The Indiana Pacers continue to hint at a Turbonis split

After trading back into the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers selected Isaiah Jackson, a forward/center out of Kentucky. Jackson stands at 6-foot-10 and 206 pounds with major defensive upside.

In his lone season at Kentucky, Jackson recorded 2.6 blocks per game while also adding 6.6 rebounds and 8.4 points. He brings plenty of length to the roster but his addition brings several intriguing questions with it.

How does the Isaiah Jackson selection change the future of Turbonis with the Indiana Pacers?

The speculation that the Indiana Pacers will eventually part with either Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis has never really come to an end. The two are both excellent at what they are asked to do but running two centers has not worked well for the Pacers. They drafted Goga Bitadze in the first round just a couple of years ago and now they have four young centers on the roster.

Bringing in Jackson lends the notion that the Pacers are actively trying to part with one of their starting centers but the value has likely changed with the draft now over. Could the Warriors still have interest in swapping Moses Moody, the 14th overall pick, in a package for Myles Turner?

Indiana passed up on Moody in order to take Chris Duarte with the pick prior but he would still be worth targeting in a trade. His ability to impact both ends of the floor with youth on his side is something Indiana has not had recently.

Perhaps the Pacers are already looking ahead to future drafts and could wait to deal Sabonis or Turner once this class has been given a chance to breathe a bit. I’m not sure exactly what to expect from the front office moving forward, especially given how this draft turned out.

In order to land Isaiah Jackson, the Pacers traded Aaron Holiday and four second-round picks to move up. That should alleviate some of the congestion in the backcourt but it simultaneously put that congestion at the center position.

The next few days or weeks should be exciting for the Pacers. With so many questions left to answer and playing time to clear up, the Pacers should be very active. Will Jeremy Lamb and a center finally be on the move?

There is simply no way all four centers can receive ample playing time to justify keeping them on the roster. A move of some sort has to be coming in the future, it’s just a matter of when.