NBA Rumors: Pacers sign-and-trade CJ Miles for Cory Joseph

The Indiana Pacers let go of another key piece by sign-and-trading CJ Miles to the Toronto Raptors for backup point guard Cory Joseph.

The Indiana Pacers have continued to strip away at their core. They began the offseason by trading Paul George for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, then added Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic in free agency.

Following the acquisition of Oladipo, some people wondered whether that meant the Pacers were going to let free agent guard CJ Miles walk. Instead, they were able to get back something of value for him when they got back Cory Joseph from the Toronto Raptors:

For the Raptors, Miles comes at a rather cheap cost, as he signed a 3-year deal worth $25 million before getting traded:

The Raptors have had themselves a very busy offseason so far. They re-signed Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry, then unloaded DeMarre Carroll’s contract to the Brooklyn Nets. That move, combined with this one, should free up some more minutes for two of their brightest young stars, Delon Wright and Norman Powell.

CJ Miles can also back up Powell and provide some reliable shooting off the bench. He set a career high last season when he shot 41.3 percent from deep, which is hugely important for the Raptors since perimeter shooting was one of their biggest weaknesses in the playoffs.

Meanwhile, for the Pacers, Joseph remains a good option at point guard who can help fill the void left by Jeff Teague’s departure. Although he’s primarily a backup point guard, we saw that he can come into a starting role when he had to fill in for Kyle Lowry last season. In Joseph’s last game, he put up 20 points and 12 assists in a losing effort against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

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Getting something back for CJ Miles should be a win for the Pacers. Meanwhile, the Raptors acquired a quality bench player who can add some outside shooting. This was a good trade for both teams.