Miles Plumlee Rumor: Should the Pacers Throw in Their Hat?

Miles Plumlee of the Phoenix Suns is on the trade block, according to Marc Stein of ESPN. It seems as though there just isn’t any room in the team’s crowded front court for ol’ Plumdog, who had a breakout campaign last year playing within Jeff Hornacek’s up-and-down pace.

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But this season, both Markief Morris, Marcus Morris, and Alex Len are all playing more minutes per game than Plumlee. And with the Suns’ recent acquisition of Brandan Wright, Plumlee might even fall further from his current slot as the fourth big man in Hornacek’s rotation.

The result is an unhappy Plumlee and a team that is willing to find him a team with more playing time in exchange for an asset they value more, preferably a first-round draft pick, per Stein’s ESPN article.

"The Phoenix Suns are actively shopping big man Miles Plumlee in advance of the Feb. 19 trade deadline, according to league sources.Sources told ESPN.com ‎that the Suns are working in conjunction with Plumlee’s agent, Mark Bartelstein, to try to find a new home for the third-year center, who has seen his playing time steadily dwindle as the season has progressed."

Here is the part about Phoenix’s desire to trade Miles Plumlee for a pick.

"The Suns are believed to be seeking at least one future first-round pick for the 26-year-old, who was selected 26th overall by Indiana in ‎the 2012 draft, one year before brother Mason was selected No. 22 overall by Brooklyn in the 2013 draft."

Should the Indiana Pacers be in the market for Plumlee?

He probably isn’t a foundational big man, but Larry Bird obviously saw something in the less-heralded Plumlee brother when he drafted him in 2012. And that value was proven to a degree last year when Plumlee started producing during his sophomore campaign in the NBA.

Then again, if the Pacers gave up a draft pick to re-acquire Plumlee then it would mean the team has invested two picks (the future one and the one they actually used on him) in a player who may only be a fringe starter in the NBA. And if you include the 2014 first round pick that they sent to Phoenix along with Plumlee and Gerald Green in the trade that got them Luis Scola, we’re talking about three picks.

More than simply being about Miles Plumlee, however, this potential opportunity speaks to how the Pacers need to approach the trade deadline this season and in the summer. David West is old, and the team needs to start thinking about its future front court.

They must be calculating and really decide which player(s) will fill the gaps they think they need to fill. The future lies in Paul George. That’s it. Whether Roy Hibbert, George Hill, and Solomon Hill fit into that future is still up for debate, and pivoting towards or away from one or all of those guys can make complete sense depending on what tack Bird and Frank Vogel want to go in.

So the idea of slotting Miles Plumlee into that future is more of a good philosophical question for this front office. Is Plumlee a guy they think they can mold into a good, semi-low-cost option going forward? Does his familiarity with the system make him more valuable in the sense that he can contribute both next year (in what is likely to be the final PG, West, Roy, Hill campaign) and in the longer term?

Or is this just a time to make a call to Phoenix, see if there is any chance to wrest away Goran Dragic along with Plumlee and then cut bait if only Plumlee is available? It’s always nice to have a mobile, versatile, athletic big man with a solid skill set in the modern NBA, but obviously we’re not talking about Rudy Gobert or even Steven Adams. Plumlee is also already 26 years old and will need a new contract soon.

What say, ye, smart Pacers fans? Is Miles Plumlee worth going after? And at what price?

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Should the Pacers Try to Trade for Miles Plumlee?

By Jared Wade | Jan 20, 2015