Indiana Pacers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Praised For Offseason Additions

August 9th, 2018 at 5:30pm CST by Austin Kent

A number of low profile offseason additions have helped the Pacers take a step forward this summer, so say a number of league experts, as Scott Horner of The Indianapolis Star writes.

The Pacers added significant depth when they brought aboard Tyreke Evans, Kyle O’Quinn and Doug McDermott and will benefit from the addition of first-round pick Aaron Holiday and whatever inevitable improvements Victor Oladipo makes to his game over the course of the offseason.

There was no shortage of journalists willing to praise the Pacers for their summer work and NBA.com’s David Aldridge even went so far as to say that they’re as good a threat as any in the East to challenge the Celtics this season.

Extension For McMillan Was Necessary Step

August 3rd, 2018 at 9:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Bulls’ starting lineup seems set but there will be a couple of key position battles in training camp, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times notes. Justin Holiday and Denzel Valentine will be angling for playing time at small forward behind Jabari Parker, while Cameron Payne could have an unexpectedly tough battle with Ryan Arcidiacono as the main backup at point guard. Cristiano Felicio also needs to carve out a role and earn some of his $8,470,980 salary, Cowley adds. ‘‘The thing I’m excited about with training camp is it’s going to be open competition,’’ coach Fred Hoiberg said.

We have more from the Central Division:

The Pacers needed to extend coach Nate McMillan to prevent a lame-duck situation next season, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star explains. McMillan agreed to an extension through the 2020/21 season. It was also necessary for a franchise that preaches culture and loyalty to reward its coach for a job well-done last season, Michael continues. The Pacers overcame the lack of true stretch four as well as a shooter at the backup shooting guard spot. Their wings were also somewhat limited offensively and they were undersized in the backcourt, Michael adds.
If Jaylen Morris can improve his perimeter shooting, the Bucks will be rewarded for signing him to a two-way contract, according to Dakota Schmidt of RidiculousUpside.com. Morris is adept at attacking the basket and finishing at the rim and is also a solid defender, Schmidt continues. The 22-year-old wing will also benefit from working with assistant Ben Sullivan, who has helped numerous players with their shooting stroke, Schmidt adds.
The Pistons’ 15-man roster appears to be set after a low-key July that included the free agent signings of three reserves, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press relays. Ellis breaks down the roster player-by-player in the story.

Pacers Sign C.J. Wilcox To Two-Way Contract

August 3rd, 2018 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

The Pacers have filled their second two-way contract slot, officially announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed free agent shooting guard C.J. Wilcox to a two-way contract.

Wilcox, a first-round pick in the 2014 draft, spent his first two seasons with the Clippers before being traded to the Magic during the 2016 offseason. The 6’5″ guard was waived by the Magic in April 2017 and inked a two-way deal with the Trail Blazers last summer. He spent the entire 2017/18 campaign on that two-way contract with Portland, recovering from a right knee injury for the first part of the season.

Players with more than three years of NBA experience aren’t eligible to sign two-way contracts, so it appears last season didn’t count as a year of service for Wilcox, who had appeared in games with the Clippers and Magic during the previous three seasons. A player must spend at least one day on his club’s NBA roster to log a year of service, and Wilcox didn’t play at all for the Blazers in 2017/18. The 27-year-old averaged 10.4 PPG on .451/.381/.889 in 11 G League games for the Santa Cruz Warriors.

With Wilcox locked up, the Pacers have now filled both of their two-way contract slots. Edmond Sumner, who signed a two-year, two-way deal with Indiana last year, holds the other spot.

J.J. Redick Nearly Signed With Pacers

July 31st, 2018 at 10:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Sixers brought back J.J. Redick on a one-year, $12.5MM deal this offseason, though they almost lost him to an Eastern Conference rival.

“I almost signed with [the Pacers]. I was an hour away, two hours away. I was very close. I had a 5 p.m. deadline. Basically, it was 12:30, 1 o’clock in the afternoon when Philly changed the offer,” Redick said on his podcast (h/t Dan Feldman of NBC Sports).

Indiana wasn’t able to land Redick. The team then signed another sharpshooter in Tyreke Evans, whose deal runs for one year and $12MM.

Redick scored 17.1 points per game in his first season with the Sixers, knocking down 42.0% of his shots from behind the arc. He saw 30.2 minutes per contest in the regular season, but the Sixers upped his total to 34.2 during their 10 playoff games.

And-Ones: Super-Max, Team USA, Evans, Bibby

July 27th, 2018 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe writes in his latest column, the “super-max” extension, also known as the Designated Veteran Extension, was included in the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement in part as a reaction to Kevin Durant signing with the Warriors in 2016. The thinking was that giving a team the opportunity to give its star player a larger contract (35% of the cap instead of 30%) earlier in his career would help clubs keep their very best players.

However, as Lowe writes, while offering the super-max to a top-five player is a no-brainer, it becomes a dicier proposition for a top-10, top-15, or top-20 player.

The Bulls decided to trade Jimmy Butler rather than having to decide on a super-max offer, and according to Lowe, some members of the Pacers‘ front office had “qualms” about making such an offer to Paul George. John Wall and Russell Westbrook both received super-max extensions, but those deals will run through 2023 and could very well become albatrosses before they expire.

