INDY Teardown w/ SAS and POR

[jowglenn]

In all likelihood, the Pacers will just run it back - Nembhard and McConnell can fill in while Haliburton is out for a year and they'll still be a solid team. Walker and Sheppard will get increased roles. They might dump Toppin for tax relief so they can re-sign Turner. Maybe they'll field offers for Mathurin. They'll gut it out, win 43 games, and get eliminated in the first or second round of the playoffs.

But the little devil on my shoulder is whispering to me... "Tear it down... sell off all the quality veterans... tank a bit for the juicy 2026 draft... come back in 27-28 with a fresher younger team..." So I figure why not, let's give it a try.

TRADE ONE:

Pacers S&T: Myles Turner
Spurs trade: Harrison Barnes, Jeremy Sochan, 2025 #14 pick (ATL 1st)

Why for Pacers: Get a younger player in Sochan and grab a 1st. Barnes is expiring. Maybe try to flip him at the deadline.
Why for Spurs: Absolute insane block party in San Antonio. Put a veteran center next to Wembanyama, a guy who can space the floor well. Would they rather send out Johnson or Vassell instead of Harrison Barnes? Let us know!

TRADE TWO:

Pacers trade: Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, TJ McConnell
Blazers trade: Jerami Grant, DeAndre Ayton, 2025 #11 pick, 2028 MKE 1st, 2030 MKE 1st

Why for Pacers: Get an expiring Ayton & a lotto pick and some future 1sts in exchange for some of our veterans. See if we can flip Ayton or Grant at the deadline.
Why for Blazers: They're on the come up and this adds some great players to the team. Tanking is over, they're ready to compete. They even dump Grant! Scoot/Simons/Avdija/Siakam/Clingan with McConnell, Sharpe, Camara, Thybulle, Toppin, Timelord bench? Holy moly!

End result:

Pacers come out with a starting lineup of Nembhard/Mathurin/Nesmith/Grant/Ayton. Bench of Sheppard, Sochan, Barnes, Walker, Furphy, 11, 14, uhhh, Tony Bradley. Look to find a taker for Grant somewhere if possible. Let Barnes & Ayton expire. Naturally end up with a high pick in 2026 draft, bring Haliburton back in 2026-27 season with some younger guys around him.

[HornetJail]

The Pacers should not blow it up, but if they do, Charlotte should top that Siakam offer by just throwing down the 4th pick on table for him and TJ.

[Texas Chuck]

Trade 1 is illegal. Spurs can't have reached a free agent deal with Turner prior to the draft.

[Texas Chuck]

also i know the temptation and it sucks what happened. Last two times my Mavs have been to the Finals they have wrecked those team and regretted it. Stay the course.

[JRoy]

In all likelihood, the Pacers will just run it back - Nembhard and McConnell can fill in while Haliburton is out for a year and they'll still be a solid team. Walker and Sheppard will get increased roles. They might dump Toppin for tax relief so they can re-sign Turner. Maybe they'll field offers for Mathurin. They'll gut it out, win 43 games, and get eliminated in the first or second round of the playoffs.

But the little devil on my shoulder is whispering to me... "Tear it down... sell off all the quality veterans... tank a bit for the juicy 2026 draft... come back in 27-28 with a fresher younger team..." So I figure why not, let's give it a try.

TRADE ONE:

Pacers S&T: Myles Turner
Spurs trade: Harrison Barnes, Jeremy Sochan, 2025 #14 pick (ATL 1st)

Why for Pacers: Get a younger player in Sochan and grab a 1st. Barnes is expiring. Maybe try to flip him at the deadline.
Why for Spurs: Absolute insane block party in San Antonio. Put a veteran center next to Wembanyama, a guy who can space the floor well. Would they rather send out Johnson or Vassell instead of Harrison Barnes? Let us know!

TRADE TWO:

Pacers trade: Pascal Siakam, Obi Toppin, TJ McConnell
Blazers trade: Jerami Grant, DeAndre Ayton, 2025 #11 pick, 2028 MKE 1st, 2030 MKE 1st

Why for Pacers: Get an expiring Ayton & a lotto pick and some future 1sts in exchange for some of our veterans. See if we can flip Ayton or Grant at the deadline.
Why for Blazers: They're on the come up and this adds some great players to the team. Tanking is over, they're ready to compete. They even dump Grant! Scoot/Simons/Avdija/Siakam/Clingan with McConnell, Sharpe, Camara, Thybulle, Toppin, Timelord bench? Holy moly!

End result:

Pacers come out with a starting lineup of Nembhard/Mathurin/Nesmith/Grant/Ayton. Bench of Sheppard, Sochan, Barnes, Walker, Furphy, 11, 14, uhhh, Tony Bradley. Look to find a taker for Grant somewhere if possible. Let Barnes & Ayton expire. Naturally end up with a high pick in 2026 draft, bring Haliburton back in 2026-27 season with some younger guys around him.

Hard pass for POR.

Not paying that cost to be a first round out for 3-4 years.

[Chinook]

Thankfully the Spurs can't do the first deal, because they absolutely shouldn't consider it. They shouldn't be trying to prioritize their backup center's fit with Wemby. They should be looking at a solid interior presence who primarily plays when Wemby is on the bench. Adams would have been perfect, and Valanciunas might be a good target if combined with the team taking a prospect at 38. If they do want a shooting big to play with Wemby, I like Portis with the MLE over Turner.

