Pivotal week for the Blue & Gold: Hopeful Direction Forward for the Franchise

[boombuckets]

Critical crossroads this week for the Pacers. Raised the question previously prior to Myles extension but now that he is signed and the deadline upon the horizon what is the direction you are hopeful the Franchise will take this week forward.

Pacers currently sit 6th/7th in the lottery. Top 4-5 draft slots absolutely not in play. Pacers could easily wind up with a top 10 lottery selection, or with a playoff position. With the assets the pacers have as sellers, or if so chosen the assets pacers have as buyers, i absolutely will not expect us to stay status quo.

Vanderbilt, OG .... very well could end up in naptown. lets say pacers upgrade, go all in:

Hali, Math, Buddy, OG, Myles
Nembhard, Nesmith, Jalen Smith

could be a very solid core pending the outgoing assets.


However, Buddy, Theis, TJM, are strong veteran assets the team could choose trade to acquire additional draft capital.



One thing is for certain, I want this team to either go bold and make an upgrade, include the draft picks and get a guy like OG, or become sellers, trade Theis, Buddy, TJM and acquire more capital. I really dont want to see us just stay as is somewhere in the middle where its late lottery or early 1st round exit. I hope KP decides to go one definitive direction or the other, not just sit idle at the crossroads without crystal clear purpose and vision.

Personally, if OG can be had for a combo of Duarte, Jax or Jalen, bos/cleve pick im all for it. I like somewhat the certainty he brings (injuries concerning). I am not a believer Myles gets moved. Peck has the pulse of the franchise as well as anyone and has me convinced Myles is going nowhere. Hope and one hand and p*ss in the other "softner" haters, Myles will be starting center remainder the season.


4 picks in the top 35 of a stacked draft, 10million salary cap flexibility, veteran assets (buddy, theis, tjm), youth assets (duarte, ijax, jalen smith, goga).

This should be one helluva an exciting week for the Pacers.

[MrHale]

Gimme the 6th position in lottery and hope we can strike gold. But mostly I just hope we don’t do any “win now” moves.

[Peck]

For those of you wanting tank mode, I'm sorry to say, you won't get it until the very last half of the season if all is already lost. Now hear me out, they won't do it on purpose, they may be just bad enough on their own to get there but I believe the edict has already come down from on high to compete for a playoff/playin spot as you can tell by the increase in our veterans on the floor.

Now I'm hoping that the Miami game will be the last game we see Theis this season. I truly hope he is being showcased just to prove he can play. But if not, and he is still here after the trade deadline and he is getting all of the backup minutes behind Turner and both Smith and Jackson are relegated to playing Euchre on the bench with Terry Taylor and Goga Bitazde then you know for a fact that there will be no positioning for a higher pick and for that matter you will not see any player development either.

As I've said all year long, wins or losses are not all that important per se. But player development is. Obviously Nesmith, Nembhard and Mathurin are seeing good time on the floor and are improving. However you see that Jackson, Smith and Duarte are not.

Right now we are suffering from the Buddy Hield dilemma. He won't come off of the bench and sadly we have to have another defender out there to make up for him so Nembhard is getting all of the starting two guard minutes and we are forcing Buddy to be the three. Thus we have an idiotic rotation of one center (Myles Turner) one backup center (Daniel Thies) and two guys who can and should be able to play both the 4 and the 5 (Jackson and Smith) but since Rick now has it in his head we can't play either of them at the 4 they rot on the bench until some dramatic thing happens and then they are thrust onto the floor and expected to contribute even if they haven't played a single minute for 3-5 games. Honestly it is setting them up to fail.

Anyway, I say all of that to say this. There very possibly could be trades done at the deadline. It would not surprise me to see Duarte, Goga or even Brissett be moved for some other assets, but I don't believe in any way we will get rid of Hield or any of Rick's other pets. Thies is the only vet. I think we move and I think that was the plan all along and honestly with Thies approval.

[Downtown Bang!]

I think "win now" is a thing until the trade deadline is over. If the organization can get an OG type asset for a package that is closer to what Gordon or Grant went for vs. what the click bait, rumor mill insiders claim is being demanded they will go for it. If not expect something of a sale but not convinced it would be Buddy. The Pacers probably value him more than most teams.

Jackson and Smith are not playing because the Small Ball lineups by most every comparative metric are just better. I get being out rebounded every night and sometimes being overwhelmed in the paint by bigger athletes grinds some folks gears but it plays to the strengths of the teams best players. It isn't like Jackson are Smith are drawing comps to a young Maurice Lucas or Buck Williams when out there either.

