The 2025-26 season has been entirely unkind to the Indiana Pacers, at least through the first few weeks. Just a few months after reaching Game 7 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers are 1-11 this season amid a slew of injuries up and down the roster. Tyrese Haliburton's season-long absence hovers over the entire operation in Indiana, but even beyond the void left by the All-Star guard's Achilles injury, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell have combined to play only seven of a possible 22 games for Indiana in the backcourt.
As such, the Pacers have seemingly been searching far and wide for guard help, including extended stretches of on-court deployment for players like RayJ Dennis, Quenton Jackson, Monte Morris, and Mac McClung already this season. With that as the backdrop, a potential trade target for the Pacers has reportedly emerged, even at this early stage of this disastrous campaign.
A stealth trade target for the Pacers?
Writing on The Stein Line, Jake Fischer pointed to New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado as a potentially appetizing target for Indiana.
"As Indiana has looked for point guard help while coping without Tyrese Haliburton for the season in the wake of Haliburton's Achilles tear, sources say another name to monitor for the Pacers is New Orleans guard Jose Alvarado. I'm told Indiana has kept the defensive pest on its radar throughout this early stretch of the season."
On one hand, Alvarado would make perfect sense as a target for Indiana. The Pacers have earned the reputation as an incredibly difficult team to play against, in part due to their sky-high energy level on the perimeter when it comes to ball pressure. Nembhard and McConnell are huge parts of that equation, and Alvarado's leading trait as an NBA guard is his ability to thwart opposing ball-handlers.
In addition, Alvarado is a vastly improved 3-point shooter, connecting on 37 percent of long-range attempts since the start of the 2023-24 season. No one would mistake Alvarado for an "every down" initiator of top-tier offense, as he is averaging fewer than seven points per game this season, which is in line with his career norm. However, the 27-year-old plays with a great deal of energy and is proven as at least a high-level rotation player on a playoff-caliber team. He also makes only $4.5 million this season, making Alvarado a gettable target for almost any team from a financial standpoint.
The other side of the equation is that Alvarado probably would not be overly easy to acquire. New Orleans has always reportedly valued his contributions, and while the Pelicans are also off to a rough start, they have no incentive to lean into a rebuilding effort given that New Orleans owes its 2026 first round pick (unprotected) to Atlanta. Also, the Pacers could be at the point of the season where it might not make sense to "throw good money after bad," meaning that Indiana might actually benefit from ping-pong balls in a season in which the team's highest aspirations are probably off the table.
Overall, there are not a ton of real, tangible trade rumors in mid-November, and this could be one. At the same time, Alvarado may not cure all of what ills the Pacers, and simply monitoring the situation may not lead to an early-season deal, even if Indiana would clearly be helped on the court by his presence.