NBA Rumors: Newest reports indicate Pacers in play for perennial All-Star

The newest reports seem to be indicating that the Pacers may be a potential landing spot for a perennial All-Star player. And while the Pacers currently have quite a bit of talent, if they were able to acquire this player they would immediately be a finals contending team. The question is, would this be a good pick-up for the Pacers long-term?

Sean Deveney of Heavy Sports, says that the Pacers are one of many teams that are likely landing spots for Karl Anthony-Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves according to league executives:

"Among the teams executives mentioned as potential suitors for Towns: Brooklyn and Miami (two teams that will inevitably come up in any potential superstar trade talks in the next six months, though the Heat’s Jimmy Butler has a rocky history with Towns), Portland (in a Damian Lillard deal?) and Indiana."

And while initially this may sound exciting to many fans, the question is whether or not this would be a great fit long term for the Pacers?

The pros: KAT would immediately become a second All-Star level player on a rebuilding Pacers team. 

He likely would be able to merge well with Haliburton and the other guards. However, it would complicate things at the center position. What would the team do with Myles Turner? The early results from Minnesota this year was that the Gobert/Towns pairing isn’t as lethal as many thought. The same would be true for a Turner/Towns pairing.

The cons: KAT would probably just complicate things and play into weaknesses

The bigger issues around KAT joining the Pacers are around fit and playstyle. KAT is a wonderful offensive player but has some severe defensive limitations. Given that Turner currently anchors the defense, if he couldn’t fit well with KAT, it would be a double-whammy on the Pacers defensive struggles.

The verdict: The Pacers should likely avoid unless there are much bigger plans at play that would help strengthen the defense and solve the Turner fit issues.