Why the Indiana Pacers shouldn’t use their cap space on a big free agent

If we’ve learned anything over the last couple of years of the NBA, it’s that cap space is a myth if a team wants to get someone in their building, even if you’re the Indiana Pacers.

It takes a lot of work, a few assets, and usually the player telling his current front office that he wants to go to that specific team, but where there’s a will there’s a way.

Since the Indiana Pacers’ season has been over for a while, all eyes are on the summer leading up to the 2022-23 season.

Thanks to a disappointing lottery, we know the Pacers will be selecting sixth, but that’s just the beginning of the summer festivities with the actual draft and free agency on the way. There are plenty of rumors (some sourced and some likely not) about what the Pacers might do or what players other teams may be interested in, which means plenty of speculation on how that might come to fruition.

There has been a lot of talk about the Pacers having about $25million in cap space, which can technically be true. However, getting to that number may not be the best way for the team to handle themselves this offseason, and it might be better to use that cap space in different ways than signing someone big even if they did clear that space.

Indiana’s current cap landscape is extremely versatile

To start with, here are the Pacers that are currently under contract for 2022-23, plus their cap figure:

1. Malcolm Brogdon – $22.6m
2. Buddy Hield – $21.18m
3. Myles Turner – $18.0m
4. T.J. McConnell – $8.1m
5. Goga Bitadze – $4.77m
6. Tyrese Haliburton – $4.22m
7. Chris Duarte – $3.94m
8. Isaiah Jackson – $2.57m
9. Oshae Brissett – $1.85m
10. Terry Taylor – $1.56m
11. Duane Washington – $1.56m

(To be fair, the players from 5 through 11 do have either non-guarantees or team options that could be used to make more space,  but it’s safe to assume they’ll be on the team next year since they’re either good or recently signed.)

That totals $90.34million. If those were the only players on the roster, that would put the Indiana Pacers about $31.66million below the salary cap. Not bad for 11 players!

Now add the salary for the sixth pick that the Pacers have of $6.5million in the first year of their contract, which brings us to the oft-talked about $25.2million number. The Pacers don’t have to sign the 31st pick to any standard contract, so we’ll assume they don’t keep that number the same.

In order to have that $25.2million in cap space, the Indiana Pacers would have to renounce the rights to Ricky Rubio, T.J. Warren, Jalen Smith, Lance Stephenson, Nate Hinton, and Gabe York. That means the Pacers could no longer sign any of those players over the salary cap limit, which may not be that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. Personally, I’d like to see Warren back on a team-friendly deal, and we all know about Smith’s contract situation, but the market may make the decisions for the team.

The Pacers could make other moves where they take back less salary than they send out if they wanted to create more than the cap space currently available, but the players and assets involved in the trade should be more important than the cap space at this point in the process.

The Pacers’ cap space might be better used internally or to help other teams…for a price

So now the Pacers have their cap space, and 12 players on the roster. Why shouldn’t they use it to sign someone like Miles Bridges or Deandre Ayton?

The main reason would be the argument of whether those players are worth the max contract it likely takes to pry them from their current team, not to mention the assets it would take if a sign-and-trade were the only way to bring them in.

I’m not entirely on board with that move without knowing the cost, which brings us to reason two and the ability to use that cap space to take on salaries from other teams in exchange for assets. Consider what the Thunder did last year by taking Derrick Favors and his $9.26million for the cost of a 2024 first-round pick from the Jazz. Not the worst idea if the price is right.

Depending on the direction the Indiana Pacers want to go, making moves like that combined with one more year of development leading to a reportedly stacked 2023 draft class could make some sense. Even if the Pacers don’t want to rebuild for another year, there are sure to be avenues out there to bring in a few assets that can fit in well with the Pacers’ young core without spending big.

Another smaller reason is a player like Oshae Brissett. The Pacers have a team option on Brissett’s $1.85million, which if picked up means he’s on a value deal this year but comes with the risk of him being an unrestricted free agent in 2023.

If the Indiana Pacers decline that option, Brissett becomes a restricted free agent this year and the Pacers can match any offer sheet that comes his way. Is Brissett a player the team would sacrifice some cap space this year to retain at a reasonable deal for extra years? That doesn’t seem out of the question.

The last reason is more about philosophy and what the next great Pacers team will look like (whenever that is) rather than the 2022-23 team. As Tony East of Locked On Pacers has talked about, the Indiana Pacers will essentially have one chance either this year or next to spend big before Haliburton gets a massive raise in 2024-25, with Duarte and Jackson presumably getting raises the following year.

Myles Turner will be on an expiring contract next season, which could answer the question about the future starting center or bring yet another avenue to shake up the roster. With the numerous changes from last year and the changes potentially coming this offseason, the Pacers may want to evaluate what the current team plus a couple of draft picks looks like before spending big and basically locking in their core.

The Indiana Pacers have plenty of options ahead of them, and it starts with the draft.

Are any of the above choices as exciting as giving Bridges or Ayton a max offer sheet immediately when free agency opens? Of course not.

But with pieces on the roster like Malcolm Brogdon or Buddy Hield potentially available combined with other teams in the league being more desperate to win now, there may be better opportunities for the Pacers to use their cap space than outright signing someone. That doesn’t even get into the possibility of moving up or down in this year’s draft that would almost certainly mean a change in assets and salary sheet one way or the other.

As with most decisions for an NBA team, it depends on what options and what direction Kevin Pritchard wants to take. The Indiana Pacers could care only about bringing in young talent, which might make bringing in a high-level free agent worth it, but there’s also a chance they want to add to their current assets while they wait for the right opportunity to cash in.

If we learned anything this year after the Pacers acquired Haliburton, it’s that KP and Co. aren’t shy about getting who they want, and I’m excited to see who is next on their list.