8p9s Roundtable: What Will the Pacers Do Before the Trade Deadline?

Do you expect the Indiana Pacers to make a minor move before the deadline?

Donahue: Not really. They’ll be active, but they don’t have a lot of easy trading assets. They do have all of their picks, but they shouldn’t be spending those on marginal moves. I think it will be a quiet deadline for your Indiana Pacers.

Furr: I don’t think the Pacers will make a minor move. The Pacers have a lot of guys the front office is keen on in different roles, and their end-of-the-bench players (Donald Sloan, Shayne Whittington, Lavoy Allen) have all shown flashes this year and gotten praise from the guys upstairs. It would be strange to see Bird flip any of them unless it’s a part of a bigger shakeup.

There are not a lot of options out there currently, but with how the Pacers season has played out, I think they’ll stay active on the phones.

Medworth: I would not be surprised if Larry was able to make a small tweak to the lineup before the deadline. There are not a lot of options out there currently, but with how the Pacers season has played out, I think they’ll stay active on the phones. They’re still only two games out of the 7th and 8th seed, so if there is something Larry wants, he’ll get it.

Ochoa: The Pacers will probably remain sedentary through the trade deadline. I don’t see any changes occurring, and I’m definitely O.K. with that. When Paul George returns, he’ll come back to an Indiana Pacers team with a more experienced bench than he’s ever seen. The Pacers will also have some solid draft picks, too. It could be a good thing to just ride it out and work with what they have.

Washburn: No. The Pacers are in a weird spot, really. Of course, the current healthy team isn’t a contender, but they really only have one weakness: wing play. Ian Mahinmi and Luis Scola are both above-average backups in the front court, and Lavoy Allen gives them a solid five-man frontcourt rotation that few teams have. C.J. Watson is a very good backup, and George Hill is obviously a quality starter when healthy. The Solomon Hill/Rodney Stuckey/C.J. Miles/Damjan Rudez quartet has obviously been up and down, but the return of Paul George will … well … it will help considerably. Could Indiana package Scola and another player to slightly upgrade another spot? Perhaps. But I’m not sure that would really make them a better team.

Next: Re-Acquiring Paul George