Potential Pacers trade bait with Buddy Hield and Obi Toppin on deadline day

Ladies and gentlemen, it is finally that day. February 8, 2024, is the official trade deadline for the NBA season and the end of trade season in general. For the Indiana Pacers, this represents a crossroads that they are well used to.

Of course, who could forget the massive trade deadline move in 2022 to bring Tyrese Halibruton to the Pacers in exchange for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, a move that we are approaching the two-year anniversary of? Or, how about the year before, when Indiana finally pulled the plug on the Victor Oladipo era, dealing him to Houston in exchange for Caris LeVert from the Brooklyn Nets, who they would end up trading the following year anyway?

Long story short, Indiana has been pretty active at the deadline in recent years, which is especially uncharacteristic considering their history. This year was no different from the last few, except this time, Indiana made a splash earlier than expected.

Following frustration with the Toronto Raptors front office and severed talks on an extension, Pascal Siakam was put on the trade block by the team and the Pacers slowly but surely crept to the top of the list of potential destinations.

What initially felt like a standoff between Indiana and Toronto based on the Pacers' refusal to give up any of their young players quickly turned into shock as Toronto dealt Siakam to Indiana on January 17, far before the deadline and before anyone expected Siakam to be traded. Furthermore, the Pacers would end up keeping all their young pieces, with Toronto settling on a package built around Bruce Brown and three first-round picks.

With the Siakam trade happening earlier than anyone expected, the door remained open for Indiana to potentially make more moves, and the focus quickly set to two players, Buddy Hield and Obi Toppin, as well as the potential return Indiana could look for in a deal.

Obi Toppin

Let's start with Toppin, as his case is the lesser of the two. Originally coming to Indiana for two second-round picks in the 2023 offseason, Toppin has been solid for the Pacers as the first or second power forward in the rotation, averaging career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, steals, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage.

It was widely believed that either Toppin or Jalen Smith would be dealt to Toronto in a Siakam trade if Indiana were to keep their young pieces, such as Jarace Walker and Bennedict Mathurin.

After Indiana miraculously kept both Smith and Toppin, a logjam started forming at the power forward position, with the new addition of Siakam meaning that Toppin, Smith, and rookie Jarace Walker would have to fight for minutes in a newly stacked frontcourt.

With Smith most likely walking in free agency, the focus has turned to Toppin, who, despite being productive, is seen as more of a liability come playoff time than Smith, whose three-point shooting has risen to elite level this season.

As a result, Smith's minutes have gone up since the Siakam trade (17.9 to 19.3), with Toppin's going down (23.6 to 19.3). Originally the starting power forward for this Pacers team going into the season, Toppin is now seen as a more expendable asset as the team looks for more wing depth for the playoffs.

Buddy Hield

Buddy Hield's case is a bit different. At 31 years old, Hield is the second-oldest rotation player on the team behind TJ McConnell, and unlike McConnell, he has been quite inconsistent this season, bordering on unplayable at his worst moments.

Despite building a reputation as one of the best three-point shooters in the league, and rightfully so, with a career average of 40%, Hield's shot has not been falling as much this season, with him shooting only 32.5% in his last nine games, and a mere 30% in his last seven.

The Pacers' success this year has also somewhat been tied to how many shots Buddy Hield takes in a game, with the results not exactly being in Hield's favor.

In addition, Hield has also been expressing frustration from the bench in recent games, with his frustrations on Sunday's matchup against Charlotte being especially well noted.

This is not exactly surprising coming from Hield, who has seen his role on the team slowly diminish over the past year, from starter and core piece on the team, to seventh or eighth guy off the bench and defensive liability most of the time.

Of course, Hield will always have his reputation as a knockdown shooter around the league, which is why he has garnered interest from teams, namely the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. However, the potential return from these teams has turned many Pacers fans off, and from the looks of it, the Pacers themselves as well.

For Philly, Hield would be a nice addition to their bench, as they could use a shooting spark for their second unit. However, a Hield trade to Philadelphia will most likely garner a return of Furkan Korkmaz, Marcus Morris, or Robert Covington, three players that are questionable at best and downright unplayable at worst.

As for Orlando, they will most certainly not part ways with young guard Jalen Suggs, so the best return from them would most likely be centered around Indiana native swingman Gary Harris, who has been less than stellar this season.

Potential trade returns

It is very important to note what Indiana would be looking for in a potential Hield/Toppin return. With the first nine players of Indiana's playoff rotation being set in stone as some combination of Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam, Turner, McConnell, Mathurin, Jalen Smith, and Isaiah Jackson, there is one spot left.

While Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker have shown plenty of upside this season, they are just rookies at the end of the day, and it is very unlikely they get playoff run outside of the occassional garbage time minutes.

Indiana will be looking for a 3&D wing player this deadline if they do make a move, with the likes of Matisse Thybulle and Alex Caruso being discussed among fans as a good return. Chief among the return targets are Andrew Wiggins and Isaac Okoro, although the size of Wiggins' contract and the value Okoro brings to the Cavaliers more or less make those talks doubtful as well.

Whether the Pacers stand pat at the deadline and pray Hield gets back into his groove or they cut their losses and trade his expiring contract for a more consistent player on both ends is a question for anyone to answer.

Perhaps by the time you're reading this, the trade has already been done, and Indiana has found their backup swingman for the playoffs alongside Mathurin. Either way, this has still been a trade season to remember for the Indiana Pacers, as nobody can take away the Pascal Siakam acquisition from them.