Is It Time To Win Now Or Start Over For Indiana Pacers?

Indiana Pacers, NBA Rumors
NBA Analysis Network

Winning a championship is not an easy task in the NBA and neither is making the playoffs given all the talent spread across the league! While they did miss the playoffs a season ago, the Indiana Pacers have made the postseason 9 of the last 11 seasons, yet they have advanced past the first-round just three times. 

Since the start of the 2015-16 season, the Pacers have always looked to be a playoff threat in the Eastern Conference, yet injuries and lack of talent always seem to be their downfall. They have not won a playoff series since 2014 and with them being 14-23 right now, this team’s playoff hopes are quickly vanishing. 

Compared to past seasons, the East is stacked with talent this season and there is very little room for error. The Nets, Bucks, Heat and Bulls all look like “locks” for the playoffs at this rate and while we do have the play-in tournament, allowing for the 9-seed and 10-seed to have a chance to sneak into the playoffs picture, the Cavaliers, 76ers, Hornets, Celtics and Wizards have all outplayed the Pacers to this point in the year. 

It is time for the Pacers to start looking ahead and figure out ways to build a successful team for the future, but that does not necessarily mean it is time to tear everything down that they have built over the years. 

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pacers Prefer ‘Win-Now’ Trade Targets To Make Playoff Push

Last month, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that the Indiana Pacers were heading towards a rebuild and would be receptive to trade calls for Caris LeVert, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, but Indiana has not made any changes whatsoever to their roster other than waiving Brad Wanamaker and signing Keifer Sykes. 

With T.J. Warren still recovering from a foot injury suffered a few games into last season, T.J. McConnell out indefinitely after hand surgery and this team always struggling to match the talent-level of other teams, now is definitely the time for the Pacers to take a step back. 

However, it does not appear that owner Herb Simon has any intentions of breaking this team apart and going through a complete rebuild. “I don’t want to see (a rebuild). If I don’t want to see it, the fans don’t want to see it,” Simon recently told reporters. “Why would we want to go through a rebuild when we can build on the go?”

“We haven’t performed as well as we would have liked. … The word is ‘no panic’ in this organization. There won’t be any panic.”

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pacers Prefer ‘Win-Now’ Trade Targets To Make Playoff Push

Maybe the front-office and ownership will not panic, but Pacers’ fans definitely want to see some kind of change with this organization. Time and time again, they are the definition of mediocre over the course of a season and the only way for them to improve is to make some significant moves around the trade deadline. 

Keeping the high-level duo of Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis together is definitely something this organization should consider, but re-tooling with more talent at the expense of guys like Myles Turner and Caris LeVert makes the most sense for this organization. 

Around the league, there are very few high-level, “win-now” players available in trades, but there are quite a few names that the Pacers could look to go after, regardless of their trade status with their current team. 

As The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor notes, Pascal Siakam, Ben Simmons and De’Aaron Fox are theoretical trade targets that could help the Pacers improve while going through some kind of a small rebuild, but it is also worth mentioning names like CJ McCollum, Christian Wood, Eric Gordon and possibly even younger pieces like Kyle Kuzma and Rui Hachimura from Washington. 

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pacers Prefer ‘Win-Now’ Trade Targets To Make Playoff Push

Siakam, Simmons and Fox are all players that the Indiana Pacers could bring in and not only avoid having to go through a full rebuild, but they could even upgrade their overall roster talent by trading for one of those guys. Pairing any of these three with Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis creates a new “Big 3” in the Eastern Conference, helping the Pacers improve their perception in a conference that shows a lot of potential moving forward. 

No matter what this organization decides to do in terms of “switching things up,” it seems very likely that Myles Turner will be the name on the move at the trade deadline this season. 

Being owed just $35M through next season, Turner is on a very reasonable contract and could be viewed as a player that can help various playoff contending teams immediately. Myles Turner is not only arguably the best shot-blocker in the game right now, but he is also a big man who can stretch the floor on offense, knocking down multiple three-point shots per game. 

Caris LeVert is kind of in the same boat as Turner in the sense of being “tradeable” since he is also only under contract through next season, but keeping him in Indiana gives this team a very reliable secondary scorer on the wing. 

LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Pacers Prefer ‘Win-Now’ Trade Targets To Make Playoff Push

With T.J. Warren possibly coming back near the end of January as well, maybe the Pacers can find some magic near the end of the season, especially with both Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis continuing to be high-level talents in this league. It most likely will not be enough for them to make a real playoff push, but if they can add another elite-level talent or even 1-2 key secondary scorers, the Indiana Pacers can once again become a playoff threat in the Eastern Conference. 

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