Woj: Thaddeus Young may decline his player option with the Pacers

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting the Thaddeus Young may decline his $13.7 million player and leave the Indiana Pacers to test free agency.

The Indiana Pacers offseason just picked up some steam: ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Thaddeus Young is considering declining his player option.

Young is due to be paid $13.7 is he exercises his player option, but according to Woj, he is considering testing free agency.

If Young were to leave in free agency, the Pacers options currently on their roster are limited. Neither Myles Turner nor Domantas Sabonis has shown the ability to consistently play power forward, and T.J. Leaf is still a ways away from being a potential starter in the NBA.

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As Woj reported in his ESPN article, Thad’s hesitance to opting in comes from the desire to secure a longer deal.

"Young’s decision on whether to exercise his player option is rooted in searching out a longer-term contract in the prime of his career this summer. Young’s value with the Pacers and elsewhere has been buoyed by his ability to guard multiple positions, a benefit in the evolving NBA game."

For Thad, a multi-year, $10-plus million deal is better than playing out one more season and hoping to secure something a year from now. One in the hand is better than two in the bush, or something like that.

If Young does leave, it opens up the Pacers options in free agency, however.

With Young’s salary off the books, Indiana can spend roughly $15 million in free agency. If they were to waive Al Jefferson after that, the Pacers would have $23 million to spend on either a top-tier free agent or perhaps a pair of above-average ones.

While Young hasn’t decided yet, it isn’t in the Pacers’ best interest for him to opt out and then sign with Indiana. As our own Tony East noted, that would make his cap hit $21.5 million thanks to the fact his cap hold would be 1.5 times his previous season’s salary. Indiana would need to do this to keep his bird rights.

Opting out and resigning with Indiana might be something Thad wants to do, but it would hurt Indiana in the short-term.

But that’s the hard part of the situation. For the Pacers, paying Thad this year and then making a deal with him next year protects them from an unexpected drop-off in his play. Even if he plays well, they get another year to make a choice on whether he is part of the team’s future.

However, those are the same reasons why Thad might opt out now. If he becomes a free agent and gets a 4-year deal in Indiana or somewhere else, he guarantees a decent enough payday into the twilight of his career. An Injury or poor play won’t hurt his financial future. He gets stability in a career that hasn’t seen it since his early days in Philadelphia.

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We’ll have to wait and see what happens, of course, but it won’t be surprising at all to hear he is opting out.