Indiana Pacers May Trade West, Hill to Go After Goran Dragic

The Indiana Pacers have been linked to Goran Dragic since last Summer. And now that the guard has all but demanded a trade by telling the Phoenix Suns he will not re-sign with them this off-season, Indiana has been listed as one potential trade destination for Dragic.

But a report from Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report says that Indiana may not go after Dragic before the deadline. Instead he says, the Pacers will try to unload one of their high-salaried players to make a run at Dragic in July.

"The Indiana Pacers are looking to move one of their high-priced veterans, league sources say, in order to create salary-cap room to pursue Dragic, should he be available this summer. Power forward David West and point guard George Hill have been mentioned as available, and although center Roy Hibbert has not, the Pacers’ interest in Dragic is believed to be strong enough that they’d move anyone other than Paul George to create the necessary cap space to get him."

Bucher has been around the NBA block for a long time. But the logistics of this strategy seem dubious at best.

We already broke down the financial realities of acquiring and re-signing Goran Dragic. Spoiler alert: They aren’t pretty.

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The Indiana Pacers already have roughly $53 million committed to their “core four” for next season, presuming David West and Roy Hibbert pick up their player options this Summer (as they are expected to do). Throw in the money already allotted to C.J. Miles and Ian Mahinmi — another $8.4 million — and the team is now up to $61.4 million in payroll for six players. Toss in Solomon Hill and Damjan Rudez and you’re up to $63.9 million for eight players.

If the Indiana Pacers deal West (and get nothing but expiring deals back), they still have nearly $50 million in salary committed for 2015-16. We still don’t know what the salary cap will be next season, but it is sure to be lower than $70 million. So dealing West for literally nothing really doesn’t even begin to clear enough cap space to bring on Dragic plus fill out the roster another five to seven players.

Sure, you could theoretically sign Dragic then pick up five guys on a minimal salary, but that’s not a realistic thing for any team to do, let alone the Pacers. And it sounds like the some team out there is going to throw a max deal at Dragic, which would start around $20 million.

So if the Indiana Pacers actually wanted to go this route, they would have to probably clear out both David West and George Hill to create enough cap room to offer a four-year max contract at Dragic.

And then they would have to hope Dragic would decide to sign with Indiana instead of any of the various other teams — which play in the capital of the world or sunny California.

RUMOR: Pacers May Trade Core Player to Make Cap Room to Sign Goran Dragic This Summer

By Jared Wade | Feb 18, 2015

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