What should the Pacers expect in return if they trade the 18th pick?

If the Indiana Pacers decided to move the 18th pick, what should the expect in return for moving a middle of the first-round pick?

Kevin Pritchard said the Pacers can be “super aggressive” this offseason as they seek to build around Victor Oladipo. Thanks to their cap space, that’s more than possible. With the NBA draft coming up in three weeks, the Pacers can take a gamble on the 18th pick or they can try to swing something in a trade.

But what exactly should the Pacers expect if they move the 18th overall pick in the draft? It’s outside of the lottery, so whoever ends up making the pick aren’t likely to take a player that impacts the team now, but it is still early enough in the draft to think they’ll find somebody worth playing.

With Oladipo returning from injury at some point this year (hopefully), it isn’t as if the Pacers are ready to take over the Eastern Conference either. However, with their star being 27 years old, there’s little value in waiting too long, either.

So can the Pacers make a trade that helps them win now? Recent history, including the Pacers own, says yes.

It wasn’t too long ago that Indiana swapped the 20th pick for Thaddeus Young. The Brooklyn Nets selected Caris LeVert with that pick, but the Pacers got one of the better power forwards in the league in the process.

Looking at other similar trade, that might be the right expectation for a trade: A solid, above average player but not All-Star level. Young’s proven critical to Indiana’s success through his defense and unselfishness, but there are limits to his game, too.

Some of the other deals recently for picks in that range have been a little complicated, but still give you an idea what’s available on the market.

In 2015, several players and picks moved in trades that sent Reggie Jackson to the Detroit Pistons, Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Ricky Rubio to the Jazz, and the later 2018 pick paying off in the form of Josh Okogie to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

That’s a little convoluted as multiple trades over multiple years were involved, but it’s still roughly what was expected as far as the value of the pick. Teams expect players that can leave an impact, but Jackson, Rubio, or Kanter won’t be on All-Star teams anytime soon, either.

A simpler one from 2018 had Nikola Mirotić sent to the New Orleans Pelicans. The Bulls and Pelicans ultimately moved Mirotić, 2018 2nd round draft pick (Tony Carr was later selected) to the New Orleans for Tony Allen, Omer Asik, Jameer Nelson and a 2018 1st round draft pick — Chandler Hutchison was later selected — but Mirotić and the pick were the main parts of the deal.

Again, a player like Mirotić is a key contributor to a playoff team, but probably not seeing the All-NBA team anytime soon, either.

But the Pacers don’t have to look for a veteran, either. Oladipo might be getting older, but he isn’t that old.

The Pacers might be able to use it to move up a little in the draft too with another asset as we’ve seen, but probably no higher than 10. Two years ago, the Portland Trail Blazers sent the 15th and 20th pick to the Sacramento Kings for the 10th pick.

If the Pacers shop their first round pick, they might find some interesting deals, but they’ll likely need to attach a player or another pick to it to make a trade for someone more than just above average.