The Indiana Pacers have been surrounded by trade and free agent rumors all offseason and throughout the season as well. At the trade deadline the Indiana Pacers surprised many people by not trading away one of their veteran players, but instead, opting to bring another young talent and signing their veteran players to longer contracts.
Well, that move is already starting to look genius as the players that were brought in are already paying big dividends for the Pacers. First, let’s review the trade:
- Pacers acquired: Jordan Nwora, George Hill, Serge Ibaka (waived), and three second round picks.
- Pacers waived: Terry Taylor, James Johnson (resigned), and Goga Bitadze.
So why has the trade already started to pay off and make the front off look genius?
Jordan Nwora is showing everybody that he was a diamond in the rough in Milwaukee.
In Milwaukee, Nwora had to play behind multiple starting forwards including Giannis, meaning he never got the true floor time to show people what he was capable of. So far in Indianapolis, Nwora has the following stat line:
8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists on 42% shooting
And in the most recent game against Orlando? Nwora showed that he is capable of putting up bigger numbers dropping:
18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists on 67% shooting
And while Nwora has struggled from behind the arc in a Pacers uniform, he is certainly showing that he is capable of putting up numbers when given the opportunity (consider that he is still only averaging 17 minutes a game here in Indy).
Rick Carlisle seems to think that the sky is the limit for young Jordan Nwora:
"This is stuff I know I can do and now I'm in a position to showcase it."
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) February 26, 2023
Jordan Nwora and Rick Carlisle talk about his best performance in a Pacers uniform so far. 18 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists in 21 minutes off the bench.💪 pic.twitter.com/JJwdCQ2gPT
And we know that Nwora is capable of putting together highlight plays. Does anybody remember the amazing ankle breaker he had that went viral in Milwaukee?
Jordan Nwora put his defender on skates for the 3 👀 pic.twitter.com/R1Ms0lSXUl
— NBA TV (@NBATV) December 23, 2021
Only time will tell how good of a pickup this was, but considering we basically got paid to take Nwora, we think it was definitely worth it so far.
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