What does LeBron’s final four mean for the Pacers?
If a recent report is correct, LeBron James has winnowed his possible destinations down to four. While the Indiana Pacers are not one of them, how would each move affect the Pacers?
It turns out The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor created a bit of a stir, a week ago Thursday, when he reported that LeBron James has a final four list of free agent destinations. What was a little funny was that the article wasn’t specifically about James, but news can find you in unexpected and mysterious ways. On the list is Houston and Cleveland, Tinseltown and the City of Brotherly love.
"There have been whispers, mostly on social media, about whether LeBron James would consider the Spurs because of the mutual respect between James and Popovich, now the coach of the U.S. men’s national basketball team. But I’ve consistently heard from multiple league sources that LeBron currently has only four teams on his list: the Cavaliers, Lakers, Rockets, and 76ers. -Kevin O’Connor, The Ringer, March 8, 2018"
Now, I have no way of knowing whether those “multiple league sources” are actually multiple league sources or not. What I do know is that O’Connor’s a good writer and that all of those locations make sense. So, if it’s not true it should be.
Each of these moves would not happen in a vacuum. For example, if LeBron “blasts off” to Houston, the Rockets aren’t going to just add him and keep their entire roster intact. To add LeBron and keep valuable pieces like Chris Paul and Clint Capela (both free agents), Houston would have to do some gymnastics to make it work. Which brings us to the point of this article: the gymnastics and the opportunities they might create for a team like the Indiana Pacers.
Signing James doesn’t just benefit the team that he takes his talents too, the ripple effect of benefits can be far reaching. Valuable players become not only expendable, but morph into must-moves. Then, due to the importance of cap space, LeBron’s new team can’t accept much salary in return, meaning an opportunistic team (or teams) can acquire a useful player for relatively little.
The Pacers might have no interest in any of the players that could be available. But, what the heck, let’s brainstorm a little. What could Indiana stand to benefit from each of James’s final four teams.