Reports have surfaced suggesting that the Indiana Pacers are looking to acquire a new starting center via a trade this season. However, per Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, no team should expect to land a big man with Anthony Davis still impacting the market amid his trade saga.
"If you are a team like the Indiana Pacers, that's also a team that's looking at big men, I think that market could ultimately be impacted by Anthony Davis. I don't think the Pacers are looking at Anthony Davis. I think the Pacers are looking at more players that fit Tyrese Haliburton's timeline that they can acquire now," Fischer said.
The Pacers may not be able to trade for a center this season
Following Myles Turner's shocking departure in the offseason, the Pacers opted to run a center-by-committee. The idea was that it would take a group of players to replace Turner's impact, and hopefully for the team, a player or two would step up and solidify themselves as legitimate contributors.
Jay Huff, who Indiana acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in the offseason, has sort of become that. Despite a slow start to the season, the North Carolina native is averaging 11.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 3.4 blocks on 46.9% shooting from the field and 37.1% from deep in his last 12 games.
The problem with Huff, though, is that the Pacers probably aren't going to be able to trust him to be their starting center if they were to make it back to the NBA Finals anytime soon. This is why a trade for a new starting big man is intriguing, but it probably won't happen.
So far, the Pacers have been linked to three centers: Daniel Gafford, Walker Kessler, and Ivica Zubac. In order for them to land one of these three guys, they will most likely have to include Bennedict Mathurin in a trade, given his contract situation and potential. If not, the Pacers would likely have to give up Obi Toppin, Jarace Walker, and a ton of draft capital.
However, of these three centers, only Zubac may be worth this haul, and it's highly unlikely that the Los Angeles Clippers would move on from him, even in spite of their nightmare season.
Furthermore, there are likely not going to be many legitimate starting-level centers the Pacers can realistically trade for this season. Either they're not big enough upgrades, or they're too expensive/untouchable. And now you factor in the Davis situation, where nobody knows if or when Dallas is going to move on from, and it's becoming an even bigger challenge for the Pacers to make something happen.
Any move Indiana makes to address its center situation is going to be geared towards the future. The team is not going to make any noise this season. It's a good idea for them to gauge the market regardless, but as it stands, fans shouldn't expect the Pacers to make a big-time center move this season.