[jowglenn]

The Pacers should not blow it up, but if they do, Charlotte should top that Siakam offer by just throwing down the 4th pick on table for him and TJ.

That was my other move I was thinking of.

Siakam, McConnell, Toppin

for

Bridges, Williams, Nurkic, #4

[wemby]

The Pacers taking a step back makes sense, but Spurs don't need a starting center and the Hornets are not in position to waste a top 4 pick, they should be thinking of one more high lottery pick in another loaded class before they move into winning mode.

[hugepatsfan]

also i know the temptation and it sucks what happened. Last two times my Mavs have been to the Finals they have wrecked those team and regretted it. Stay the course.

Who regrets this last tear down? Maybe the fans, but Nico is too stupid to regret it lol

[Texas Chuck]

also i know the temptation and it sucks what happened. Last two times my Mavs have been to the Finals they have wrecked those team and regretted it. Stay the course.

Who regrets this last tear down? Maybe the fans, but Nico is too stupid to regret it lol

He 100% regrets it. I mean he's basically gone into witness protection since. He may be dumb enough to still think it was the correct roster management decision, though I doubt it. But I think if he had the chance for a doever he'd absolutely take it. He was the darling of Dallas after his Washington/Gafford moves panned out with a run to the Finals after fixing the Brunson fiasco with a focused and effective Kyrie(other than the Finals ). Now he's forever a pariah.

[jbk1234]

Value and the trade patner's perspective aside, I think the Pacers are more than the sum of their parts and you blow up teams like that your peril. It's rare.

[oldncreaky]

A handful of thoughts
- I definitely hope that Indy DOESN'T tear it down -- I think this group has a good shot at coming back with a vengeance in 2027
- Siakam will be most valuable to a team that doesn't have a reliable PF. He might be a better target for SAS than Turner
- a bunch of teams should be interested in TJ, incl ORL, HOU and MIN
- despite the high value of the archetype of a spacing C, Turner is a tough fit because no one who needs one and is ready to contend is in a position to take a S&T

[daoneandonly]

also i know the temptation and it sucks what happened. Last two times my Mavs have been to the Finals they have wrecked those team and regretted it. Stay the course.

Who regrets this last tear down? Maybe the fans, but Nico is too stupid to regret it lol

He 100% regrets it. I mean he's basically gone into witness protection since. He may be dumb enough to still think it was the correct roster management decision, though I doubt it. But I think if he had the chance for a doever he'd absolutely take it. He was the darling of Dallas after his Washington/Gafford moves panned out with a run to the Finals after fixing the Brunson fiasco with a focused and effective Kyrie(other than the Finals ). Now he's forever a pariah.

Not to derail, bur ppl forget Nico's primary target was Kuzma, but lucked out he didn't want to go there. Nico always has and always will be an idiot

[BigGargamel]

Man this injury sucks. Pacers should be champs right now, and instead their fans are talking about a tear down.

[LightTheBeam]

Part of me agrees with you. This was really a semi-cindarella run. Hali will miss all next year, and then likely takes a year to get back to where he was.

Resign Turner and trade him at around Christmas maybe for something like Clingan/Ayton. With Siakam he plays 20-30 games and sits out most of the year. Suck this year and get a top 10 pick. Develop Walker, Sheppard, Furphy.

[jayjaysee]

I’d flip TJ and Toppin, and probably listen to offers for Pascal honestly..

Whether you get flip for Pascal or not, I’d try to keep Turner.

Use the lost season to dump some extra salary and try to flatten/front load his deal. Pay him some more to get that done and to deal with the tanking season..

Turner/Hali bookmarking a bunch of young talent sounds a lot better to me than trading Turner for pick 14 and then having to go find a new Turner.

[HornetJail]

The Pacers should not blow it up, but if they do, Charlotte should top that Siakam offer by just throwing down the 4th pick on table for him and TJ.

That was my other move I was thinking of.

Siakam, McConnell, Toppin

for

Bridges, Williams, Nurkic, #4

is that Grant or Mark Williams?

I don't think I want to trade Mark for any realistic price, just let him either prove he can stay healthy or not, and let that determine whether he's a long-term starter or if we need to look for a new starter and have him be the league's best backup C

[jowglenn]

The Pacers should not blow it up, but if they do, Charlotte should top that Siakam offer by just throwing down the 4th pick on table for him and TJ.

That was my other move I was thinking of.

Siakam, McConnell, Toppin

for

Bridges, Williams, Nurkic, #4

is that Grant or Mark Williams?

I don't think I want to trade Mark for any realistic price, just let him either prove he can stay healthy or not, and let that determine whether he's a long-term starter or if we need to look for a new starter and have him be the league's best backup C

GRANT

[HornetJail]

That was my other move I was thinking of.

Siakam, McConnell, Toppin

for

Bridges, Williams, Nurkic, #4

is that Grant or Mark Williams?

I don't think I want to trade Mark for any realistic price, just let him either prove he can stay healthy or not, and let that determine whether he's a long-term starter or if we need to look for a new starter and have him be the league's best backup C

GRANT

then yes you have a deal

[Malapropism]

The Milwaukee picks are swaps, but I don't think Portland even trades the swaps in this deal.

There's no way Portland leverages the future for Siakam.