With his back against the wall and the franchise turned upside down, Kevin Pritchard delivered.
Of all the teams with the most to lose in free agency, Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers were at or near the top of the list. As bad as that sounds, Indy was still in a position to be a top team in the East next season.
Then, it happened. Maybe the most talented player to ever don the blue and gold wanted out.
After numerous conversations with the face of the franchise on how to improve for next season Paul George decided he was ready for a change of scenery. Not only that, but PG also chose to let the league know that he wanted to be in Los Angeles after next year.
All of these factors played a role in what Pritchard could hope to receive in a potential deal.
The media was largely shocked with the decision to send George to Oklahoma City. Many of them mocked Indy for it. I understand that, as of now, Victor Oladipo and Domontas Sabonis are not of equal value to a top-15 player. But, the reason Pritchard made this deal is for the potential in these two young players.
Once the second pick in the 2013 draft from right here in Indiana, Victor Oladipo is an underrated get for the Pacers. Not only has the talented guard already flashed All-Star potential on both ends of the floor. Although he has not been a go-to option just yet, Oladipo can be a 20 ppg scorer as soon as next year. The comparisons to Dwyane Wade have all but evaporated, but at 25 years of age, the best is definitely yet to come for Oladipo.
The other player in this deal was the 11th pick from Gonzaga, Domantas Sabonis. Despite not posting huge numbers, Sabonis was a starter for most of the season with the sixth seed Thunder. Domantas projects as the perfect partner for Myles Turner in the front-court. He is surprisingly skilled for a 6-foot-10 power forward and should be able to hold his own and help Myles on the boards with good strength and will. Not to mention at only 21 years of age these two bigs should grow together for years to come.
Under the radar veteran signings should prove to be incredibly important in the upcoming season
From there, Pritchard was not done with his savvy under-appreciated transactions. Indy chose to let Jeff Teague walk and replaced him with a former Pacer, Darren Collison. Collison is a very solid veteran who has been in Indy before. Not only was the familiarity there but Pritchard also got Collison on a short two-year, $20 million contract.
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The other really nice signing was to get Bojan Bogdanovic. Another short deal, this time two-years and $21 million. These contracts are perfect: short, cheap deals for veteran players who can be starters or key pieces on a good bench. These deals provide the flexibility to keep cap space for years to come as well as preserve trade value on good players.
The most recent move was also impressive by Pritchard. It was clear after signing the Bosnian forward that Indy had decided to move on from fan favorite C.J Miles. This cleared a path for a sign-and-trade sending Miles to Toronto for another good cheap veteran, Cory Joseph. A former first-rounder out of Texas, Joseph should be a nice young piece for the Pacers as he finishes out the prime of his career.
Where do Pritchard and the Pacers go from here?
Although I really like Thaddeus Young as a player, trading him should be the next step in this rebuild. The only possible problem I could see Indy running into is being too good. I know that sounds unrealistic, but the Pacers now look like a deep, young group that could pose problems for teams in a weak Eastern Conference. Missing out on a top 10 pick would hurt their effort of adding a young star to an already talented core.
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Paul George did what he wanted to do, and you can’t blame him for that. Kevin Pritchard was put in an incredibly difficult situation. But in the most important off-season in recent franchise history, he came through in a big way.