Indy retool? Spurs assemble their team?

[tcheco]

Pacers accept they wont fight for the tittle next year and try to make the most out of it.
Spurs see a good opportunity to round the roster and go for it.

Pacers trade: Siakam, Nesmith
Spurs trade: 2#, Barnes, Sochan, Branham, Keldon Johnson

Spurs depth chart

Fox/Castle
Castle/Vassel/Wesley
Nesmith/Vassel
Siakam/Champagnie
Wemby/FA

Spurs get Siakam whom proved to be a reliable 2nd option for Championship teams and Nesmith a really good 3 and D guy to round the roster.
Pacers get Harper that is a shot to a potencial future star, they take a closer look at Sochan to see if he can find his role in this team and go into the season with the goal of seeing their youngsters in court.

Pacers future depth chart
Haliburton/Harper/TJ
Nembhard/Ben/Harper
Mathurin/Johnson
Walker/Barnes
Turner/Jackson

Pacers also can trade Toppin to a contender if he prefers that way, or Keldon and Barnes can be rerouted if you prefere to keep Toppin at the team

It is always hard to gauge value for the 2nd pick, but this was my try lol

[Wallace_Wallace]

That’s a video game trade. I don’t think Indiana trade 2 starters that just played in the finals and I don’t think the Spurs would trade their #2 unless it’s an all star players team is trying unload.

I don’t know how likely Jaylen Brown is available, but this would be one of the few players that’s worth the #2 pick

[rand]

Interesting idea.

Hali being out next year would give Indy an opportunity to tank and get a top-5 pick in next season's draft. If they also got the #2 pick in this draft that would allow them to emerge in 2027 with two potential star talents to trio with Hali who at 25 is still young enough to support a delayed timeline. Under this scenario I expect they'd let Turner walk in FA now.

But regardless, this route is not realistic. NBA teams in general don't immediately dismantle Finals teams and the Pacers have never been a tanking franchise. I doubt their ownership wants to suffer the massive attendance crash which would accompany this move next season. I'd bet they'll let next season play out with the hope that Hali can come back near the end of the regular season and they can make it through the play-in, then look to return at full strength for 2027.

I also think Indy wouldn't trade Nesmith (who is still just 25) under almost any scenario. PPG may not show it but he just had a huge breakout season and at just $11M/year for the next two seasons is one of the NBA's best contracts.

[DwayneSchintzus]

That’s a video game trade. I don’t think Indiana trade 2 starters that just played in the finals and I don’t think the Spurs would trade their #2 unless it’s an all star players team is trying unload.

I don’t know how likely Jaylen Brown is available, but this would be one of the few players that’s worth the #2 pick

Yeah, those are fantastic 2K trades.

The Spurs strategy is pretty easy to figure out. They are trying to build a better version of Duncan/Parker/Ginobili. With Parker and Ginobili it was luck, no one expected them to become the players they became. But we have a 2nd and a 4th pick to add to Wemby.

What would it have done to the franchise if we traded a rookie Tony Parker for Vin Baker? It would have made some sense at the time, and probably would have cost us 12 years of contention. If you want to be a "contender" next season, some of these trades make sense. If you want to be a "title favorite" for 8-10 years, you keep the players and develop them.

Also - no one would have said Parker and Ginobili were a seamless fit together, but they helped form one of the greatest runs of title contention ever.

[jowglenn]

In reality, there's virtually no chance the Pacers make any drastic tear-down moves. We've still got a solid team that can put on a good product night in and night out next year. Nembhard/Mathurin/Nesmith/Siakam/Turner with McConnell, Sheppard, Walker, Toppin, Bradley bench. Still a solid team. Not a championship contender but still a playoff team. The Pacers will compete, win games, try to win a playoff series, and hope to bring Haliburton back to mostly the same team the following season.

Now maybe they'll do some retooling around the edges! Toppin certainly could get dealt, to avoid the tax. I wouldn't be shocked to see Mathurin get dealt mid-season - let him showcase his talents and then move him before we have to pay him. But the Pacers have historically never been ones to panic. When Paul George broke his leg and was out for a season, they didn't suddenly trade David West and George Hill and Roy Hibbert.

We've only arguably ever done one "tank" in living memory, when we traded Brogdon and Levert and Sabonis and had three years in the lottery (Duarte/Mathurin/Walker). But even then we didn't completely bottom out and do any sort of Process-style strip-it-to-the-studs.

So I expect they won't do anything drastic... BUT! There is some precedent. In 1999, the Pacers had just made two Eastern Conference Finals in a row - losing to the Bulls in 98 and to the Knicks in 99. We traded our stalwart backup big man, Antonio Davis - fifth on the team in MPG - for the 5th pick in the draft (Jonathan Bender lol). We then proceeded to make the NBA Finals! When we lost... we traded our long-time starting power forward Dale Davis for a youngster named Jermaine O'Neal. Well that season ended poorly with a deserved first-round exit... halfway through the following season, we traded Jalen Rose and Travis Best for Brad Miller and Ron Artest. A year later we couldn't really afford to keep Miller so we traded him to Sacramento. A year after that we won 61 games and made the Eastern Conference Finals.

That was a real rebuild-on-the-fly, turning over major pieces of the roster year after year... but without anything close to "bottoming out" or "tearing it down." The Pacers definitely made some BIG MOVES in successive years. It's not outside the realm of possibility that we make a BIG MOVE and trade Siakam. And if we did, I'd expect we would target a high pick a la Bender or a young prospect a la Jermaine O'Neal.

Don't be shocked if the Pacers do the unexpected and pivot a bit here.

[Scoot McGroot]

I think Siakam and Nesmith are fantastic, but there’s just no way they pull the Harper draft pick. Just none. Let alone with Sochan and not bad salary filler.

[jayjaysee]

I really like the duo in SA, but don’t think they move Harper here.

[jkvonny]

Is this a video game/fantasy basketball trade, or an actual rumor based trade proposal??

Indy is still going for a championship next season.

We are just trying to make the playoffs ! Been 6 yrs. Not sure if we are going all in next season lol.
But we are rebuilding around Wemby, Castle, Vassell etc

[jkvonny]

Also, Pacers don't tank. They hardly ever do.