In need of a new direction amid a 10-16 start to the season, the Indiana Pacers are moving toward a substantial rebuild and are expected to open up trade conversations around some of their veteran stalwarts, sources tell The Athletic.
Multiple sources said that the Pacers are receptive in trade dialogue with rival teams centered on potentially moving guard Caris LeVert and either two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis or center Myles Turner. All three players have frequently garnered significant interest from rival teams. Pacers officials have received frequent calls on both of their big men over the past several seasons, but new head coach Rick Carlisle wanted an opportunity to spend time with Sabonis and Turner and grow with the roster. Even still, Carlisle has remained interested in seeing the frontcourt duo together.
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The Pacers are moving toward opening further playing time for Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson, the team’s 13th and 22nd overall picks, respectively, in the 2021 NBA Draft. Indiana is 13th in the Eastern Conference and fourth in the Central Division. In 24 games this season, Duarte has shown to be a dependable player on both ends of the court, and is a favorite of Carlisle.
The Pacers signed starting point guard Malcolm Brogdon to a two-year extension prior to the start of the season, placing him under contract through 2025 and thus making him ineligible to be traded during this campaign.
It’s unclear to rival teams how swift the Pacers could begin to make moves, but it’s expected the franchise will be patient in its trade approach and reach decisions based on the best offers that are made.
Sabonis, 25, is regarded as the Pacers’ best player. He was an All-Star in 2019-20 and 2020-21. In 26 games this season, Sabonis is averaging 17.9 points, 12 rebounds and 4.1 assists. He’s seen his scoring average decrease to his lowest since 2018-19. But the 6-foot-11 big man — who is under contract through 2024 — possesses significant value across the NBA.
Over the past few seasons, the Pacers have faced the question internally and externally: Can Sabonis and Turner co-exist on the floor and help the organization take the next step in playoff contention? The franchise has remained patient by seeing through both big men and their potential together in their primes, but a breakup now appears on the horizon.
The Pacers have been without starting small forward T.J. Warren for the past year, with the breakout Bubble star playing in only four games a season ago and making slow progress this season from an injured left foot. Warren was cleared last week to start light on-court activity, but he remains out for the foreseeable future. To complicate matters, Warren will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
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Sources tell The Athletic that Warren has expressed to management that he’d like to remain in Indianapolis.
In the past, team president Kevin Pritchard has tried to convince owner Herb Simon a rebuild is necessary, including in 2017, but Simon demurred. Instead, the Pacers signed Darren Collison, Bojan Bogdanovic and made a trade for veteran Cory Joseph.
Simon, the longest-tenured owner in the league, has always demanded the Pacers put the best possible product on the floor, even if that means being a seventh or eighth seed and losing in the first round of the playoffs. The concern is, a protracted rebuild will mean an even greater decline in attendance. But look at their attendance now, which stands dead last in the league at 13,135 and 29th in terms of percentage of capacity. So the question is: How much worse can it get?
Now, according to sources, Simon, who is 87, has gotten onboard with the idea of a rebuild.
Over the years, the Pacers have found ways to rebuild on the run, most notably after the 2000 Finals appearance, when Mark Jackson left in free agency and Rik Smits retired. Then-team president Donnie Walsh got aggressive in the trade market, adding pieces like Ron Artest (now Metta Sandiford-Artest), Jermaine O’Neal and others, and the Pacers returned to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2003-04.
Then, after some lean years after The Brawl, then-team president Larry Bird rebuilt the Pacers and got them back to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012-13 and 2013-14.
The Pacers don’t want to embark on a long-term “process” or a tank-athon because it’s fiscally hurtful and the Indianapolis market won’t stay engaged — even if fans understand the necessity of starting over. But after several years in NBA purgatory, management has decided it’s time to shake things up. The Pacers haven’t advanced beyond the first round of the playoffs since 2013-14. They’re also on their third coach in three years — Nate McMillan, Nate Bjorkgren and now Carlisle.
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There are three ways to acquire players — through the draft, through trades and through free agency. For Indiana, though, there are really only two ways: the draft and trades, with an emphasis on trades. Indiana has never been a free-agent destination. Sources tell The Athletic the Pacers will be very active from now until the trade deadline.
Indiana has been competitive in virtually every game, but hasn’t been able to close out games late. The Pacers are 1-8 in games decided by four points or fewer. The franchise hoped to replicate what the Pistons accomplished back in 2004, when they won a title with a team filled with very good players, but no established superstar. That hasn’t happened. At crunch time, the Pacers have been abysmal.
Pritchard guided a rebuild when he ran the Portland Trail Blazers. His team won 32 games when he became the GM in 2007, followed by 41 wins and 54.
Now, it appears he’s ready to try it again.
(Photo: Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)