Indiana Pacers: This mock trade is questionable at best

The offseason is in full swing for the Indiana Pacers. Mock drafts, fake trades, and hot takes run rampant across the aether of the internet. This trade proposal would be concerning, to say the least.

For the Indiana Pacers, building a young core is crucial. While trading Myles Turner has been a topic for years, giving up that young core for not all-star talent is wild.

A variation of the StatMuse Twitter account brought this wild trade proposal to life on May. 25, 2022. It has the Pacers giving up their young assets for a sixth man of the year and a rotation shooter that didn’t make the rotation for Miami in their playoff run.

He also makes $90M.

While I do think Tyler Herro is a great young talent and Duncan Robinson is a shooter, they have limitations and Miami is certainly looking to shop Robinson in some way.

I don’t see the Pacers wanting to give up an asset like Chris Duarte who is also a great shooter but can do more with the ball as well. I think Duarte is better than Robinson right now so that is off the table.

Then you have the Pacers’ No. 6 pick involved in which the Pacers will only trade to get “their guy” and that is certainly not Tyler Herro. Making this trade for the Heat means Myles Turner going back to playing the four?

Why the Pacers don’t do it

Chris Duarte proved last season that he is a starting-caliber guard that can defend and score the basketball. His tough shot-making abilities as a rookie showed his confidence right away. Now, Duarte is paired alongside one of the better shot creators in the NBA Tyrese Haliburton and they want to add to that duo.

The No. 6 pick is one way to do that, so trading it for similar players to Duarte and one player in Robinson who makes more money than Indiana would like to pay. He plays a similar game to that of Doug McDermott and the Pacers gave him a three-year $20M deal.

Myles Turner makes sense to trade, going into the last year of his contract, but the Pacers seem optimistic about keeping the big man to play the sole five after trading Domantas Sabonis.

The Pacers don’t make this trade for any reason and they certainly don’t make it for non-starters.