Should the Pacers pursue Thomas in free agency? Other options at point guard for the future?

[pizza guy]

I'm more interested in Aaron Gordon, but I doubt he gets away from Orlando, unfortunately. He's a RFA after this season, so our chances are next to nothing.

[Tiny ball]

Not really a fair trade for the Pacers, imo. Rozier is ok, but players like him are much easier to find, there's a handful of 'Roziers' every draft. He's 2 years older than Sabonis too, and isn't even a more impactful player than Domas.

There are not a hand full of players like Rozier available every year. He is a great athlete. He is fearless.. He just crushed the Pacers. You could draft 4 lower first round point combo guards and not find one as good as him.imho

Maybe saying there's a handful of Roziers every year was a bit of a hyperbole - for that I apologize, but there's even less players of Sabonis caliber. As for Rozier's performance yesterday, 9 points on 9 shots isn't exactly crushing. The Pacers, or more specifically Bogdanovic, gave that game away. I'm not trading Domas for him, not even close. Victor, Myles and Domas are the core of this team's future.

You can't just offer trades that are landslide wins for your team, that's not how it works.

I love Sabonis. I would happily trade Rosier a late first round pick plus some guys off our bench a couple second rounders etc.

[Vorda]

Watch on YouTube

Ok, we should defenitely offer Big Al+2nd pick for Mario... while he still has a small value...

As was pointed out to me. If you truly believe in this guy the only way to get him is in free agency this summer. Trade for him now and you would inherit the same compensation restrictions we had with Solo Hill. The good news is he will be unrestricted this summer. And in theory we might offer one of the best opportunities available (a wide open competition at the 3 position).

Yes, the best way is to sign him through the free agency... I think he will not ask more than 5 millions p/y... last night he score 12... he is showing that he can be good impact from bench...

[KeithRS25]

Couple of ideas I've been mulling
1. Would you wwelcome a George Hill return?
Or
2. Would you be comfortable with Cojo and Darren long term, but with Cojo starting and Darren off the bench?

[pizza guy]

Couple of ideas I've been mulling
1. Would you wwelcome a George Hill return?
Or
2. Would you be comfortable with Cojo and Darren long term, but with Cojo starting and Darren off the bench?

Ya know, I've thought about that too. I'd be more than happy to have healthy George Hill. He'd fit next to Oladipo like a glove and would vastly improve our perimeter defense. However, the key is getting a healthy George Hill. Unfortunately, I have no confidence in his ability to stay on the court at this point in his career.

I think we're going to have to look outside of the current roster for a true long-term solution at point. DC has been solid this year, and CoJo has been reliable and steady. But to me, they're both ideally back-ups on a legit contender. To go up against the likes of Wall, Kyrie, IT, CP3, and Curry, we're going to need something more dynamic. Maybe Sumner gets healthy and just explodes for us? Maybe Memphis blows it up and we land Conley (though, not with that contract). Maybe we go after Klay and have Oladipo play point? I don't know, but I definitely feel like a significant upgrade will be necessary to move us past this mid-seed, second-round team we're looking at now.

[boomershadow]

We need somebody that can defend the Curry, IT, Wall, CP3 types of the league, but I don't think it's important that he be in the same level as those guys as far as scoring. I would not want to see a situation come back where there isn't enough ball to go around again, like that awful Ellis/Teague back court.

Oladipo needs to be the clear number one offensive option at the guard spot, imho.

[Wizop]

I definitely feel like a significant upgrade will be necessary to move us past this mid-seed, second-round team we're looking at now.

some time in the future, sure, but not at this year's trading deadline, and probably not at the cost of any of our current rotation players next summer either. time is on our side. I want to see what Sumner and Lemon can do. I want to see if the draft gives us a point guard and if instead it gives us a wing, I want to see if Vic can move to point.

that said, I do not think a ball dominate point guard like Thomas is what we need. we have our closer. what I'd like to add is a lock down defender - a 3 & D point guard.

[pizza guy]

I definitely feel like a significant upgrade will be necessary to move us past this mid-seed, second-round team we're looking at now.

some time in the future, sure, but not at this year's trading deadline, and probably not at the cost of any of our current rotation players next summer either. time is on our side. I want to see what Sumner and Lemon can do. I want to see if the draft gives us a point guard and if instead it gives us a wing, I want to see if Vic can move to point.

that said, I do not think a ball dominate point guard like Thomas is what we need. we have our closer. what I'd like to add is a lock down defender - a 3 & D point guard.

Yeah, I don't think I'd make any moves at the trade deadline this year, either. I'm thinking in terms of the next season or two. I'd like to see what Sumner and Lemon can do as well, and I definitely agree that whoever takes the starting point guard spot should be a strong defender.

[KeithRS25]

Certainly I believe keeping Oladipo Sabonis and Myles is part of our plan. If we intend on upgrading the other wing position and keep some of our solid depth players I wonder how much we'll have to spend on a quality starting pg.

