Indiana Pacers: 5 Free Agents To Target
The Indiana Pacers are one of the most interesting teams of the offseason due to no clear-cut team needs. Who should they target in free agency?
Diving into what most teams should do in free agency is pretty easy. You just need to look at a few key questions. What does a team need? Do they have cap space to make that happen? Who is available for that need at that price?
“The Sixers need a shooting guard who can space the floor. They’ve got loads of cap space. They should go after J.J. Redick.” It’s easy, for most.
There are few teams more difficult to do this for than the Indiana Pacers, due to the Paul George sweepstakes. What package can the Pacers get in return, and will it be done by the time free agency kicks in? The answer to that will dictate the needs of the team.
The center position is the only position that should be set in stone as a starter and long-term building block. Myles Turner will supplant George as the face of the franchise and is a great piece to help with an impending rebuild.
Outside of center, everything is on the table. Because of their own free agents appearing to be out of a rebuilding franchise, the Pacers will have cap space to add significant parts.
Pacers’ Situation Entering Free Agency
Jeff Teague is a free agent, and at 29 years old, isn’t someone who a rebuilding team should commit long-term money to. C.J. Miles is also a free agent and unlikely to return for the same reason.
With those two likely leaving, the Pacers could come very close to their max cap space number of $31.7 million, and could gain more depending on what they do with a George trade.
The lack of anything worth building around outside of Turner, which isn’t a good thing, but it does allow some benefits.
“It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.”
The above quote was said by Tyler Durden in Fight Club, but it could easily have been said by Pacers GM and President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard.
The Pacers don’t enter free agency one player away. They don’t need to overpay Rudy Gay, Nikola Mirotic or Tyreke Evans in hopes that one move will put them over the top.
Instead, the Pacers can afford to have the longest view in the room. They’re in the asset accumulation phase, and they should take full advantage of that by targeting players who will either have value as a player or as an asset two to three years down the line.
This doesn’t mean that the Pacers enter free agency without pressure to pull off some solid deals. A George trade will likely earn the Pacers a solid young player or two and a future pick.
If the Pacers can add some young pieces for George while adding another one or two rebuilding pieces in free agency, the offseason will be a massive success. A massive rebuild often takes years to pull off, but Pritchard has the golden opportunity to pull it off in just a few weeks through the draft, a George trade and free agency.
It’s tough to predict who will be valuable two to three years from now, but we’ve got a good idea about where the NBA is going, from a play style and what kinds of players are valued.
Since the Pacers are rebuilding and in a mid-market, let’s do ourselves a favor and rule out any chance that All-Star caliber guys like Gordon Hayward or Paul Millsap are coming to Indy.
On to the players the Pacers should target in free agency.
Honorable Mentions: Milos Teodosic, Ben McLemore, Nick Young, Michael Beasley, Ekpe Udoh
Let’s be quick on these guys. Teodosic is one of the flashiest passers in the world looking to come over to the NBA. McLemore probably isn’t salvageable, but is worth a look as to what he can do outside of the toxic #Kangz organization. Young and Beasley can be high-volume scorers for a team that doesn’t have a go-to bucket-getter in the short term. Udoh is a failed former lottery pick who had an incredible season in Europe, where he looked like the rim-running and rim-protecting big man he was projected to be when he was drafted.
Now on to the top five.
5. Tony Snell
Snell fits a prototype that will dominate this list: the young, athletic wing who can shoot. It’s where the NBA is going, and it’s a prototype that will have value over the life of the contract. Snell was impressive with the Bucks last season, shooting 45.5 percent from the field and 40.6 percent on 3-pointers.
4. Andre Roberson
The last memory of Roberson is a bad one. Some say he’s still in the gym, clanking free throws off the rim.
However, Roberson is still a project and one that winning teams value. His atrocious shooting is a massive weak spot that will limit his ceiling as a player in the short-term. But, he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the world.
The Pacers can afford to gamble on Roberson developing a jump shot. If he can become a respectable shooter, he’ll have tremendous value. If he doesn’t, he’ll still warrant a couple of draft picks from a playoff team.
3. Tim Hardaway Jr.
Death, taxes, and the Atlanta Hawks churning out 3-and-D wings.
Hardaway was a very valuable wing for the Hawks last season, proving he was ready for a bigger role in the league. He shot a career-high 45.5 percent from the field, while shooting nearly half of his shots from beyond the arc.
2. Dion Waiters
Waiters had a full-on breakout season with the Miami Heat. A few years after being drafted fourth overall, Waiters appeared to be on his way out of the NBA. He broke out as an offensive weapon with the Heat, averaging 15.8 points per game and nearly leading the Heat to a playoff berth.
1. Otto Porter
Porter had a bit of a breakout year in the final year of his rookie deal, averaging 13.4 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals, while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 43.4 percent on 3-pointers.
Porter turned 24 in June and will almost certainly garner max offers. He’s restricted, so whatever deal is offered to him will likely be matched by the Wizards. Porter has been mentioned as the centerpiece of a sign-and-trade package for George, although that’d be difficult to pull off.
If the Pacers could make the Wizards sweat by signing Porter to an offer sheet, it would give them plenty of leverage in negotiating a trade with the Wizards or getting Porter and a package of young assets for George elsewhere.
