The Indiana Pacers on-court season is over, but their offseason is just beginning. Let’s look at the key dates to look out for relating to the team this summer.
Sadly, the Indiana Pacers season is over. After their magical run to 48 wins in the playoffs, it is all over. But the Victor Oladipo era is just beginning. The new goal for the Pacers is having a strong offseason; one in which they build the best possible team around their star.
In order to do that, the Pacers have to use their cap space wisely. The challenge with that is Kevin Pritchard and Co. don’t know how much space they will have. Some decisions, both by the front office and by some players, will dictate how large that amount is.
Those decisions all have deadlines, and all of them have major implications for the future of the team. Examining those dates can give fans a more holistic view of what is going on with the team this offseason.
The first important date is May 1st, which is today. Pritchard will take the stand for his postseason presser, in which he will talk about plans for the future of the organization. Be on the lookout for what he has to say and if he gives anything away about the future plans of the organization.
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The next important date is somewhat ambiguous, but it involves Cory Joseph. CoJo has a player option. He has to decide if he wants to opt into $7,945,000 next season with the Pacers, or opt out and pursue free agency. Opting out would grant the Pacers almost eight million more dollars of cap space, but they would lose a valuable player in Joseph.
The date in which Joseph has to decide if he wants to opt in or not is not concrete. It is either two days before the NBA draft or two days after the NBA finals conclude, whichever date comes first. The NBA draft is June 21, so June 19th is the latest date that this decision would need to be made.
The fact that this date is before the draft is important. If Joseph opts in, he could allow the Pacers to know that they don’t need to pursue a point guard as aggressively on draft night. Additionally, players cannot be traded if their contract expires in the summer. If Joseph opts in, that would no longer be the case, meaning he could be traded on draft night. His decision will be highly influential on both the draft and the future of the organization.
Speaking of the draft, June 21st is the next important date for the Pacers. The draft is one of the most intriguing times of the year. Hopefully, the Pacers nail it, but it has little impact on the cap sheet.
The next day to keep an eye on is June 29th. Oh boy. A substantial portion of the Pacers rotation has something riding on this day. Let’s start with Thaddeus Young.
Thad has to make the decision on his player option by June 29. Young has to decide: make $13.7 million dollars next year, or opt out and become a free agent. This would allow him to pursue a long-term deal. The Pacers would gain almost $14 million in cap space without Young, but the team would lose one of its best players. The same draft/trade rules apply to Thad’s player option that applies to Cory Joseph. The team would be happy if Thad opted in before the draft to increase their options, but it probably won’t matter much either way.
On the same day Thad’s decision is due, so are the decisions on Lance Stephenson and Bojan Bogdanovic. Unlike the decisions on Joseph and Young, these choices will be made by the team.
Lance Stephenson has a team option for $4.4 million. The team has to decide if they would like to bring him back on that deal or decline that option and have Lance become a free agent. If Lance is a free agent, the Pacers would have his early-Bird rights.
For Bojan Bogdanovic, it is the same thing. On the 29th, the team has to decide if they would like to retain Bogdanovic’s services at $10.5 million next season or if they would like to waive him and pay him just $1.5 million to not be on the team. The difference is that Bojan’s contract is considered “non-guaranteed” so if Bogdanovic gets waived the Pacers would lose his free agent rights.
Between Stephenson and Bogdanovic, the team has control over $13.4 million on this day. It is probably the biggest day of the offseason, sans the draft.
On July 1st, free agency begins. It is also the day that the decisions on the non-guaranteed contracts of Darren Collison and Joe Young are due. For Joe Young, none of his $1.6 million for next year is guaranteed. The team has to decide if he is worth that amount.
For Collison, $2 million of his $10 million is guaranteed. His contract is structured the exact same way as Bogdanovic’s, so letting Collison walk would mean the Pacers lose his free agent rights.
On July 15th Ike Anigbogu’s $1.37 million dollar contract becomes fully guaranteed. $650,000 is guaranteed either way. That small of a figure is insignificant. On July 25th, Alex Poythress $1.5 million fully guarantees. None of it is guaranteed if the Pacers waive him.
Finally, the last day of the offseason is the deadline to extend Myles Turner’s contract past his rookie deal. That negotiation is complicated, but it does not impact the Pacers cap space this summer at all.
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Between all of this, the Pacers will sign free agents. How many free agents, and how talented they are, are questions that cannot be answered until some of these dates. Keep an eye out for all of these decisions in Indiana.