8p9s Roundtable: Were the Pacers smart to keep things together at the trade deadline?

Were there any of the rumored trades you wished the Pacers made? Were there any that made you considering kidnapping Kevin Pritchard to stop from happening?

Matthes: I liked the thought of trading for Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson. I like Nance as a player he plays hard and makes winning plays. Clarkson would’ve been a reliable bench scorer come playoff time and still be a moveable piece in the future.

But outside of that, I vehemently disliked any trade that sent away our starters for washed up vets/a mediocre pick/ or other useless parts that don’t make the team better now or in the future. Clarkson and Nance had demonstrated they could play basketball, not all the rumors had players like that.

Breece: I’m a believer in Emmanuel Mudiay and really wanted Pritchard to take a stab at the young point guard. He has great size and has shown flashes but is still turnover prone and inconsistent.

Considering what Orlando got in return for Elfrid Payton (2nd rd pick) that might have been worth a flier as well. Although many of my colleagues were pushing for a Demarre Carroll trade, I wouldn’t have been as excited.

Furr: Elfrid Payton went for a measly 2nd round pick? Yes, please. However, the Pacers currently only have the worse half of a protected 2nd to offer. I also wouldn’t have minded taking on Kenneth Faried’s contact if it netted a first and/or Emmanuel Mudiay.

I was psyched about the prospect of both of them in my 2nd contract guys piece though. For trades, I’d want to stop? I didn’t hear of anything that made me cringe. I would’ve been upset had they taken on any of the truly awful/long bad money out there — Nicolas Batum, Marvin Williams, Evan Turner, that type.

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Hughes: There weren’t really many rumors, mostly just players the Pacers were linked to. The two on deadline day–DeMarre Carroll and Kenneth Faried — would have been fine as long as Indiana got a first round pick in return. Both— but especially Carroll— could possibly contribute this and next season but have fairly big expiring deals next season.

I wouldn’t have kidnapped Pritchard to stop him from making a Kemba Walker trade, but the other contracts Indiana would have to take back to make that deal would kill their cap flexibility moving forward. It’s not the time to make a big deal like that.

Eggers: Early Thursday morning, Woj reported that the Pacers were looking to take on a bad contract in exchange for a first-round pick, as well as sending out Al Jefferson in the deal. That’s the exact kind of trade that I wanted the Pacers to make this deadline. They had the cap space and Al Jefferson hasn’t been able to contribute, so why not?

Having two first-round picks in the 2018 draft would be key in this rebuild, especially if Pritchard can perform some wizardry a la his tenure with the Blazers with those assets. It didn’t happen, which is probably a result of no team having the right pick and bad contract, so I’m glad Pritchard held tight. It would’ve sucked to get locked into a bad deal for a late 20s pick. I just wish the right scenario came into play.

As far as bad rumors, there weren’t many, though in a vacuum I wouldn’t have been absolutely thrilled with the Faried or Carroll trades, depending on what their finalized versions would’ve looked like. Just didn’t seem like either moved much of a needle in terms of rebuild or in terms of improving this year’s roster.