Indiana Pacers: 3 reasons to trade Aaron Holiday this summer
By Luke Parrish
The Indiana Pacers trust T.J. McConnell to be the backup PG
With free agency around the corner, the Pacers may value keeping their own guys for a second season with Bjorkgren. T.J. McConnell is set to hit the market but served a colossal role for Indiana last season. His second season with the Pacers was arguably the best of his career.
McConnell started just three games last season but still averaged 26.0 minutes per game off the bench under Bjorkgren. In those extended minutes, McConnell set career highs in points, assists, steals, rebounds, and field goal percentage.
Not only did McConnell set a career-high in steals, but he also led the NBA in total steals with 128 in just 69 games. He shined off the bench and in his spot starts throughout the season, providing energy to a team that had none.
Not every day do you see a point guard record a triple-double with 10 steals to his credit but McConnell did exactly that. His game-to-game performance was admirable. Nobody has mastered the stolen inbounds pass quite as McConnell has.
Aaron Holiday has an advantage over McConnell as a shooter but McConnell does pretty much everything else when he is on the floor. If the Pacers can afford to bring him back, I think they would prefer to let him run the second unit and move Aaron Holiday in return.