Indiana Pacers trade deadline primer

Center Trades

We made it to the awkward discussion that nobody in Pacer land wants to talk about but everyone else covering the NBA does want to talk about. The Indiana Pacers have two really good centers.

People who watch the Indiana Pacers frequently understand how the duo of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis could fit together long term. They are both really good and can play in short spurts together. If they can find a way to gel with Victor Oladipo when thehy share the floor, this team could be really good for a long time.

But the question is always asked – what if trading one of the centers could net the team something better? Something that fits more appropriately with Oladipo and whichever center you keep?

It is a good question if we are being honest, but it is extremely unlikely we see it addressed at this trade deadline. Here is why.

For starters, Myles Turner got an extension this summer, which means his contract is subject to some really hard to navigate trade rules. In a trade, Turner’s incoming salary for a receiving team is equal to the to the average of what he will be making this season and each subsequent season through his extension, in this case, it’s $75 million/5 = $15 million. But he only counts as his $3.4 million as outgoing salary. That $12 million difference is essentially impossible to overcome without making the trade huge, so Turner’s contract is super hard to trade.

In theory, a team like the Sacramento Kings could take him into their salary cap space to make things possible, but I have no reason to believe the Pacers would even pursue an alley like this given how well Turner played in December.

Sabonis, meanwhile, is the teams biggest asset. He is a fantastic young player with another year of team control prior to restricted free agency and he’s incredibly good at basketball. The Pacers will either want to save him for a massive trade for a star at a later date when the right guy is available or keep him long-term since he is really good. I tend to lean the latter, and the Pacers do too. Sabonis won’t get moved at this deadline.

Kyle O’Quinn could be used as salary filler in a bigger trade, like the one in the previous slide for Patrick Patterson. But it is hard to find a team outside of OKC and maybe Milwaukee that would trade for a backup center at this point in time, so don’t expect many (or any) moves at the center position. Unless the Bucks are willing to do this…

The Bucks are currently deploying Jason Smith as their backup center, and O’Quinn is much better than him. At the same time, the Pacers get a young player they could try to develop in Thon Maker. This doesn’t not make sense, but it just seems like swapping deck chairs.