Indiana Pacers: Reassessing the Jeremy Lamb trade deadline situation

With the Indiana Pacers tottering as the trade deadline looms, much of the public has zoomed in on some of their players as obtainable pieces on the trade market. From Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and Caris LeVert, the Blue and Gold obviously has no shortage of attractive pieces that other clubs could eye as the need for a retooling endorses itself.

Lost in all the smoke, however, is veteran guard Jeremy Lamb. Now in the final year of his three-year contract signed back in the 2019 offseason, he’s prone to be in the rumor mill. Combine that with his erratic play this season for the Pacers, and you can expect a trade to be brewing at some point for the 29-year-old.

Yet, here we are. Despite news of Indiana’s brass actively looking to deal him before the season even started, Lamb is still on the roster. That could change as the deadline nears though, with the added pressure to make a trade serving as the gauntlet to fully realize a seemingly destined breakup between the two.

Will Jeremy Lamb find a new home away from the Indiana Pacers before the NBA Trade Deadline?

Finding a taker for Lamb, despite his expiring contract, will be far from easy. After all, reports have pointed to the Indiana Pacers as the ones who have moved to gauge his value around the league, suggesting minimal interest for the 10-year vet.

On a bird’s eye view, there probably isn’t a team that will get out of their way to go trade for an oft-injured, one-dimensional player who needs a lot of safeguard behind him on defense. His specialty, which is scoring, remains fine (at 6.9 points per game in just 14.3 minutes), but the decline in efficiency (36.6 percent overall, 33.3 percent from three) could turn off potential buyers, if there are any.

The most likely route for the Pacers to move him then would be to include him in a bigger package as a salary fodder. Combining him with one of the team’s sub-$20 million players like Turner, Sabonis, LeVert, or TJ Warren gives them a shot to target a quality piece in the high $20 to $30 million range.

Beware, however, that Lamb can only really be considered as a salary matcher instead of a sweetener. Championing him as more than that, on a deal for a fringe All-Star where the Pacers make a two-for-one trade, for example, would lower their chances at securing a deal.

Otherwise, Indiana will find itself retaining Lamb which, big picture considered, is not the end of the world, as he is in the final year of his contract and is unlikely to fetch the Pacers an asset that they could use anyway. Buying him out later could be possible, but without any tangible benefit for the team, it could also be an improbable proposition.

As the trade deadline is just a few weeks away, stay tuned as the Indiana Pacers hopefully move the needle at some point before it’s too late to decide on a clear direction this season.