Blockbuster trades Pacers’ fans wish the team had explored

The Pacers are coming off of one of the busiest trade deadlines that the NBA has ever seen. Star players were on the move all over the NBA, and even many promising young players. Additionally, we learned the true value of a second round pick (almost nothing).

We asked Pacers’ twitter what trades they saw happen during the crazy trade deadline that they wish the Pacers would have looked into. Now, we aren’t saying that the front office didn’t. In fact, many of these trades were probably explored by the front office. However, we wanted to get a feel for what the Pacers community would have liked to see. And some of the patterns we found are explored in this article.

Fans around twitter all talked about trades that they saw that they wish would have happened to Indy.

Now of course, some of these are completely unrealistic given that the Pacers are never competitive for the biggest stars in the NBA on the trade market. However, there were multiple trades that happened that were crazy good value that fans felt that the Pacers should have jumped on if possible.

A high upside guard for a small amount of draft capital

One of the biggest steals of the deadline was the Los Angeles Clippers getting Bones Hyland for a pair of second round picks. Many fans (including us) felt that this was the type of trade the Pacers should have been seeking.

Some fans were a bit worried about chemistry issues, which is a common concern given the team has been playing so well together.

Bones Hyland has been in the news for potentially having chemistry issues. However, the man is playing like a future star this year and the Nuggets may really come to regret that decision in a few years if Hyland blossoms into everything he can be.

While there are some concerns from fans that the backcourt is already too packed, a high-upside young player for two seconds is a trade you never pass up, even if you don’t need the player it’s essentially like turning away free money. You can always flip the asset for something else in the future. In a rebuilding phase, everything is about value and not always about fit.

A talented young player from Detroit or Washington on a good contract

Many fans felt that Bey would have been a good target at the price, given that he plays the position of greatest need for the Pacers.

We agree that the price in the Saddiq Bey trade was an excellent value for the Atlanta Hawks.

And it makes sense that Bey would have been a popular choice. The asking price was not incredibly high and Atlanta possibly has a new starting power forward to replace John Collins when he finally gets dealt.

This user also mentions the Rui Hachimura trade, who the Pacers could have bid on at the price point as well. Given that second round picks were flying around like candy, fans seemed to think that a few second round picks for a flier on a power forward that has the size and could develop was worth it.

In the case of both Bey and Hachimura, we think that the Pacers likely looked down these avenues but are surprised that they didn’t feel that the value was there for a few second round picks. Especially given that we are traditionally able to get seconds for nearly free on the cap space market every year.

A blockbuster move for a potential all-star player

By and large much of the trades that the Pacers fans would have wanted were ones that never materialized (isn’t that always seemingly the case?). Some examples of these would be trades for the Nets new pair of forwards:

A trade for Michael Porter Junior of the Nuggets (who was never in a million years going to get traded by the way):

Or even some sentiments towards getting OG from the Raptors:

However, what the twitter user is saying is that the price for OG ended up being too steep and we agree, perhaps it is a good thing that the Raptors didn’t trade him to us and maybe we can go after him in free agency if he is indeed interested in a return to the Hoosier state.

Overall what trade were you disappointed that the Pacers didn’t make? Tell us in the comments below.