Herb Simon has given his blessing. And soon he may sign his John Hancock on trade papers to change the state of the Indiana Pacers as we know them.
Bob Kravitz had it first here locally along with the brain of NBA rumors himself, Shams Charania.
Caris LeVert has never taken off in Indy. Which is ironic considering he came from the Rockets. Regardless, LeVert just feels like a guy who will retire and we go, oh yeah he was with the Pacers for like a year right? That was weird.
The good news for Kevin Pritchard is LeVert carries plenty of trade value. KP’s issue is if he decides to actually pull the trigger on this, it must be a hit. Just like I told you before the season that Chris Duarte has to be a bullseye.
So far, so good there.
How about when it comes to the big men? That’s where you get a little controversial. Do you send away Domantas Sabonis and thus have nothing on the roster remaining from the Paul George trade? Or do you ship off Myles Turner and part ways with the most successful Indiana first round picks of the Pritchard era?
Good thing we’re not making that decision. But here’s the thing. If you trade Turner, what does this team become defensively? Indiana already ranks at the bottom third in the league of opposing points off turnovers, second chance points surrendered, and points given up in the paint.
What happens when you take away Turner? One of the only dudes on this team that actually plays defense. Pritchard would also package away the guy that leads the league in blocks. 3.4 per game to be exact; Out of the 6.2 per game that Indiana averages.
Oh yeah, Myles is shooting 39 percent from three-point land. Is he perfect? Absolutely not. But if you let go of Turner, the defense would suffer even more.
Sabonis is a really interesting case. To me, it’s a classic buy low and sell high situation. Here’s the question Pacers fans need to answer.
Is there anything else that Sabonis can accomplish as a Pacer? We’ve seen him as an All-Star. But is he winning an Eastern Conference title with the Blue and Gold, let alone a playoff series?
The value of a big guy that can go out and get you a double-double every single night is monstrous. And the return could be even better for the Pacers. You’re not going to miss his defense, or the constant complaining on foul calls. You’ll certainly miss his physicality.
Let’s see what happens. The Pacers have the right coach in Rick Carlisle, now it’s time to take action.
