The Indiana Pacers surveyed the free agency market and added depth to their guard rotation in a low-risk signing that could still positively impact the young squad. Meet T.J. McConnell.
The Indiana Pacers and T.J. McConnell have agreed on a contract, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Wednesday afternoon.
Free agent TJ McConnell has agreed to deal with Pacers, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2019
The deal is worth $7 million total over the next two seasons.
After spending the last four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, McConnell has moved on from The Process for another young, contending team in the Eastern Conference. In 76 appearances last season, the 6-foot-2 playmaker averaged 6.4 points and 3.4 assists while knocking down 52.5% of his shots.
The signing comes just days after Indiana acquired Malcolm Brogdon as the team’s starting point guard. The addition of the 27-year-old McConnell gives the Pacers much needed depth at the guard spot in the wake of the retirement of Darren Collison and departure of Cory Joseph, who signed with the Sacramento Kings.
After free agency deals and trades are finalized on July 6th, the Pacers’ depth at point will consist of Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. McConnell, Aaron Holiday, and Edmond Sumner. After the latter’s extension, which was signed earlier this week, all of Indiana’s point guards are under contract through the 2020-21 season.
Over the span of his four-year career, the Pacers’ newest addition has averaged 6.4 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.9 rebounds in 22 minutes on the court. His best season overall came in 2016-17 when he ended the year sixth overall in steals (134) and eighth overall in assists (534).
While he will likely have a smaller role during his time in Indianapolis, having a dependable backup who can create for others and take care of the ball is essential, especially in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how the marriage between the two works.
We’re not out of the woods yet in free agency, as it’s still possible the Indiana Pacers may have another move up their sleeves. In the meantime, the addition of T.J. McConnell should be a reassuring acquisition of depth and veteran leadership for this suddenly extremely young team.