[IMF]

We need somebody that can defend the Curry, IT, Wall, CP3 types of the league, but I don't think it's important that he be in the same level as those guys as far as scoring. I would not want to see a situation come back where there isn't enough ball to go around again, like that awful Ellis/Teague back court.

Oladipo needs to be the clear number one offensive option at the guard spot, imho.

I could actually really see pursuing someone like Marcus Smart to start at PG for us because I think an impact perimeter defender/enforcer type is exactly the player the roster currently lacks. Smart is a bit like Draymond in terms of impact his offense is questionable but he would bring so much impact defensively that I think the trade off might be worth it.

In theory if we go to a Turner/Sabonis front court we'd be best suited having defenders that can limit penetration at the point of attack to limit tons of switching situations. Smart would fit in very well this way and having bigs that can shoot helps keep the spacing from becoming a problem as well.

[8305]

I think Marcus Smart could be an interesting idea too. Avery Bradley might be an interesting guy too. Or is Cory Joseph close enough in terms of skill but much cheaper?

I think our existing point guard combo could work but I think we would need a significant upgrade at the 3 (an exceptional two way player) would be necessary.

[Grang33r]

I think Marcus Smart could be an interesting idea too. Avery Bradley might be an interesting guy too. Or is Cory Joseph close enough in terms of skill but much cheaper?

I think our existing point guard combo could work but I think we would need a significant upgrade at the 3 (an exceptional two way player) would be necessary.

I think the FA class is pretty weak next summer, but Avery Bradley is one of the better ideas i've liked most.

[Pacernation]

Hey guys,
pacersfan from germany here. This season is so much fun that i decided to become a little active on this board. Hope i can get some quality conversations here..

My thoughts on IT: hes probably one of the worst fits next to Oladipo i can think of right now. We made Dipo our go-to-guy and we cant take that back after the season hes had so far. Considering that and ITs age, salary and recent injuries i wouldn't touch him. I'm not sure we'll be on his radar anyway...

After checking the FA-class of 2018 i would go for the following guys:
- Marcus Smart: The Celtics payroll of 18/19 allready is at 107 million without Smart, so im not sure if they are willing to pay him above 10-12 mio. And with Kyrie being a free agent in 2019 they probably won't. How much money would you guys spend on him? Probably about 15 mio? I really would love to get him. Seems like a high character guy (Boston is really looking for that in recent drafts it seems) and would give us so much more flexibility on the defensive side of the ball. I think he can guard every position from 1-4 and we could roll out some really nice lineups with him. Of course it's a little bit of a bet that he will improve a lot on offense but i think his defense, work ethic and character would really be worth the money. I'm just not sure he will get more from a team like for example the nets? Maybe try to trade for him before the deadline?

- Avery Bradley: Older than smart but a better shooter and right now the better player. Would strenghten our defense by a mile. Im just not sure on his salary and if he even wants to leave Detroit who will probably pay him a lot. WIll he be in that 20 Mio range or even above? Not sure i would go there. Even though Detroit has already 106 mio committed i don't think they can let him walk for nothing. Will be pretty interesting what kind of money he will get on the open market. We should be in the conversation but he's one of the guys that get's a huge overpayment i think...

- Nemanja Bjelica: Can't say why but i really like this guy. I think he's just a very solid good player and would be great of the bench for us. I also think we need some depth at PF and the wolves salary is allready at 121 mio (!) for next season so a solid offer could make them drop him. I would love to have him on our team if the price is right (probably 8-10 mio?).

Really not that many players.. so some honorable mentions who could be worth some of our capspace even though they got some red flags on them or don't really fit the kind of guys i would go for.
- Seth Curry: injured but really played well last year for Dallas. Might be worth a try. Can't have enough shooting..
- Javale McGee: Some backup muscle for small money can't hurt. And he will give us some time on national television..
But scratch it if Ike is ready to play some minutes next season..
- Patrick McCaw: Pretty young with some upside i guess. Also played some minutes in meaningful games. Warriors won't pay him so we could try if the price is right..
- Ariza or Mbah a Moute: not fitting our timeline but we need some defense on the wings. But definitly not worth an overpay..
- Julius Randle: it seems like he's playing good right now. We don't need another developing big but gathering talent can't hurt. Lakers probably won't pay him so who knows.. i don't think we will go for him.
- Doug McDermott: Seems to play better and can shoot. Not exactly what we need but he can shoot..
- Hezonja: Is his Career allready over? I think he's a free agent right now isn't he? Does he really have 0 potential left, and couldn't redeem himself in the G-league? I would try but he seems to be a bad character guy... there must be a reason the league isn't interested anymore..

There will probably be some firesales in Orlando, Memphis, Charlotte (if they fall some more) and in Clipperland. Im pretty sure we will make some move at the tradingdeadline. We still got cap and our picks so watch out for KP..

Merry christmas guys

p.s. please excuse my mistakes..

[Wizop]

welcome. I hope you'll come to agree that this place has quality over quantity. I just don't know about the deadline. we could use a wing today but GRob could fill that need until the draft.

Sent from my phone.