8 Points, 9 Seconds Draft Roundtable: Who should the Pacers take?
By Ryan Eggers
Heading into the 2018 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers have a lot of flexibility and options with their current assets. They hold the 23rd and 50th picks but have a few realistic options in terms of trading up or down. What should they do? Our 8 Points, 9 Seconds team answers that question and more in this roundtable.
Given rumors circulating around the league and your own personal wishlists, what are some viable trade partners for the Indiana Pacers come draft night?
Jonathan Matthes: The Denver 14th pick should be explored, same for Phoenix at the 16th. The Clippers back to back at 12 and 13 seems like too much of a stretch. Same for Memphis moving 19 spots back to unload Chandler Parsons. But those Nuggets and Suns picks could be obtainable.
Denver is threatening the tax, and even an extra million could be problematic in retaining and/or improving a team that barely missed the playoffs. Moving back or out of the first round entirely isn’t a stretch for them. Similiar case for the Suns, they just need to add players. This draft has a ton of defensive-minded guards that will be available at 23. The Indiana Pacers could move back, get a little something extra and still draft a compliment to Devin Booker. They already have the 1, 31 and 59 picks.
Tony East: There are two directions to look at this, trade up or trade down. I think the Parsons and #4 stuff is probably out of the realm of possibility for the Pacers give the cap requirements and value of the #4 pick, so let’s focus on some smaller moves.
Obviously, you have the 14 and Kenneth Faried for Jefferson idea floating around. Which is fine and dandy. I think Indy would do that, but I don’t think Denver would. They could trade Faried elsewhere and not have to take back Jefferson. Plus that is a lot to give up for financial flexibility.
A more realistic upward move could be taking on Jason Smith and the 15th pick from Washington and sending back pick 23. The Pacers would essentially move up 8 slots for taking on Jason Smith’s 5.7 million dollar salary. And Washington needs help cutting money. I like it.
They could also move back via Atlanta or Philly. Atlanta has picks 30 and 34, which is close to even value for 23, and Philly has picks 26, 38, and 39. 26 + one of those seconds could entice the Pacers to drop back and grab two young guys. In a deeper draft, that might not be a bad move. Indiana has tons of options, but Atlanta, Washington, and Philly are the most viable three to me.
Dylan Hughes: I think the most viable candidate is Denver. Once it was reported that Denver wanted to move down in order to move off some salary, many inside Pacers Twitter got excited. It makes sense, as the Pacers have some deals on the books that aren’t fully guaranteed—which would allow the Nuggets to save some money.
As proposed by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, a trade that makes sense is Al Jefferson and no. 23 for Kenneth Faried and no. 14. Indiana would take on Faried’s one-year, $13.7 million remaining—which could either replace a departing Thaddeus Young at the four or play a backup role. Denver would just have to stretch Jefferson’s $4 million guaranteed, which would allow them to save over $12 million in this year’s salary plus potential luxury tax payments.
Kagan Kiesel: The Pacers have been linked with A LOT of potential trade targets; some realistic, some not so much. In my personal opinion, I would love to pick up Kemba Walker. While I think he could be a great co-star alongside Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner, Charlotte wouldn’t part with him easily, and it would most likely result in Indiana acquiring a nasty Hornet contract (i.e. Marvin Williams or Nicolas Batum).
Another player I think we’ve all seen a lot of links to is Kenneth Faried. While I would like 2014 Faried over 2017 Faried, if it resulted in Indiana moving up in the draft, I could deal with it. The main trade idea I’ve seen thrown around is this year’s 23rd overall pick and Al Jefferson for Faried and Denver’s 14th overall pick.
What’s in it for Denver you may ask? Denver gets to lose Faried’s 13 million dollars he’s set to make this next season. By gaining Al, they can waive his 6 million that he’s not guaranteed, therefore freeing up 9 million dollars in cap space that they can then use to re-sign Nikola Jokic after next season. Indiana would also get a decent forward in Faried, and could use the higher draft pick to potentially pick up someone like Mikal Bridges or Miles Bridges, should they be available.
Ryan Eggers: After the success we saw from Pritchard’s offseason moves last year, the draft would be the perfect opportunity for another Pritch-slap. I’m not sure if they have a guy they’re in love with who’s billed around the end of the first, but if not, they have a few options to move around. I’m firmly in the “yes” camp of Faried and 14, but I’ve heard so many rumors about Faried over the years, I won’t believe it until I see it. Realistically, with how deep the draft is, I’m intrigued by both trades up and trades down.