Midseason acquisitions aren't all that rare. Especially for the Indiana Pacers.
Last year, Pascal Siakam came to the Pacers from the Toronto Raptors for Bruce Brown and a first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. That helped an eventual-sixth seed team run past the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks in the playoffs as the underdog.
Go back 22 months ago, another midseason trade landed the Pacers their current All-Star point guard. Tyrese Haliburton was a part of a six-player swap that saw him, Buddy Hield, and Tristan Thompson leave the Sacramento Kings for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, and Justin Holiday, as well as a second-round pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
On January 24, 2006, the same two teams swapped stars, Ron Artest for Peja Stojakovic. A disgruntled small forward was sent out West to play for Rick Adelman. The Pacers gained the Croatian sharpshooter with a shot reminiscent of the great Reggie Miller.
Thus, it may be time to get the Kings back on the phone and start talking potential deals here.
Who is available and at what cost?
Entering Monday night, Sacramento is under .500 and not living up to expectations. After getting DeMar DeRozan to join a team that held the Western Conference's third seed just two seasons ago, the Kings were in a win-now mode.
Following the Pacers' breakout year and deep playoff run last season, they're in similar territory.
Ladies and gentlemen, please pay attention to the name Kevin Huerter. His name was thrown around in trade talks often last season. With both teams needing to save their season and used to dealing with each other, why not?
Huerter is in his seventh year in the league and third with the Kings. He is a solid 10-12 points-a-game scorer. His field goal average is consistently around 44% and he's just under 40% from deep.
In his first four games this month, Huerter has scored in double-digits three times. This includes his season-high 26-point explosion in the blowout win against the Utah Jazz. The 26-year-old former first-pick (2018) made 10 of his 14 field goal attempts and six of his nine shots from behind the arc.
Bringing him onto the roster for Indiana would come at a cost since Huerter is making north of $15 million this season.
The Pacers must trade for Kevin Huerter
Though hurt, Aaron Nesmith for Huerter makes sense. Adding Ben Sheppard to the deal makes the money even closer in this potential deal and opens up another roster spot, especially since the Pacers did cut center Moses Brown recently.
Huerter is 6'7'', so he can play the two or the three. That allows Bennedict Mathurin to come off the bench as the shooting guard and Jarace Walker to be called in at small forward.
Starter | Second Unit |
|---|---|
Tyrese Haliburton | T.J. McConnell |
Andrew Nembhard | Bennedict Mathurin |
Kevin Huerter | Jarace Walker |
Pascal Siakam | Obi Toppin |
Myles Turner | Alex Len |
Any one of these potential swaps saves the Pacers' first-round draft pick next year. Whenever a free agent signs a new tender, they must wait until December 15 or three months (whichever one is later).
This rule is applied if the Kings added Alex Len. After all, the Pacers need another big man with injuries to both James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson.
This is definitely a deal worth looking at.