The Indiana Pacers are building for the future and should consider looking at some of these rookies looking for their second contracts in the NBA.
The Indiana Pacers should be looking for ‘2nd contract’ players. Those are players who are underperforming on their rookie scale deals with their original teams, but who have shown flashes and might be able to blossom in a new situation during their 2nd contracts in the league.
This is not to say the Pacers should bet the farm on any one of these guys; first round picks and young building blocks should be out of the equation. Short term vets, cap relief, and 2nd round picks (which are complicated due to the Thad Young trade, but not impossible) could all be in play, however.
We’ll take a quick look at 6 such guys who might be available for a reasonable price.
Stanley Johnson — Detroit Pistons
Contract: 3.1 million in 17-18, 1.9 million in 18-19
Career: 6.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 36.3% shooting, 29.5% 3 point shooting
The 8th draft pick in 2015, Stanley Johnson was considered already an excellent defender with an NBA ready body. People raved about his athleticism combined with a stout frame, and it was easy to envision him guarding some of the premier small forwards in the league.
Johnson is indeed powerful, but his athleticism seems more NBA run of the mill. He’s averaging a career-high 27 minutes this season for Detroit but is putting up truly atrocious numbers on the offensive end of the floor (35% shooting, 28% from 3, 42% eFG%).
Detroit appears to be in ‘win-now’ mode after trading for Blake Griffin, and Johnson is quickly losing ground in the rotation to Reggie Bullock. There would be a likely path to minutes in Indiana for Stanley Johnson, and Indiana could offer some salary relief for the cash-strapped Pistons.
Justise Winslow — Miami Heat
Contract: 2.7 million in 17-18, 3.5 million in 18-19
Career: 7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2 assists, 40.5% shooting, 30.4% 3 point shooting (43.4% this season, only 53 attempts)
Winslow has quickly gone from the guy Danny Ainge reportedly offered 6 picks to draft (4 first rounders, 2 seconds) to a fringe member of the Heat’s rotation.
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He’s averaging a career-low number of minutes in his 3rd season and continues to be a borderline abysmal offensive player.
He’s putting up a nice 43% from deep this year, but on a very small number of attempts (53 total).
Winslow is a high-level athlete and good defender, but teams give him the Tony Allen treatment, often times completely abandoning him off the ball.
Miami just paid Josh Richardson and James Johnson, guys who will eat up minutes at Winslow’s likely positions (small and power forward).
Like with Stanley Johnson, there’s an easy path to minutes in Indiana. Like Detroit, Miami faces a salary cap crunch in the immediate future.
Elfrid Payton — Orlando Magic
Contract: 3.3 million in 17-18
Career: 11.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 45.8% shooting (52.3% this season), 31% 3 point shooting (40.3% this season on 62 attempts)
Elfrid Payton and his awful hair have started the vast majority of games for the Magic the past 4 seasons. Both Payton and the team have consistently inspired reactions ranging from “meh” to “cover your eyes, don’t look, it’ll be okay”.
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He’s shown flashes of potential, and his basic stats — 13 points, 6 assists, 52% shooting — look encouraging. Despite shooting 40% from 3 this season, Payton is taking about the same number as Winslow, 1.6 per game. Orlando has seeming brought in half a dozen point guards during Payton’s tenure, and has often played better when he is on the bench.
With the Magic’s interest in retaining him seeming rather tepid, it might be time for a change of scenery. The Pacers have a 30 year old journeyman point guard who’s essentially got a team option for 10 million next year in Darren Collison.
They’ve got Cory Joseph, who’s shown great flashes but is a career backup. Payton could possibly get a fresh start in Indiana, and the Magic are quite likely looking to recoup anything rather than letting him walk away for nothing.
Emmanuel Mudiay — Denver Nuggets
Contract: 3.4 million in 17-18, 4.3 million in 18-19
Career: 11.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 37.2% shooting, 33% 3 point shooting (38.7% on 93 attempts this year)
Mudiay has seen his minutes decrease each season, and has been in and out of the rotation despite Denver jettisoning Jameer Nelson before the season began. He is making just about a three pointer per game on 38% this year, which would represent a marked improvement from his 31.9% career high. Mudiay is a plus defender in theory, carry good athleticism with a 6’5 frame, but he’s yet to put things together yet.
Denver seems content with Jamaal Murray/Will Barton taking on the ball handling load, and Mudiay looks like an expendable part of the Nuggets future. It’s important to remember — Mudiay is a mere 21 years old still. Point guards often take time to develop, and the Pacers could give Mudiay an environment to develop with a few players in his age range and a vocal star just a few years older.
Willy Hernangomez — New York Knicks
Career: 7.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 53.9% shooting, 25% 3 point shooting
Contract: 1.4 million in 17-18, 1.5 million in 18-19, 1.7 million in 19-20
Hernangomez had a strong rookie season, showing flashes of a good rebounder and crafty scorer. Things have not been as rosy in year 2, however. Hernangomez has fallen out of the rotation in his second year with the Knicks.
Stuck behind Kyle O’Quinn (deservingly), Hernangomez has only played 231 minutes in 25 games. With O’Quinn, Kanter, Porzingis, and Michael Beasley taking the vast majority of the big man minutes, the Knicks might be ready let Hernangomez go if they can get help for one of the other holes in their roster.
Hernangomez would probably supplant T.J. Leaf in the rotation, perhaps giving Leaf time to develop on the defensive end in the G-League. (Shoutout to @tonyeast for reminding me Hernangomez existed)
Mario Hezonja
4.1 million 17-18
Career: 5.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 41.3% shooting (45.6% this year), 32.3% 3 point shooting
Hezonja has shown very little so far in his career, playing as a shooter who can’t shoot through 3 seasons. It seems more likely that he’s a bust than that he’s on the verge of turning this thing around, but he had a ton of potential coming into the league.
If the asking price is as low as it would seem, it’d be worth a phone call for Kevin Pritchard.
Next: For those who want to trade Myles Turner: Stop
With the trade deadline fast approaching (Thursday, 2/8 at 3PM Eastern), the Pacers have very little time left to make a move. It seems unlikely the team is headed for a large roster shakeup, but some small moves could provide some extra potential for 2018-19 and beyond.