NBA Free Agency 2017: One signing every team should make

Indiana Pacers: Tim Hardaway Jr.

The Indiana Pacers enter 2017 NBA free agency behind the 8-ball to a degree. With the Paul George situation hanging over their heads, they are in a situation where they have to somewhat pretend that they’re building for now while also building for the future (assuming, of course, that a George trade doesn’t happen this offseason). Thus, it’s hard to definitively say how they plan to approach free agency, which makes it hard to say the type of signings they need to make.

However, Tim Hardaway Jr. seems to be the type of player that they could bring in that would fit well into their plans regardless of what happens. After two seasons with both the Knicks and Hawks in his young career, the 25-year old has shown tremendous growth as an overall player. Playing 79 games last season with Atlanta, he seemed to relatively firmly establish himself as a solid 3-and-D wing. Hardaway averaged 19.1 points, 3.7 rebound and three assists per 36 minutes this past season with the best efficiency numbers of his career to complement those numbers.

In a post-George world for the Pacers, Myles Turner figures to be the focal point of the franchise. Hardaway is the type of player that would be a fine perimeter complement to the versatile big man, able to defend on the wing and able to score in a variety of ways from his position. He certainly wouldn’t be a flashy signing, but he’d be a nice add given their current predicament.