If Thaddeus Young opts out, the Pacers offseason becomes more dynamic

Thaddeus Young may opt out of his $13.7 million player option before free agency, which could have a major impact on the Pacers’ summer plans.

Thanks to how the Pacers have constructed the contracts of new players over the past two summers, they could either have a plethora of cap space this offseason or not much at all. A fulcrum that could contribute to the size of their space is what Thaddeus Young chooses to do with his $13.7 million player option.

Pacers fans have contemplated what Young may choose to do for some time now. On one hand, $13.7 million is a lot of money and an amount Young may never see again as an annual rate. On the other hand, there is value in guaranteed, long-term cash. Young is almost 30 years old and playing at a high level on both ends of the floor. Locking in that stable money (and situation) now would give Young security moving forward.

Both roads seemed possible for Young. The majority assumption seemed to be that Young would opt-in up until a report from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Woj’s report doesn’t clarify whether interest in a long-term deal comes from both sides, but it does seem like Young may prefer that:

"“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.The Pacers could choose to negotiate a contract extension with Young, who plays alongside center Myles Turner for a resurgent Indiana franchise”"

If Young hopes for anything close to what he would be missing out on by turning down his player option, Indiana may be one of few realistic choices. Of the teams Spotrac lists as having enough “practical cap space” available for Young, Indiana is one of just four teams that made the playoffs this season.

Indiana’s brass, like many fans, might have presumed Thad would pick up his option. Young opting-in, combined with all other team options being picked up and accounting for the cap holds of Glenn Robinson III and Trevor Booker, would give Indiana just about $5 million in cap space (based on an estimated $101 million salary cap).

They have options to open up more space, however.

Al Jefferson only has $4 million of his $10 million deal guaranteed, allowing Indiana to gain $6 million in space by simply cutting bait with Jefferson. That would give the Pacers $11 million in space.

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Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic have just $3.5 million of their combined $20.5 million salaries guaranteed, but it’s hard to see Indiana cutting either player.

To gain any more space, the Pacers would have to part ways with Joe Young or Alex Poythress, which are both possible options but wouldn’t move the needle much, both on the court and in the ledger.

Surprisingly enough, Indiana would actually lose cap space by Young opting out. Well, for a period of time, at least. Young’s cap hold would balloon to over $21 million if he doesn’t take his player option. That would constrict Indiana from signing any outside free agents.

This, of course, can be solved by quick action: either parting ways completely (renouncing his free agent rights) or agreeing to terms on a new deal. Releasing Young’s cap hold would give Indiana his $13.7 million in space, getting them close to max-contract level space to replace him and fill other needs.

Re-signing Young could give them more, less, or the same amount of space, depending on the first year value of his contract. It affects the cap sheets of future summers, but the difference in gained space for this summer would probably not exceed $3 million.

It would, however, allow Indiana to know how much they can spend elsewhere.

Nothing is set in stone, or even close for that matter. Young is “seriously considering” opting out, but it is not a guarantee. His deadline to make that decision is June 29, eight days after the draft and two days before free agency technically begins.

Young picking up his option likely wouldn’t change much for the Pacers, while him opting out could throw some wrenches in their free agency plans—or open up new, interesting doors.

Next: Are the Pacers going to extend Nate McMillan’s contract?

Thaddeus Young, go ahead. You have our full attention.