Source: Andy Lyons / Getty
[Indianapolis, IN]- The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, and it has some Pacers’ fans wonder if the Blue and Gold could make another move.
Pacers’ Head Coach Rick Carlisle joined the Wake Up Call with KB and Andy Tuesday morning and addressed this wonder.
“I always say the same thing,” Carlisle said, “The trade deadline is usually a lot of talk and very little action, league wide. I suppose something could happen; I’m not overly convinced it will.”
Carlisle would go on to say he likes the current Pacers team.
Indiana made the trade for Pascal Siakam in January, their only trade since talks began at the start of the year. Some speculations have Buddy Hield as a potential trade target for teams ahead of Thursday’s deadline.
Hield is playing on the last year of his current deal, which he signed in Sacramento in 2020.
One target that has been discussed as a potential trade is Golden State’s Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins is likely a target for a lot of teams looking to bolster their forward position, with the price for him likely being players, not picks.
Wiggins is averaging 12.2 points per game this season and is converting 43% of his shots. Wiggins signed a four year $109-million contract with the Warriors ahead of the 2023-24 season. He carries an over $26 million cap hit next year.
That cap hit would put him just under Center Myles Turner for the highest paid player on the Pacers’ roster. But, if the Blue and Gold do not resign Buddy Hield, the team would have just over $19 million freed up. Indiana did exercise Tyrese Haliburton’s team option this season, which is nearly $6 million.
Thursday’s trade deadline is Thursday, February 8th.
