NBA rumors: What Pacers are seeking on trade market
12/10/2024 01:22 PM
The Indiana Pacers are 10-15 and tied for the eighth seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. The team definitely did not dream of a start like this. But with December 15 marking the day that the league’s recently-signed restriction lifts, dozens of players are about to be eligible to be dealt to new teams.
Indiana’s season started with a series of unfortunate events. Three days after the NBA’s opening night, third-string center James Wiseman tore his achilles. And just one week after that, second-string center Isaiah Jackson tore his.
Aaron Nesmith is also still weeks away from returning to play, so the next-man-up responsibilities have fallen on Obi Toppin and Jarace Walker. It shouldn’t come as surprising that the Pacers have been canvassing the trade market for a backup center, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
A backup center could help the Pacers get on the right track
The Pacers have a 7-4 record at home, but are just 3-11 on the road. Many have linked this trend to star guard Tyrese Haliburton’s lingering back injury. But the overall level of play has not been there from the Pacers this season, and Haliburton agrees.
A big man coming off the bench won’t singularly solve all of the team’s problems. But it can start a domino effect of players feeling like they can focus on their own role. And that, coupled with Nesmith’s return, might be the push the team needs to get back to the high-octane offense that propelled them to the Eastern Conference Finals.
This year’s Pacers squad is deeper than last year’s. And Bennedict Mathurin’s return from injury was supposed to mark the true beginning of the partnership between Haliburton and Pascal Siakam. But between Haliburton’s back and the injuries to Wiseman, Jackson, and Nesmith, this season’s path has been bumpier than the previous.
The Pacers traded considerable draft capital to the Raptors for Siakam. But not enough where they should be panicking about their championship window after every loss. That said, they also shouldn’t spend the season waiting for issues to resolve themselves.
The basketball gods may never lay out a red carpet for the Pacers. If tanking isn’t part of this team’s ethos, more power to them. Taking a season where everything seems to be going wrong by the horns and making a run at the playoffs might be their best bet at matching last year’s success.
The post NBA rumors: What Pacers are seeking on trade market appeared first on ClutchPoints.
