The Pacers must absolutely avoid replicating this team’s suicidal move

Sitting at a 5-6 win-loss card this season, no one would mistake the Indiana Pacers as contenders for the championship. In fact, with this campaign almost ordained for the goal of development, few would pencil in the team as a playoff team despite them turning some heads with their electric play so far.

Nonetheless, the Pacers as a franchise seem committed to playing the waiting game, something they have never done before. However, with Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin already arming Indiana with two, solid franchise centerpieces, this squad may actually be ahead of schedule in the proverbial rebuilding phase.

If so, then the franchise should keep going on its current track and absolutely refrain from replicating a certain team’s uber-reckless move that could easily set them up for failure for years to come.

The Indiana Pacers should avoid doing this franchise’s reckless move at all costs

Last season, the Minnesota Timberwolves were among the most pleasant surprises in the league, qualifying for the playoffs with their roster bannered by young talents in Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D’Angelo Russell. While they ultimately fell short and were ousted in the first round, they seem poised to become a Western Conference heavyweight for the foreseeable future.

Minnesota’s brass then surprised the entire league in the offseason by parting ways with almost all of their valuable role players and a mind-boggling five first-round picks for three-time Defensive Player of the Year awardee Rudy Gobert. Early forecasts had them tabbed as title contenders, but as things currently stand, the Timberwolves are nothing of the sort.

Right now, the Wolves stink. The pairing of Towns and Gobert, as feared, has not looked good at all, and the misfit has seemingly seeped into the team’s overall play. It’s still too early to count them out, but with the league’s crest of competitive teams at an all-time high, their championship window may not be as resolute as expected, which could make their blockbuster deal for Gobert look worse as years come by.

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This is exactly what the Pacers should refrain from doing. Plucking established stars and forcing them into the team’s profile work wonders on paper, but when they actually don’t, the calculated risks taken suddenly look foolish.

If (or when) Indiana breaks out this season or in the next one, the front office has to keep on doubling down on building the team organically and not simply chase big names that could be available (case in point: Ben Simmons and Anthony Davis, as rumored) at the cost of closing all routes of roster improvement outside of such groundbreaking trade.

As the Timberwolves are starting to prove, rushing up-and-coming teams by breaking a chunk of the engine that helped them get to the pedestal in the first place is a much more uncomfortable undertaking. This is what the Indiana Pacers exactly have to steer clear from in order to fully see the fruits of their rare rebuild.