This trade proves that the Indiana Pacers are an elite trading team

The Indiana Pacers remain tethered to 12th place in the Eastern Conference, but the team has been playing much better basketball over the last week or so, claiming three victories in their last five contests.

With the Pacers clearly gunning for a postseason spot with the regular season nearing its climax point, they need all the firepower they can get to cement a better position for themselves in hopes of snapping a three-year playoff drought. Fortunately, one of the newer faces on the roster brought via trade has thrived as a steady hand off the bench.

Jordan Nwora has been thriving off the Indiana Pacers bench

Jordan Nwora arrived in the Circle City without any pizzazz as an overlooked part of the blockbuster four-team Kevin Durant trade involving the Brooklyn Nets, the Phoenix Suns, and the Milwaukee Bucks, the latter dangling him to the Pacers merely to free up the space necessary to absorb Jae Crowder’s contract.

Nwora, however, has proven to be a big sparkplug off Indiana’s bench. In five outings with the team so far, the 6’8 forward has registered 9.4 points in just 19 minutes per game on 46.3 percent shooting from the field, including a very welcome 38.9 percent clip on triples.

Once again, it appears that the Pacers have done another fleece job, adding the Nwora trade to the long list of savvy trades that team president Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan have executed in recent years.

It’s not difficult to see why Nwora has been making strides so far for the Blue and Gold. The team clearly needs size on the wings, and the Louisville alum provides just that, arming them with another shot creator who does not have to concede size on defense — a motif exploited by most teams against the Pacers on a nightly basis.

Also, he’s just 24, making him an ideal complementary fit to surround the current core of Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, and Bennedict Mathurin, among others.

Even if his great start doesn’t sustain, the best part is that the Pacers have flexibility. Nwora is only owed guaranteed money until next season, giving the front office loads of time to assess where he stands in the future of the franchise.

But right now, Jordan Nwora is serving the goods for the Indiana Pacers, making the front office look good once again for turning one’s trash into their own treasure.