The case in favor of the Pacers trading for Markelle Fultz
In a word, talent. Fultz is certainly broken right now, maybe injured, but definitely in his own head (to put it lightly). There’s a better than 50% chance that Fultz winds up as a bust at this point, as sad as that is to say. That being said, there’s still a chance he’s NOT a bust. Point guards routinely take 3-4 years in the NBA to “figure it out”. Fultz wasn’t a consensus number 1 pick, but he wasn’t far off.
There are 3 ways for a team to acquire elite talent: Draft, Free Agency, or Trade. Enter the Pacers. The Indiana Pacers are never bad; in fact, they’ve never had the first overall pick in the draft. It’s been 30 years since the Pacers drafted in the top 5 (s/o #2 overall pick Dunkin’ Dutchman Rik Smits!). That’s great as a competitive fan, but not so great for acquiring championship talent.
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Somehow, the Pacers have had even worse luck in free agency. Their best free agent signing of the past 30 years was probably a slightly post prime David West. West was awesome and was an effective 2nd option on a really good team. He was probably overmatched in this capacity, but he was a great Pacer. Beyond West, the best signings quickly turn to guys like C.J. Miles (awesome guy, short-term mildly-effective Pacer). The Indy Star did an utterly depressing piece on it here.
With the draft and free agency ruled out, that leaves trades. The Pacers managed to snag Victor Oladipo when another star forced his way out of town, but they got Oladipo as a distressed asset on a troublesome contract. Dipo’s talent was unquestioned, but he’d had trouble putting it all together. Fultz is younger and has shown *far* less than Oladipo had (it can’t get less than 0), but he’ll also likely cost far less. Philly has announced he’s no longer in the future plans, and that they’re looking for a first for him. I don’t think they’ll get it.
The Sixers are desperately seeking cap space next summer, and Fultz will count 10+ million against that. The Pacers have expiring assets that fit Philly’s need of cap space and reasonable vets and could bring in Fultz and either let him heal physically or toss him in the G-League and tell him to just play through it. Middle-of-the-pack teams have to take risks to move into the upper echelon. Darren Collison isn’t going to be a Pacer next year, and he’s not putting them over the top in a playoff series this year. Offer him for Fultz. At least call the Sixers, and ask ‘em. The worst they say is no.