Grade the Trade: Pacers land potential final piece for 2 key players in mock deal

2. Grade for the Indiana Pacers

Tyrese Haliburton has helped the Indiana Pacers burst onto the scene this season. Highlighted by a deep run in the In-Season Tournament, the Pacers are one of the most fun stories of the season.

At the time of writing this, however, the Pacers are in a bit of a lull. They are 13-11 on the season, which is good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference standings.

They’ve suffered a couple of tough recent losses to the Washington Wizards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, the former being a bad loss to a bad team and the latter being an ugly effort without Haliburton in the lineup.

This trade with the Toronto Raptors would give Haliburton one of the best 3-and-D wings to play with in OG Anunoby, who was named to the All-Defensive Second Team last season.

Indiana has been one of the worst defensive teams in the league this season, and adding Anunoby to the mix would provide them a huge boost on that side of the ball.

Plus, if given a larger offensive role, Anunoby seems like the type of player who could blossom on the Pacers. But even more importantly, he’s comfortable playing off the ball.

Not only could Anunoby be a great piece next to Haliburton, but he could be the final piece that Indiana needs to make the jump from likely Play-In team to legitimate playoff-caliber squad.

Considering Buddy Hield is set to be a free agent this summer, and Jarace Walker doesn’t get regular rotation minutes, this trade should be a no-brainer for the Pacers, regardless of the picks involved.

Grade: A