The Indiana Pacers passed on making any trades at the deadline, but was that a good decision? The 8 Points, 9 Seconds Roundtable gathers to break down what did and didn’t happen at the deadline.
The deadline came and went, and the Pacers didn’t make a move.
That was a ____ decision.
Jonathan Matthes: “Good” decision. For starters, all of our tradable pieces will still be tradable four months from now, so it’s not like we missed a window or anything. On top of that it’s always better to make no trade (and fight for another day) than make a bad trade. Indiana set its price, nothing met it, they didn’t sell low and were able to walk away with a playoff team intact. No shame in that.
Jacob Breece: Solid move by Kevin Pritchard and co. The Pacers have not only set them selves up for the future but have also exceeded everyone’s expectations in the present. They seemed to have found a star in Victor Oladipo and a solid supporting cast in their two young big men.
But, the most important part of not moving was the flexibility they created for the off-season. They have a solid young core, the right cap space and good contracts that should get Pacer hopeful excited for the future.
Will Furr: That was a safe decision. It should be noted: Darren Collison’s injury might’ve changed the trajectory of this whole thing. Either way, the Pacers played it safe. They could’ve taken on bad money hoping for picks, but it seems like no one was really willing to toss around a first.
They could’ve tried to go for a Hail Mary in the form of Kemba Walker, but he doesn’t fit the timeline with Oladipo/Turner/Sabonis. In the end, the move — or lack thereof— was fine. DC, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Al Jeff will all still be expiring assets next year, due to their minimal guarantee. Pritch might be betting that cap space is more valuable this summer than now; if he is, I think I agree with him
Smart. Kevin Pritchard and friends have gotten themselves in a beautiful cap situation and preserving that heading into free agency could allow them to add a significant piece over the summer —whether it be through a signing or trade.
Dylan Hughes: Smart. Kevin Pritchard and friends have gotten themselves in a beautiful cap situation and preserving that heading into free agency could allow them to add a significant piece over the summer —whether it be through a signing or trade.
The type of trade Indiana was trying to make was shipping out partially guaranteed money for next season in exchange for fully guaranteed money and a draft pick. I would have been fine with them making a deal like that, even if it were a player like Kenneth Faried or DeMarre Carroll. Indiana will be heading into free agency this summer with no bad contracts on the books.
So even if they can’t make a big signing, they could be in the conversation for big trades.
Ryan Eggers: Excellent. I was pretty intrigued by some of the supposed trades in the rumor mill, but it was clear that Pritchard wasn’t too pressed to make a deal right now. He was patient and didn’t see a deal worth taking.
Based on his judgment so far as the GM, I’ll trust his patience and see what he does going into this offseason. A winning trade is a best-case scenario, but that best pales in comparison to how worse a worst-case scenario of losing a trade would have been.
If they had taken on a bad contract without getting decent assets or dumped a veteran for pennies on the dollar, that would put a meaningful dent in their current rebuild. Given the way the market played out this year, it seems like the best decision was to not take that risk.