Pacers Season Reviews: Cory Joseph’s season defined by his defense

Should the Pacers re-sign Cory Joseph?

Before the Toronto Raptors traded Cory Joseph to the Pacers, he inked a four year, $29.9 M deal with the Raptors. With a 2018-19 average annual value of $7.945 M, Joseph’s deal is a massive bargain for Indiana, especially in today’s market. My guess is Joseph would command at least the non-taxpayer Mid Level Exception, approximately $8.6 M AAV. He could fetch considerably more on the open market, though, especially if he manages to make an All-defensive team.

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The Pacers could be staring at close to $60 M in cap space, but that doesn’t account for the eight players hitting free agency.

On the priority list, Joseph would be second or third for me, behind Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic, depending on what the market looks like for him. I’d feel comfortable paying Joseph anywhere up to a deal close to three years, $30 M, though I suspect he could get a bigger offer for a team willing to bring in the Brinks truck.

If Cory Joseph has to be a casualty for the Indiana Pacers landing a star, so be it. However, the chances of any star signing with Indiana is lower than Cory Joseph’s chance of making a floater. In that case, the Pacers should try as hard as they can to bring back their defensive stalwart point guard.

The Pacers have Joseph’s bird right, meaning they can resign him even if they would otherwise go over the cap. Here’s to hoping Joseph and his cornrows are back in Indiana for the foreseeable future.