Several Indiana Pacers players told Kevin Pritchard that they wanted to keep the team together at the trade deadline, so he listened to his head and heart.
Kevin Pritchard has no problem looking at the Indiana Pacers as a business. That’s his job, after all. But when several players came to him as the trade deadline approached this season, he listened to them.
At an informal press conference before Sunday’s win over the New York Knicks, Pritchard said that six players came up to him with a simple request.
Keep this team together.
Kevin Pritchard: "I had six players come up to me -- and this has never happened to me as an executive -- and say, 'Keep this team together.' They feel like they are overachieving and have a chip on shoulder and have opportunity to try and get into the playoffs."
— Jim Ayello (@jimayello) February 11, 2018
Pritchard on deadline: "My history is to make a lot of change. Quick change. Not be scared of turning over roster quickly. ...But at the end of the day, what came back to me was that convo w/ one player, who looked me in the eye & said: 'We deserve to see this thing through.' "
— Jim Ayello (@jimayello) February 11, 2018
So Pritchard listened, and the Pacers checked down at the trade deadline. The team that fought to a 30-25 record was kept together and Indiana is staying the course.
He was wise to listen to his players because team chemistry matters. A trade would have upset half the team it sounds like. While things aren’t as simple as managing your players’ morale on NBA 2K as it is in real life, a good GM keeps the pulse of his team in mind as he makes moves.
If six players said they want to see this through, that’s enough to know to stay the course or you better make sure the team improves dramatically if you go against their will.
But let’s not forget that Pritchard can go Godfather when he needs to: It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.
There are a number of ways the rest of the season can play out — both good and bad — now that the team knows it is sticking together through the end of the season.
But let’s not forget that Pritchard can go Godfather when he needs to: It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.
We saw that side of Pritchard when it came to C.J. Miles this offseason. Miles and his camp hoped that Pritchard and the Pacers would take care of him after several years of doing a little of everything for them.
I don’t know the exact numbers, but consider how Miles’ situation played out. He opted out of a $4.5 million season with the Pacers in the search of a deal that was closer to his value as a player. Sometime during the months that followed, he and the Pacers couldn’t come to any sort of agreement on a new contract.
Then Indiana signed Bojan for $10.5 million a season, but on a deal that was friendly to the team if they wanted to save money or trade him. Miles likely wanted something more lucrative and long-term but didn’t get it from Indiana. He took a mid-level exception to sign with the Toronto Raptors a week after Bojan was signed.
If Pritchard was all rainbows and butterflies — it’s comprise that moves us along — then he would have offered Miles something more than he did to keep him around. He is a better version of Bojan, but maybe he wanted something more concrete than what Pritchard and the Pacers offered.
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Pritchard wanted flexibility as the team builds for the future. When it came down to it, the business side won out because, in Pritchard’s mind, that was what was best for the Pacers.
None of this is to say Pritchard is lying about why he kept the team together. The players’ voice matters. But if there was a grand offer on the table that would have definitely helped Indiana in the long-run, then Pritchard’s decision would have been much more difficult.
An absence of offers that were more than likely to benefit the Pacers and the players wanting to stick together could have combined to create what we have now. Like many things in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle of two extremes.
After all, some of the same players can be dealt this summer, and that holds true by allowing the team see this season out. They didn’t ask to stay together forever, just the chance to see what they’re capable of.
Next: Darren Collison coming back healthy is critical for the Pacers
That means this better than expected and very fun to watch team isn’t done just yet. The Pacers are staying the course, but Pritchard likely listened to his brain as well as his heart when the deadline came.