The Indiana Pacers look as if they are going to stand pat at the trade deadline, but that doesn’t mean Kevin Pritchard won’t be busy this summer.
The trade market is currently “clogged” according to Zach Lowe’s league sources. The same goes for Adrian Wojnarowski’s as no big deals are expected to be made. The mix of good players that teams can’t agree on a price for and bad contacts no one wants might leave everyone standing pat, including the Indiana Pacers.
None of this is to say the Pacers haven’t been trying, though.
Indiana has been aggressive in offering its salary space to extract a first-round pick for absorbing a bad contract, league sources tell ESPN. Pacers would send Al Jefferson back in those deals.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2018
But that doesn’t mean this team is sticking together for the long term. Despite this season’s success, the Pacers ultimately are a team that’s rebuilding. Some of the same things that make some of the Pacers trade assets intriguing now will remain there when summer arrives and NBA transactions get back into full swing.
For example, the contracts of Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic aren’t fully guaranteed for next season. In the case of Collison, the Pacers or anyone else have until July 1 to waive him and only pay him $2 million instead of the $10 million if they keep him around. In Bogdanovic’s case, it’s $1.5 million if he is waived before June 29, or pay him $10.5 million for the season.
Al Jefferson’s $10 million contract only has $4 million guaranteed for the 2018-19 season, but that’s basically the cost of both Bojan and Darren’s but you would only clear out half as much space in the process. However, a team has until January 10, 2019, to make the decision.
While Collison and Bogdanovic, in particular, are contributors on the court, any team looking to clear cap room could trade for them and waive them. As long as a deal is made before their deadlines, that’s part of their value as trade assets. Jefferson isn’t completely washed, but he’s a deep rotation player at this point, not a starter.
However, with Collison’s knee surgery, teams looking to trade for him for his skills — not his contract — might be more leary now until they see him return to action. Any deals the Pacers had in the works might have been shelved due to his knee.
The Pacers have most of the current roster under contract next season
With the exception of Glenn Robinson III, the rest of the Pacers roster is under contract or has a player or team option going into the 2018-19 season. Robinson is set to be an unrestricted free agent.
However, the two players with player options — Cory Joseph and Thaddeus Young — are slightly more volatile assets.
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If any team were to trade for them, they run the risk of the player exercising their option and becoming a free agent. For a team wanting to keep them around, they risk losing them. If a team wanted to clear cap space, they risk the players choosing to play out their contracts. Either way, teams looking to acquire them would need assurances of some sort before giving up anything of significant value for them.
Chances are Thad finishes his contract as his $13 million for next season is likely his market price. Unless he is looking for a change of scenery, chances are he doesn’t test free agency. Joseph’s choice isn’t as clear as he might be worth more than $7.5 million to another team.
However, if they remain under contract with the Pacers going into next season, they still hold value as players both on the team and in transactions.
As of now, it looks as if the Pacers are checking down at the trade deadline. That doesn’t mean they are done building a team for the future. The market might be dictating that the Pacers hold tight for now instead of making a deal happen for the sake of making a deal.
Next: Pacers worth over $1 billion
Most of the Pacers potential trades aren’t on such terminal timelines that they need to be made now. In the case of Joseph and Young, they may be worth more once their future plans are settled. Once summer rolls around, Kevin Pritchard might be ready to move them.