Pacers swindle Suns for T.J. Warren
This was the trade of the year, in my opinion. Sure, the Los Angeles Lakers secured arguably the second-best player in the league in Anthony Davis, but they had to give up the farm in order to do so.
OK, maybe saying the Warren trade is better than the AD trade is a stretch, but it is important to measure outgoing and incoming when ranking transactions and comparing trades.
In terms of net gain, this was one of the greatest trades of all-time simply because of what the Pacers didn’t have to give up. We graded it accordingly in recent days.
All they sent out was cash, and they received Warren and one second-rounder (which they flipped for two second-rounders from Miami).
Credit to ownership mainly on this one. Kevin Pritchard and the front office deserve shine too for being able to take advantage of a team willing to undervalue a player like Warren.
Being able to ignore the opportunity cost of the outgoing cash and realize that Warren’s offensive game is perfect for the Indiana Pacers system put him in a position to succeed.
Warren has pieced together an impressive all-around offensive game over the years and has put it all together for a really complete and deadly shot profile this year. His defense has taken a step forward as well.
Pacers extend Domantas Sabonis (4 years, $77 million)
If this continues on its current trajectory, this might be one of the team’s best transactions of the last two decades for Indiana. It’s already pretty far up that list.
Before the season began, coming off of a career year (14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists per game) the Pacers and Sabonis agreed to an extension that keeps him with the team until 2024. The contract goes four years (elevating gradually from $17 million to 21 million per year).
At the time, it seemed a bit risky. Sabonis had certainly proven quite a bit, but he had yet to be inserted into the starting lineup, a move the Pacers had made clear was going to happen.
Were they really certain doling out this cash wasn’t going to make for a forced and unnatural starting frontcourt that could hinder Myles Turner or Sabonis in some way?
It’s worked out swimmingly. Sabonis followed up his career year with an even better season, this time getting league-wide notoriety and being selected to his first All-Star game. He improved on his numbers and is averaging 18.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game.
Perhaps most impressive is his willingness to step into a unique role where he plays in key lineups with the starting unit, but leads the second unit at the start of the second and fourth quarter. This has been really great for the Pacers, allowing them to establish a footing over bench units to give their best lineups some cushion to build on.