the roster from least likely to dealt. More detailed explanations as well as East’s rankings in the podcast.
The Untouchable and Basically Untouchable
- Tyrese Haliburton
- Pascal Siakam
Duh. Not much explanation needed here. These are the two stars the Pacers are building around.
The Great Contracts/Solid Starters
- 3. Myles Turner
- 4. Aaron Nesmith
You could talk me into either of these guys being switched. Nesmith has been phenomenal all season and his contract extension being at $11 million for the next three years after this one is just an absolute bargain.
The High-Level Prospects
- 5. Andrew Nembhard
- 6. Bennedict Mathurin
- 7. Jarace Walker
These are the guys that were rumored to be coveted by the Raptors that the Pacers were unwilling to give up so if they aren’t giving them up for a star in Siakam, you know it’s going to take someone incredibly good to entice the front office into a deal.
Lower-Tier Prospects
- 8. Ben Sheppard
- 9. Isaiah Jackson
Jackson perhaps a spot or two high but I moved him up slightly for the sake of fitting the tiers. I do think with two years left on his deal and Jalen Smith likely hitting free agency that there’s a scenario where he could be the backup center next season.
Veterans with expiring contracts or partial guarantees
- 10. T.J. McConnell
- 11. Buddy Hield
Young Players that will be free agents in the summer
- 12. Jalen Smith
- 13. Obi Toppin
Most people probably see Buddy Hield as the most likely to be moved which is a fair take. I explain my reasoning in the podcast for why I don’t expect him to be dealt tomorrow. While I expect it to be a quiet day for the Pacers, Obi Toppin is my most likely to be dealt because his role has gotten smaller as time has gone on this season and with Jarace Walker stuck behind him, it feels much less likely that the Pacers will try and keep him this summer when he’s a RFA. Jalen Smith has been phenomenal this year but he’s also got a player option this summer that he’s likely to decline and may be hard for the Pacers to retain.
On the podcast, we also discuss whether the 76ers slide down the standings changes the Pacers approach to the deadline with the 5th-seed being more attainable, recent comments from teammates about Buddy Hield, and more.
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