Indiana Pacers: Two trade ideas to send Ben Simmons to Indy

Despite possessing the East’s best record and entering the postseason as one of the definitive title favorites, the Philadelphia 76ers were sent packing by the 5th-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games. At the crux of the team’s disappointments is All-Star guard Ben Simmons who was heavily exploited in the series, leading to a lot of trade noise as soon as they were eliminated. After a similar disappointing season of their own, the Indiana Pacers should strike the iron.

However, the Pacers can’t take consolation from the fact that powerhouse 76ers went down in embarrassing fashion. After all, the latter is still well-positioned to contend for a title in the foreseeable future, though a big question looms on the team: is Ben Simmons ever going to be a seamless fit with their core led by MVP candidate Joel Embiid?

The Indiana Pacers should shake things up this offseason

The usual maneuver for injury-marred teams like Indiana is to wait for the stars to align and gauge the group’s ceiling at their healthiest. This is a very risky outlook, especially with the Pacers already maligned by significant injuries dating back to the previous decade. However, this is the reality for small market teams. Kevin Pritchard himself admitted that the team can only bank on continuity with players constantly in the big market spree.

Fortunately, after a turbulent year, the Indiana Pacers will have a lot of opportunities this offseason. What figures to be an eventful summer may have even more sparks with Ben Simmons expected to be in the middle of trade talks. Ideally, the Blue and Gold should become more aggressive for the All-Star to help retool a core that has clear limitations. Here are two trade ideas to get it done.