The Indiana Pacers have made their second and final moves of the trade deadline, and this one has potential rotational implications. Just a few hours after trading Buddy Hield to the Philadelphia 76ers for Furkan Korkmaz, Marcus Morris, and three second-round picks, Indiana has flipped part of that package as well.
The most recent trade, as reported by Shams Charania of The Athletic, involved Marcus Morris, a second-round pick, and cash sent to the San Antonio Spurs for Doug McDermott, a former Pacer and fan favorite.
The Pacers are trading Marcus Morris, a second-round pick and cash to the Spurs for Doug McDermott, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 8, 2024
For San Antonio, this trade does little more than land them an extra second-round pick and some cash in exchange for an expiring McDermott. They intend to waive Marcus Morris to clear roster space and press forward.
For Indiana, however, it's a bit different. After dealing away Hield, there were some concerns about the Pacers losing shooting off the bench and gravity to take attention away from players such as Tyrese Haliburton.
With the McDermott trade, Indiana gets back some of that shooting prowess and gets a good locker-room presence to make up for Hield's absence. Another concern fans had about the Hield trade was Tyrese Haliburton potentially not taking it well.
Since he has been around for his entire career up to this point, Haliburton and Hield have developed a close friendship and routinely poke fun at each other. However, Haliburton perhaps knows more than anyone that basketball is a business, and he will most likely understand the move from a basketball perspective.
Of course, it is always great to get back a positive locker room presence and someone who can compete right away. In 46 games for San Antonio, McDermott has shot close to 44% from beyond the arc on almost four attempts per game, which is pretty impressive for only 15 minutes per game. McDermott more or less fits in with exactly what the Pacers need right now, marginal improvement on the wings and a more consistent shooter off the bench.
Overall, this was a pretty uneventful but solid deadline for the Pacers. Since the big move was out of the way early in the Siakam trade, Indiana wasn't expected to make much noise in the trade market outside of a potential Hield trade, which they did.
Of course, it is always nice to get some positive locker room presences as well, which Indiana also got with the addition of fellow 2018 Pacers member Corey Joseph. All in all, this team looks solid and ready for playoff contention.
Overall Grade: B (Nothing special as expected. Marginal improvement and some extra picks and money can't hurt)
Update: Corey Joseph and Furkan Korkmaz have just been released by the Indiana Pacers, cutting their Indiana stints short at 1 hour 43 minutes and 7 hours 22 minutes, respectively