The Pacers are in a difficult position trying to make a Buddy Hield trade so close to the start of the season, writes Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. No progress has been reported since news broke last Wednesday that the team was working with Hield’s representatives to find a deal after the sides were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
Dopirak believes Indiana is justified in asking a high price for Hield, who is one of the league’s top three-point shooters. However, teams are reluctant to shake up their rosters this far into the offseason, especially for a player who has an expiring contract.
It’s also not clear what the Pacers will be seeking in return for Hield. Dopirak notes that the team saw a need after last season to upgrade at power forward and find defensive-minded wings, but that has already been addressed during the offseason. He states that they’ll need three-point shooting help if they part with Hield and may be looking for a younger, less expensive player who can do what he does.
There’s more on the Pacers, all courtesy of Dopirak:
- Bennedict Mathurin has a chance to win a starting job, but only if he can improve his defense. Dopirak observes that the first-team All-Rookie selection struggled with that part of the game, particularly when he got an opportunity to start late in the season. The Pacers are hoping to see progress from Mathurin in camp and will need him to take on a larger role if Hield gets traded.
- Daniel Theis‘ impressive showing in the World Cup gives him a strong case to be the primary backup center heading into camp. Dopirak notes that he’ll be competing for minutes with Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Smith, who are both younger and more athletic than the 31-year-old Theis. He adds that Jackson is the team’s best lob finisher and second-best shot blocker behind Myles Turner, while Smith was Indiana’s leader last season in rebounds per 48 minutes.
- The Pacers’ improved roster could lead to several other changes, Dopirak adds. If Mathurin and free agent addition Bruce Brown are both starters, Andrew Nembhard could move from shooting guard to backup point guard, which is his more natural position. That could lead to a reduction in playing time for T.J. McConnell, who posted the best scoring average of his career last season.
So, Mathurin can only start if he improves his defense? That bar to getting in the starting lineup must be new, it certainly wasn’t in effect last year.
Hield contested 6.4 shots per game last season. Mathurin contested barely half that. And while Hield wasn’t necessarily a good defender, he was roughly league-average in terms of opponents shooting percentage and contests per game (SGA had seven per game in roughly the same minutes).
Mathurin isn’t a bad player, but his hustle on defense in borderline nonexistent. His contest numbers and results are almost equal to Terry Rozier in the same minutes, who is five inches shorter and had way more on his plate offensively (and got publicly called out along with his teammates by their own coach for lack of defensive effort).
I didn’t mean to compare the two players, although I guess I did, even if it was tongue in cheek to a degree.
Hield is a veteran, who’s never had issues playing hard. Unfortunately, his athletic profile (no length, slow feet) suggests he’ll be a challenged defender regardless, and the results reflect that.
On Mathurin, I didn’t realize hustle was a problem, and that obviously has to change. If it does, his profile suggests he can be a dominant defender (great length, great lateral quickness). His age and rookie status suggest his defensive stats should be ignored for a year or two. Defensive metrics (particularly team +\- stats) find rookies occupy most of the bottom parts of the curve. Apparently, it takes some time to understand NBA team defense.
Makes sense, didn’t mean to jump on you like that, lol.
Truth is, I think Mathurin might need more time than we think to develop properly. His shot selection and lack of defensive hustle both look very suspect to me. His rim attacking is good, but he took a LOT of short jumpers that clanked off the rim, and his 3pt shooting is weird in basically every aspect (better at pull-ups than catch-and-shoot, poor corner shooting, doesn’t really get himself open). He also had more turnovers than assists, with almost as many lost ball turnovers as bad passes. He needs to play more “team first” instead of “me first”.
I think Mathurin is going to be very good but he does got to show more. I watched parts of about 10 pacers games last season and it seemed that fellow rookie Andrew Nembhard had more hustle. He also not only try on defense but was often tasked with opposing All-Stars defensively.
If they keep Hield I think Mathurin will come off the bench to start the season or be a matchup dependant platoon with Nembhard and Brown. If they trade Hield then Mathurin may get the nod to start with Brown filling a more swiss army knife off the bench role.
Honestly, I would flip the roles between Nembhard and Brown. Nembhard is shockingly versatile defensively for his height; he can defend 1 through most 4s. And he’s shown a fair amount of on-ball creation ability, but can also operate off-ball somewhat effectively.
Brown does a lot of the same things, but the stability and versatility he’d bring to the starting 5 would be greater than what he could do off the bench. Let the young guys get their leadership chops without taking away from Haliburton.
Mathurin, I wouldn’t trust to start. Not unless he showcases serious improvement in the mental aspects of the game. Pretty much any starting 2 on this team has to be able to play off Haliburton and cover his defensive weaknesses, and Mathurin couldn’t really play off anyone least season imo. 6th man and matchup starter for the moment, with re-evaluation during camp and the season.
A 3-and-no-D rental doesn’t seem like something that should warrant a high return. A decent one, sure, but not whatever this guy has in mind.
Hield has the most 3pt makes over the last five seasons of any player in the NBA. It’s a bit more than just a bench shooter, especially since he’s average or better at everything on offense and is only below-average on D, not like Duncan Robinson-Landry Shamet-esque lack of defense.
Hence a decent return. My problem is with this (quoted from the article):
“They need to increase their overall talent level and could very much use another All-Star caliber player to combine with Haliburton, but with camp so close, it seems unlikely any team would be willing to part with such a player to acquire Hield for one season.”
In what universe was a team going to part with an All-Star caliber player—his definition of a “high price”—in exchange for/in a deal involving Hield? I don’t think even the Pacers would set their asking price THAT high despite knowing they would need to come down from that price.
“[…] it seems unlikely any team would be willing to part with such a player to acquire Hield for one season.”
He’s agreeing with that assessment, that Hield isn’t worth that kind of return.
“He states that they’ll need three-point shooting help if they part with Hield and may be looking for a younger, less expensive player who can do what he does.”
So, basically exactly what you said.
In completely unrelated news, I’m off to see my ophthalmologist. Lol.
I guess my brain saw the “but with camp so close” part and interpreted it as, had the Pacers more time to deal Hield, they might be able to get such a haul, otherwise I’m not sure why that fact was mentioned in such a context. Perhaps just poorly worded on the author’s part (or poorly interpreted by my brain).
Could be either, tbh. Best of luck with your eye doctor stuff, lmao.
Also, I’ve had eye surgery and still make whoopsies like that sometimes. Sometimes our brains are just bad xD
Guys, get a room.
Bruh, have y’all never had a friendly conversation in your lives?
I thought it was funny since Shea said that to you and I last week.
On the internet? Is that even possible?
Mathurin is a rookie ….. you really think you got him figured out. He’s going to be 21 yrs old. He’s got the size and length to be a solid 2way player. Upside takes time. I like him a lot.
Scouting report ::
link to sportingnews.com
Figured out? Nobody said that. Just that he is still developing and marking him as a surefire starter looks premature.
Ric brought Bruce brown to try and win now,
We saw what nembhard can do and it looks promising but he should backup tj McConnell who is in his prime