Rarely have the Indiana Pacers been a team keen to make in-season trades, but looking into the buy-out market could be very beneficial come playoff time.
3. Jae Crowder/Andre Iguodala
Sorry for cheating a little on this first one, but both players come from the same team and will fill the same role.
Andre Iguodala has been the player every contender has been positioning for on the buy-out market since the moment he was dealt to Memphis. He is still an elite perimeter stopper, but at nearly 36, he is now forced to do it in a more limited capacity.
The man can still hold his own against the best perimeter scorers in the game while also possessing the strength to bang against most elite power forwards as well. The major questions with Iguodala are health and whether he will have any drop-off after not playing since the 2019 NBA Finals.
Jae Crowder is more of a known commodity at this point. He is also a high level defender, but without the championship experience. His 3-point shooting is also based more on respect than actual results. Crowder has not knocked down more than a third of his triples since being traded by Boston in the summer of 2017.
That being said, having another strong, proven defender off the bench that can be thrown on the likes of Pascal Siakam, Tobias Harris, or Khris Middleton could be vital in the playoffs. There is a reason basically every contender is looking to add one of these two players before the season’s end.
2. Ian Mahinmi
It’s always nice to have a reunion included. Ian Mahinmi spent four seasons in Indianapolis from 2012 to 2016 before leaving for a major payday in Washington D.C. That deal did not work out well for this Wizards, but the Pacers could be the beneficiary if they decide to finally cut ties.
Mahinmi has struggled with injuries since leaving the Circle City. He’s eclipsed 35 games only once in the last four seasons. Fortunately, in his return he would no longer be expected to start or play heavy minutes.
Myles Turner is the Indiana Pacers’ starting center. There is not changing that with a buy-out guy. But shoring up the bench’s interior defense moving into May and June is incredibly important.
Currently, the second unit revolves around Domantas Sabonis in the middle. This gives him more run as the primary option of the offense and gives the bench a go-to scorer. The problem with this set-up is if he or Turner get into foul trouble the rotation gets thrown out of wack.
Goga Bitadze has shown good promise this season, but it would be hard to trust him in a playoff series against Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo. That isn’t a knock, both players dominate the very best in the league every night of the week.
The championship experience, size, and strength Mahinmi brings could be integral to the Pacers in a gargantuan Eastern Conference.
1. Bismack Biyombo
This is another addition of a Giannis and Embiid stopper, but this one is more dependent on the Charlotte Hornets falling out of the playoff race sooner rather than later. The Hornets are a young team and with Cody Zeller holding another year on his contract, Bismack Biyombo would be a more likely buy-out candidate.
Some fans may remember him from the year he tore up the Pacers in the playoffs while a member of the Toronto Raptors. He’s still the same high-energy, springy big, but that series was definitely his high-water mark.
He is a healthier option to Mahimni, having played at least 81 games in three of the last four seasons. He would also be filling that same bench center role and with nearly 2 blocks per 36 over the last four years, he gives an extra layer of defense inside.
His switchability would also give the Pacers more to work with against pick-and-role heavy teams. He’s a more fluid defender that many players his size. This allows him to stay with and contest shots when forced out to the perimeter. FiveThirtyEight’s DRAYMOND metric graded him in the top tier of defenders since the 2013-14 season.
Another helpful part of Biyombo’s game is he finally seems to be finding his niche on offense. This season he is posting a career best player efficiency rating (17.9) and offensive rating (122!), but also isn’t the type of player that needs plays ran for him (17 percent usage rate). He is more than fine making a living off of dirty work, which means he would be a perfect addition to this Indiana Pacers’ bench.