In most trade rumors, the Indiana Pacers have been the ones tabbed to make the outgoing calls in hopes of finding some takers for their dispensable veterans, especially with the franchise clearly turning its priority to nurture its young players.
However, one mock trade from Bleacher Report has them being on the receiving end, instead of being the club that sheds some salary. In this scenario, the Pacers acquire one of the league’s better young players for one of their own young studs and their veteran big man.
The Indiana Pacers land OG Anunoby in this mock B/R trade
In this trade scenario, the Indiana Pacers send center Myles Turner and guard Chris Duarte to the Toronto Raptors for forward OG Anunoby and big man Khem Birch.
Anunoby, who was part of the Raptors’ 2019 championship team, has developed every season and has emerged as one of Toronto’s core players. Averaging a career-high 17.1 points per game last season, he has made a big jump offensively while remaining as one of the few players in the NBA who can legitimately handle all five positions on defense.
Dangling Turner in this particular instance could be a near no-brainer for the Pacers, given that the rangy shot blocker is a big flight risk for them in the following offseason, but the inclusion of Duarte in this package could be a big turn-off for Indiana’s brass. Not only is the franchise high on the incoming sophomore, but they certainly view him as one of the young pillars of the team.
Thus, including Duarte in any prospective deal should logically be done only after seeing some output from next season. If Bennedict Mathurin manages to blow everyone out of the water, then the franchise’s grip on him could be more loose than before.
Nevertheless, it is favorable for the Indiana Pacers that someone like OG Anunoby, one of the best young two-way players in the league, is available for taking, though acquiring him from the Toronto Raptors will require them to be willing to make concessions on their part, too.