Indiana Pacers to sign Wesley Matthews once buyout is complete

The Indiana Pacers will sign Wesley Matthews once his buyout is complete from the New York Knicks according to multiple sources.

The Indiana Pacers didn’t have to make a trade to upgrade their roster. According to Shams Charania of the Athletic, they’ll sign Wesley Matthews once his contract is bought out by the New York Knicks.

According to David Aldridge of the Athletic, Indiana will sign him at the veteran’s minimum of $2.3 million. The deal is prorated for the rest of the season.

For the Pacers, it’s a zero-risk, possible reward scenario. Indiana adds a player that can make 3-pointers and isn’t afraid to shoot on a less than a one-year deal. With Victor Oladipo out for the season, it doesn’t hurt to add depth at the shooting guard position.

It’s too far ahead to think about whether Indiana would sign him on for next season, but it’s a de facto tryout for his next contract in the NBA, where ever that is. The Pacers don’t sacrifice future cap-space while adding to a team they hope can cause trouble in the playoffs.

Wesley Matthews adds 3-point shooting to the Indiana Pacers

Wesley Matthews averaged 13.1 points a game with the Dallas Mavericks earlier this season before being traded to the Knicks. His 40.6 percent field goal shooting is a little deceptive as he averages nearly six 3-point attempts a game, making 37.4 percent of them.

For perspective, if he made the same 2.1 per game from beyond the arc as he has this season, he would lead the Pacers in 3-point field goals made per a game. His 54.7 true shooting percentage would put him in the middle of the pack among the Pacers. Better than Tyreke Evans, but not quite as consistent as Myles Turner or Thaddeus Young.

With the Pacers ranking 29th in 3-point attempts (but 5th in 3-point field goal percentage), Matthews can only help out Indiana in that department by putting up more of them.

And again, there’s no real risk for the Pacers here. If he fits in with the Pacers, they worry about re-signing him this summer to a bigger deal.

At less than $2.3 million for the rest of the season, even if something strange happened and he was bad for chemistry, they waive him with almost no real cost. However, considering Nate McMillan coached him when they were together with the Portland Trail Blazers, that seems rather unlikely.

Indiana won too many games to try tanking their way out of the playoffs and into a draft pick. With that reality, adding a scorer to the roster for the rest of the season was a smart move.