One trade every NBA team needs to make
By Tom West
Indiana Pacers
The Pacers’ primary trade assets consist of players on expiring contracts. Jordan Hill ($4 million), Chase Budinger ($5 million) and Ian Mahinmi ($4 million) are some of the pieces the Pacers could move in order to find a solid player from a team looking for a salary cap boost. They don’t have many expendable players and as they still rank 4th in the NBA for defensive efficiency, the best thing they can do may be to make a minor trade to tweak their offense.
One team they should look to is the Timberwolves. The strong, athletic wing with a surprisingly good post-up game that is Shabazz Muhammad will probably be too difficult to acquire, but his teammate Kevin Martin could still be a worthy target.
Martin is far down the Timberwolves’ rotation now as they favor young talent like Zach LaVine and Muhammad, which should make him easier for the Pacers to acquire and he’s been involved in various trade rumors already. He can still provide a scoring spark in Indiana, though, as he’s making 36.4 percent of his threes and averaging 18 points per 36 minutes. He can serve as a solid catch-and-shoot option outside and the Pacers have enough tenacity with their interior defenders and on the perimeter to compensate for Martin’s weakness as a defender.
Who the Pacers can offer the Timberwolves is unclear. Hill is playing an important role with 22 minutes per game and Mahinmi being involved is obviously out of the question for a player like Martin. Perhaps if they package together a couple of players at the bottom of their rotation they can tempt the Timberwolves to give up Martin’s shooting in order to clear themselves of his $7 million contract.
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