Indiana Pacers: Buy or sell on latest rumors surrounding the team

The Indiana Pacers are willing to dive into luxury territory to re-sign impending free agent Doug McDermott

By all indications, seven-year forward Doug McDermott seems inclined on remaining with the Indiana Pacers, at least on principle. However, coming off a career-year, the veteran sniper will surely have a lot of options in free agency and is widely projected to become a primary target of teams in need of shooting and secondary scoring.

In free agency, money talks. And while the Pacers can easily offer the most for McDermott since the team own his Bird rights, signing him to a new deal, which projects to be in the 10-15 million range, will catapult the team to luxury territory which is far from ideal for a franchise that just missed the postseason.

Fortunately for Indiana, McDermott has explicitly expressed his willingness to remain as a Pacer, especially with the sense of familiarity and belongingness that the team has cultivated in recent years. It may very well be a deal breaker for other teams, since the sharpshooter may reasonably pass up on slightly bigger offers if he prioritizes stability, which is evidently present for him in the Circle City.

Verdict: Buy on Indiana aggressively trying to re-sign McDermott