[idioteque]

I have zero interest in OG unless Toronto is basically going to give him away for like, the Cleveland pick and Duarte (fat chance). I am not really excited about the idea of burning all our optionality on a guy who has not played over 48 games in each of the last two seasons. This franchise has just gone through years of suffering with players who are good in theory but are constantly hurt.

I am not entirely sure if the team has transitioned to win now - it seems that way, and if so it may be among the most asinine things the franchise has ever done. They set fan expectations low only to get way too high from beating a few good teams in the all important NBA month of December and now they’re suddenly apparently happy being the 9 seed again every year?

This team could easily transition to win now in October. This freaking calendar year. But they are so short sighted they are going to sacrifice a better draft pick (think about the talent disparity between Ben and the guys drafted 5 or so slots after him) to get bounced in the play in or at best get smoked by the Bucks or the Sixers in a forgettable playoff series where they might, if they’re lucky, win one game.

This mindset is why the Pacers are a “family fun night” franchise and not one trying to compete for titles. Always has been and always will be that way. I enjoy the wins in the moment but I’m so over the direction the franchise takes long-term.

[MillerTime]

I hate to say it, but I dont think we're going to do much this week. Given that we extended Turner, I dont expect anything major to happen. I can see a few minor trades happening. Wouldnt shock me if we trade Goga

[Rogco]

What I want - A trade and realization that this team shouldn't be trying to make the playoffs this year
What we'll get - What Peck said

[Rogco]

FYI Buddy, Daniel, and TJ for Westbrook, 1st round pick, and 1st round pick swap works.

[able]

I hope we trade Goga, not only to get something for him but also to assure he get's his chance elsewhere and can show his current team what they missed
I'm still convinced that given time and allowance to make a mistake or two Goga will surpass Turner, he already rebounds better, blocks out better, sets better screens and is as good in blocking shots.

But indeed also let's get something in return for Taylor and help him with a move where he will get minutes.
Rick's fallen back to what my pet peeve was with him in his prior tour here, by playing older players (mind you not better)
No one can convince me that Theis is better than Goga, so please don't even try, I prefer ALL our bigs over him, and why on earth mislead Jalen so terribly.
We better of ending 30th in the league and let our young guns like IJax, Jalen, Terry, Goga get 28-30 minutes per game and grow into their breeches.

It was my one worry I had with going with Rick, and has faster than even I imagined happened.

Do I think we make any trades? perhaps we get rid of Duarte, which again is not really a sign of competence in my opinion, but I don't expect anything, so I can't be dissapointed (I hope)

[boombuckets]

Somewhat surprised the indifference on acquiring OG. From reports it sounds like there is zero doubt he gets traded this week. I am not sure of any other teams that have as much to offer as the pacers. i am not sold due to injury concerns but the guy fits our timeline perfectly, and the immediate need for a PF who can defend. The draft outside the top 5 or so is always a crapshoot. As long as thePacers dont give up multiple firsts etc i think there is a shot this guy winds up here in the circle city.

from reports it does not sound like it blue and gold will have to mortgage the future. OG wants out of Toronto. ive seen duarte/ ijax/ cleveland first, and our first from 25' unprotected. by then with this core that should be an early 20's sort of selection. by then Hali, Math, Turner, OG core should be competing for 6th seed or better.

I was all in on the tank prior to the Myles signing, but i think OG makes a lot of sense for the Franchise. As others have stated do we really trust the front office to draft with competence. with RC here i feel much better about it, but anything out the top 7 selections im not still not sold our front office knows what the hell they are doing.

are OG's injuries at 25 years old something we should balk at if the trade is a win win for both franchises??

[boombuckets]

I have zero interest in OG unless Toronto is basically going to give him away for like, the Cleveland pick and Duarte (fat chance). I am not really excited about the idea of burning all our optionality on a guy who has not played over 48 games in each of the last two seasons. This franchise has just gone through years of suffering with players who are good in theory but are constantly hurt.

I am not entirely sure if the team has transitioned to win now - it seems that way, and if so it may be among the most asinine things the franchise has ever done. They set fan expectations low only to get way too high from beating a few good teams in the all important NBA month of December and now they’re suddenly apparently happy being the 9 seed again every year?

This team could easily transition to win now in October. This freaking calendar year. But they are so short sighted they are going to sacrifice a better draft pick (think about the talent disparity between Ben and the guys drafted 5 or so slots after him) to get bounced in the play in or at best get smoked by the Bucks or the Sixers in a forgettable playoff series where they might, if they’re lucky, win one game.

