Source: Alex Goodlett / Getty
[Indianapolis, IN]- The Indiana Pacers are currently on a six-game road trip with Sacramento coming up on Thursday night.
Indiana has dropped two of the last three games on their trip, but the thing that is on the mind of some fans is the rumors of Pascal Siakam possibly being traded to the Blue and Gold at the trade deadline.
Siakam was Toronto’s first round pick in 2016 and will turn 30 in April. He earned All-NBA 3rd team honors in 2022 and was All-NBA 2nd team in 2020. The 6-8 Power Forward is shooting 52% from the field this season and is averaging 22.2 minutes. He has started every game he’s played so far this year.
Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle joined the Wake-Up Call with KB and Andy from the west coast but would not go into details into any trade rumors. Instead, Carlisle discussed how there are players in the league wanting to play with Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton.
“One thing I will say about all of the conversations, whether it be about trades or the ascension of our team or whatever, is that we have an exciting thing going,” Carlisle said on Wednesday morning, “People are talking about the Pacers and high-level players in the NBA are talking about playing with Tyrese Haliburton, with the players.”
Haliburton is currently battling an injury suffered against the Boston Celtics on January 8th. Carlisle did provide an update to KB and Andy during their conversation.
“Tyrese is making steady and has had no setbacks, so that’s good news,” The Pacers Head Coach shared.
Haliburton was the leading Eastern Conference All-Star player prior to his injury. Even after missing five games, Haliburton still leads Indiana in points per game with 23.6 and assists per game with 12.5. Current projections say he will miss the remainder of the West Coast Road trip and will be reevaluated after the Pacers return.
Since Haliburton’s departure, Indiana has gone 3-2 in games he has missed.
The Pacers will return to action Thursday night at Sacramento at 10:00 PM Eastern before hitting the road to Portland on Friday night. Indiana is sixth in the standings for the Eastern Conference, eight games back from Boston. Should the NBA playoffs start today, Indiana would be in for the first time since the 2019-2020 season, not including the play-in tournament.
