Indiana Pacers: Winners and losers from the Malcolm Brogdon trade

Indiana Pacers: Winners and losers from the Malcolm Brogdon trade

Winner: Tyrese Haliburton

Moving Malcolm Brogdon was always associated with the need to truly liberate Tyrese Haliburton and unleash him as the full-time orchestrator of the team.

The Indiana Pacers, maybe out of seniority and transition, were still very conducive to letting Brogdon handle the rock for the most part in the limited minutes he played with Haliburton. Evidently, the team trotted a more predictable attack with this configuration, with the latter obviously shown to be suppressed by the ball-dominant veteran.

However, with Brogdon now out of the way, Haliburton’s usage rate should soar, allowing him to maximize his tremendous playmaking and shot creation on a team that clearly fits his style better than his methodical and oft-erratic predecessor.

Loser: The Pacers’ veteran trio and the Pacers’ small window of not rebuilding

In a way, it always felt like the Pacers showed more restraint than most teams in handling a transition period. However, trading Brogdon is a major step toward truly moving full-blast on a potential fire sale, especially for their veterans.

Whether it happens this offseason or percolates over to the actual campaign, expect Indiana to aggressively pursue trades for Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, and TJ McConnell. Demand for the first two should be ample, while the latter should still command a small market for his niche services.

Anyway, this should be more than enough to quash any potential of the Pacers jettisoning a slated rebuild. They already made a substantial leap direction-wise, and after trading one of the biggest inhibitors from that, there is absolutely no turning back.