While there’s no indication that the league is considering any changes to the Designated Veteran Extension at this point, Lowe offers up some potential tweaks to the rule, along with thoughts from NBA executives. One idea, for example, would see super-max contracts become exempt from luxury-tax penalties — that proposal wouldn’t do much besides save owners money though, and would complicate potential trades. For more of Lowe’s ideas, be sure to check out his piece in full.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

With Team USA’s mini-camp in Las Vegas continuing today, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has published an FAQ explaining the purpose of the camp and why certain players aren’t attending, and looking ahead to the next major competitions for USA Basketball.
A group of NBA.com reporters and analysts weighs in on the offseason’s best under-the-radar moves, with the Pacers‘ signing of Tyreke Evans receiving multiple votes. The Nerlens Noel (Thunder), Anthony Tolliver (Timberwolves), and Isaiah Thomas (Nuggets) deals are also mentioned.
Mike Bibby took a step toward his goal of coaching the NBA by helping out with the Grizzlies‘ Summer League squad earlier this month. The former NBA point guard spoke to Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com about the experience.
ESPN’s Kevin Pelton and Mike Schmitz (Insider link) identify the candidates for the NBA’s 2018/19 Rookie of the Year award, with Pelton identifying Deandre Ayton as his frontrunner while Schmitz picks Luka Doncic.

Al Jefferson Set To Play In China

July 26th, 2018 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

2:24pm: Aldridge has confirmed that Jefferson will join the Xinjiang Flying Tigers in China (Twitter link).

12:00pm: Veteran NBA big man Al Jefferson is opting to play in China for the upcoming season, a source tells TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). According to Aldridge, Jefferson had an opportunity to rejoin the Pacers after being waived by the team earlier this month, but was offered a “nice payday” overseas.

Shortly after releasing him, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard revealed that Jefferson was mulling the possibility of playing international ball in 2018/19. While Aldridge’s report doesn’t specify which team Jefferson has lined up a deal with, a report earlier in July indicated that the big man was expected to sign with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Jefferson, 33, has averaged 15.7 PPG and 8.4 RPG over the course of a productive 14-year NBA career, but played a career-low 13.4 minutes per contest for Indiana last season, appearing in just 36 games. Although the veteran’s per-minute production was still strong, he wasn’t a major part of the Pacers’ plans going forward, and his $10MM salary for 2018/19 was only guaranteed for $4MM, making it an easy decision to cut him.

Assuming Jefferson finalizes a deal with a Chinese club and spends the 2018/19 campaign overseas, he could return stateside in the spring, since the CBA season ends before the NBA’s does. This past April, for instance, Ty Lawson returned from a stint with the Shandong Golden Stars and immediately signed with the Wizards, claiming a regular rotation role with Washington during the team’s brief playoff run.

J.J. Redick Considered Signing With Pacers

July 26th, 2018 at 2:22pm CST by Luke Adams

In an episode of The J.J. Redick Podcast, host – and Sixers guard – J.J. Redick admitted that he came close to a deal with the Pacers when he was a free agent earlier this month (link via Jordan Guskey of The Indianapolis Star). Redick ultimately re-signed with the Sixers on a one-year, $12.25MM deal, while Indiana completed a very similar contract with Tyreke Evans.

Chinese Teams Interested In Jahlil Okafor?

July 22nd, 2018 at 1:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jahlil Okafor appears to have offers waiting in China if he can’t find an NBA team to sign him, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.

The third player taken in the 2015 draft, Okafor washed out in Philadelphia and didn’t play much after being traded to the Nets in December. He got into just 26 games with Brooklyn and averaged 6.4 PPG in 12.6 minutes per night.

Okafor is working out in Miami, but the Heat aren’t interested in signing him, Carchia writes. We detailed several other franchises that have apparently withdrawn their interest earlier this week, including the Nets, Pacers and Bulls. However, four teams sent representatives to Okafor’s recent workout in Las Vegas and he remains hopeful of catching on with someone before training camps open.

Latest On Jahlil Okafor

July 17th, 2018 at 1:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Jahlil Okafor is an unrestricted free agent this summer, but hasn’t exactly been a hot commodity among teams looking for frontcourt help — this is our first story about the former third overall pick since free agency began 17 days ago.

Still, Okafor appears to be generating at least a little interest. Sources tell Sean Deveney of The Sporting News that Okafor worked out for four teams in Las Vegas last Wednesday, and remains “hopeful” about signing an NBA contract before camps open in September.

It’s not clear which teams were in attendance at Okafor’s workout last week, but Deveney rules out a few clubs. According to the Sporting News scribe, Okafor had drawn some interest from the Pacers and Bulls earlier in the year, but neither team was at last week’s workout. The former Duke standout also won’t be returning to the Nets next season, Deveney adds.

Okafor, originally a Sixer, averaged 17.5 PPG and 7.0 RPG during his rookie season in 2015/16, but has seen his playing time and production decline since then. After being traded to Brooklyn this past season, he posted 6.4 PPG and 2.9 RPG in 26 contests (12.6 MPG) with the Nets.

As TNT’s David Aldridge details, Okafor has been working this summer with Miami-based trainer Idan Ravin, who has been “reconstructing” Okafor’s jump shot and looking to expand the 22-year-old’s offensive game. We’ll see if that work helps earn him another NBA shot this fall.

Pacers Sign Elijah Stewart

July 16th, 2018 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Undrafted rookie Elijah Stewart has signed with the Pacers, sources tell Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). According to Charania, Stewart will get a one-year, Exhibit 10 deal with Indiana.

Exhibit 10 contracts are non-guaranteed, one-year deals that essentially serve as training camp contracts with modest optional bonuses.

While Exhibit 10 deals can be converted into two-way contracts, the most common path for a player on an Exhibit 10 deal is to be waived before the regular season begins, then to join his club’s G League affiliate. In other words, Stewart may end up becoming a member of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants this fall.

Stewart, a 6’5″ shooting guard out of USC, averaged 11.7 PPG on .453/.391/.844 shooting in his senior year. In each of his four seasons with the Trojans, Stewart attempted more shots from beyond the three-point arc than from inside it.