Buddy Hield and Myles Turner are two of the bigger names churning through the rumor mill this season. The Pacers’ duo could potentially deliver some valuable assets in a trade, whether they’re packaged together or dealt separately.
The Pacers are at the .500 mark after losing on Monday and would qualify for the play-in tournament if the season ended today. They have two dynamic backcourt pieces in Tyrese Haliburton and Rookie of the Year candidate Bennedict Mathurin.
No one looks at Indiana as a serious contender for the Eastern Conference title. Dealing one or both of those veterans could move the Pacers closer to that eventual goal.
The longest-running rumor involving Hield and Turner is a possible trade for the Lakers’ Russell Westbrook and his expiring contract, along with Lakers’ draft picks. Turner’s name has been linked to a variety of other teams, including the Raptors, Clippers and Warriors.
The two Pacers could help a current contender in very different ways. Hield’s biggest selling point, of course, is his perimeter shooting. He’s currently second in the league in 3-pointers made, as well as percentage of points via the long ball.
Hield is signed for one more season, though his salary actually drops from approximately $21.2MM this year to $19.3MM in 2023/24.
Turner is arguably the league’s premier shot-blocker. He has led the NBA in that category twice and is currently ranked tied for third (2.1 per game). He’s also averaging career bests in points (16.2 PPG), rebounding (7.9 RPG) and 3-point shooting (41.3%).
Turner can be an unrestricted free agent after the season, though he and his reps have reportedly engaged in preliminary discussions with Indiana management regarding an extension.
That brings us to today’s question: Should the Pacers look to deal Hield and/or Turner and collect more future assets? Or should they should hold onto them, and even sign Turner to an extension?
Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.
Move Hield for assets, freeing up time for Mathurin, Duarte, Nesmith and Nembhard to develop some chemistry. I’d Keep Turner. It’ll be much more costly to replace him than not.
If the Pacers can get a first or an early second + plus young player with some potential for Hield I’d say yes.
Same goes for Turner although the ask should be a little higher. Even though I think he’s an important part of their defense, Turner just isn’t a good or consistent enough player to be worth the contract he likely is looking for. The tough part is that moving him leaves them with needing to fill a huge hole in the roster by the start of next season. They don’t really have a starting center on their roster after Turner; Goga hasn’t shown anything in 3.5 season while both Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson are more solid rotational bigs than starter/building block quality type players. Short of some extreme luck and a 2nd half collapse, they’re also probably out of the Wenbayama sweepstakes. Not sure what it would take to get him but Mo Bamba should be the type of player they target to replace Turner whether as part of a seperate trade or part of some larger multi-team deal. Orlando just loves stockpiling bigs for whatever reason and the Pacers should be targeting some young-ish but high upside big that needs a change of scenery.
I don’t know what Indiana would get in return for both of them without including assets that would put them in the contender conversation? They have nice depth, but many rotation imbalances… There are deals for them out there, just not sure those deals net them players that improve them from where they are currently.
Surely the Pacers can do better than that Lakers trade…
There are 28 other teams…
One more year of Hield at $19M isn’t going to get them to the finals. Paying Turner to stay is a gamble.
I don’t follow the Pacers much but on paper these two seem like very good players at their position. It’s hard to acquire very good players, so I’d keep them on any team and build around their strengths.
Mitchell Robinson, DRose, Toppin, Cam, and 2 1sts for Buddy and Turner. Pacers unlikely to take on Fournier, but replacing Turner would entice them.
Hield is one of the few players available who’s cap hold is worth it for a team acquiring him. Therefore said team needs to be in a legit conference championship window over the next 18 months.
New Orleans and Denver in the West.
New Jersey and based on the fact have multiple types of assets to trade the Knicks.
Turner has positive value (although it would be higher if he were signed for a few years at his current number). Hield has significant negative value (less than at the time of the trade to IND due to time off the contract, but still significant).
So, I don’t see the two being dealt together (unless its with the LAL in a trade involving RW or some other deal with huge contracts going back and forth). It’s also hard to see IND trying to do an independent salary dump of Hield. No reason at this time. So, I think it’s just Turner that they’ll shop, and any contender that could use a C has got to be involved. For a contender that’s going to be capped out for a few years, I could see IND netting two 1st’s. Personally, I think Turner is overrated, but if he can be a difference maker for a team, who cares.
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