Should Pacers Cash-Out for Kemba Walker?

The Indiana Pacers have built up quite the cupboard of assets, possibly enough to make a trade for a player of Kemba Walker’s ability. But is this the right time to do it?

No one was expecting the Indiana Pacers to be here last summer. A playoff team, two-and-a-half games back from the fourth seed, led by an All-Star, the Pacers are outperforming preseason expectations by a longshot.

Team president Kevin Pritchard constructed the contracts of their offseason signees Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic to sell at the deadline. Collison and Bogdanovic–solid reserves at worst–would be attractive to many teams, as their $10 million deals for next season are only partially guaranteed.

A buyer at the deadline could trade for either one (or both) and send back long-term, unwanted money. And to sweeten the deal for Indiana, said team could throw in a juicy asset (young prospect or pick), as Zach Lowe noted in October.

"Among my favorite versions of this: Winslow and Dion Waiters to the Pacers in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic (on a semi-expiring contract), Cory Joseph, and perhaps some throw-in to make Miami feel less crappy about punting on Winslow. … Related bonus prediction: Indiana is a near-lock to flip one or both of Bogdanovic and Darren Collison, guaranteed just $3.5 million combined in 2018-19. If the Lakers send Luol Deng and Brandon Ingram to Indy for those deals (and some sweetener), the league should be very afraid L.A. knows a certain someone is in the bag."

It was very clear Lowe predicted these moves thinking Indiana had no true vision of what its future would look like. And who could blame him? The improvement of Oladipo almost came out of nowhere, and he has completely lifted this team to its current state.

With that said, Indiana may end up as a buyer at the trade deadline.

A few weeks ago, The Washington Post’s Tim Bontemps argued that Charlotte should trade point guard Kemba Walker (along with at least one of their bad contracts) to avoid the luxury tax this season. Included in the piece was this paragraph, which stoked the fire of Pacers Twitter.

"For another example, the Hornets could try to work out a trade with the Pacers, who have rebounded nicely from Paul George’s departure thanks largely to the man they acquired for him, Victor Oladipo. A trade of Walker and Williams for Darren Collison, Al Jefferson, rookie forward T.J. Leaf and Indiana’s 2018 first-round pick would allow Charlotte to essentially wipe out the $29 million owed to Williams over the next two seasons (thanks to Jefferson’s non-guaranteed salary for next season). The move removes the need for Charlotte to worry about the tax, and it also would receive a rookie project in Leaf, a first-round pick and – again – a boost to its own draft pick’s status. The Pacers could pair Walker with Oladipo and Myles Turner, potentially becoming an interesting team in the East."

It was an intriguing idea then, just three weeks ago. Once ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Charlotte was indeed willing to move off of Walker for the reasons Bontemps stated above, the idea turned into a real possibility.

On paper, this is a trade the Pacers need to make. Walker, nearly a year removed from his first All-Star appearance, is the only reason Charlotte isn’t dead last in the East. They are plus-13.2 points per 100 possessions with Walker on the floor this season, per Cleaning The Glass. His total on-off differential is plus-15.6, which ranks Walker in the 98th percentile among guards.

Walker’s numbers are down a bit from last season, which is why he’ll likely be sitting out of this year’s All-Star Game.

He’s still a very good player, though, and would help improve many teams at the point guard position–including the Pacers.

Whether he’s worth trading for is an intriguing question for this Indiana team, as talent isn’t the only thing to consider when it comes to adding a player.