This mindset is why the Pacers are a “family fun night” franchise and not one trying to compete for titles. Always has been and always will be that way. I enjoy the wins in the moment but I’m so over the direction the franchise takes long-term.

these are some great quotes man. i just wonder a few things:

are pacers really prepared to draft 4 new players this upcoming draft, and if not then is OG the player that the franchise can build around. he really does seem like a good fit, and i think you guys are overvaluing what it may cost to acquire him.

pacers have young assets and picks. im all in if it does not cost us our first this season. i dont care as muhc about the cavs pick and the celtics pick is more aesceticcally pleassing than anything. hell houstons 2nd rounder is of more value than the celtics since if im not misteken it is not gauranteed.


you guys may be missing that OG seems to want out of toronto. other than the injuries he is really an ideal fit for the franchise.


i agree with you man, this may be our last season witht a shot at a high end lottery pick, so if we are not going all in for OG. we need to deal some of these vets.

[cinotimz]

For multiple reasons-the Gobert deal, many teams interested thus creating a bidding war, and Masai's a sharp dude-OG is going to require a significant overpay to be obtained...

for that reason, even though I think hes very much what this team needs, i dont think one should ever overpay to get what is needed/wanted...

its the aspect of this game-the business aspect-that is so often overlooked....especially by fans

[boombuckets]

Multiple league insiders told The Times-Picayune that the Raptors’ preference is to get back young players in any deal for Anunoby as opposed to picks. The Pelicans are armed with both of those things. Dyson Daniels, Jones and Naji Marshall are all homegrown talent on team-friendly deals. Plus, the Pelicans own the rights to all of their own first-round picks in the next five years in addition to the 2024 Los Angeles Lakers first that can be deferred until 2025 and a 2027 Milwaukee Bucks first.
Source: CHRISTIAN CLARK @ New Orleans Times-Picayune

Raptors want young players in exchange for OG Anunoby | HoopsHype



where the hell would OG fit, they have a frontcourt of Ingram, zion, and jonas. if OG can be had for duarte, ijax/jalen, and a couple of picks, we may have the ideal pf to build around the core going forward.



Who says no? Debating potential trade packages for Raptors' O.G. Anunoby, featuring Lakers, Knicks | Sporting News Canada

potential assets per report above it would take from other teams in order to acquire OG.

[Cubs231721]

Somewhat surprised the indifference on acquiring OG. From reports it sounds like there is zero doubt he gets traded this week. I am not sure of any other teams that have as much to offer as the pacers. i am not sold due to injury concerns but the guy fits our timeline perfectly, and the immediate need for a PF who can defend. The draft outside the top 5 or so is always a crapshoot. As long as thePacers dont give up multiple firsts etc i think there is a shot this guy winds up here in the circle city.

from reports it does not sound like it blue and gold will have to mortgage the future. OG wants out of Toronto. ive seen duarte/ ijax/ cleveland first, and our first from 25' unprotected. by then with this core that should be an early 20's sort of selection. by then Hali, Math, Turner, OG core should be competing for 6th seed or better.

I was all in on the tank prior to the Myles signing, but i think OG makes a lot of sense for the Franchise. As others have stated do we really trust the front office to draft with competence. with RC here i feel much better about it, but anything out the top 7 selections im not still not sold our front office knows what the hell they are doing.

are OG's injuries at 25 years old something we should balk at if the trade is a win win for both franchises??

The problem is that OG has only a year and a half left on his deal. If the Pacers trade two picks and two young players for him, there's going to be significant pressure to not lose him for nothing. OG's skillset is so valued among teams that he's going to get a very large contract (not quite max but hefty).

So essentially you will have Haliburton/Mathurin/OG on very large salaries in a few years. There won't be enough money to get another impact player to add to that group. Is that core good enough by itself? IMO, no.

So I'd rather take the risk with the draft picks and try to find a young OG. You very well might not be able to find that player. But if you do and can have him on a small salary, and then you can use the large salary slot on a different impact player, now you are a true contender.

Player like OG with their contract situation are a perfect fit for a settled team who needs OG to push them over the top and can re-sign him without changing their other moves. The Pacers are just not at that point yet.

[pizza guy]

What I expect is that KP is sitting in his office looking over the options, seeing that we have to make a decision on the direction, knowing we have players other teams covet, and that we could add to our future or make a play for the postseason and oh look at that it’s Friday, February 10th… did we miss the deadline?