3 reasons the Indiana Pacers have a bright future
By Ian Levy
2. Assets to build with
The Pacers have young depth, veteran depth (Myles Turner, Buddy Hield, Bruce Brown) and a budding star in Tyrese Haliburton (more on that later). But they also have the flexibility and trade pieces to keep tweaking this roster, making sure it's continually improving as they shift towards contention.
The Pacers own all of their own first-round draft picks moving forward and will have an extra first-rounder headed their way this year — the least favorable of the Jazz, Rockets, Thunder or Clippers. They also have five extra second-round picks coming in the next seven seasons.
That's not the only assets the Pacers have to assemble a trade package. Hield and Brown are both playing key roles right now but if they can't agree on extensions (Hield is a free agent this summer, Brown has a team option for next year), they're both extremely valuable players on reasonable contracts who would be traded separately or together. The Pacers also have TJ McConnell under contract for next season and he's a valuable piece who has been mostly pushed out of the rotation but would be very attractive to any team looking for a solid backup point guard.
It's not clear exactly what kind of stars might be available or who the Pacers might find attractive enough to push their chips in for. But, between picks and players, they could put together a very competitive package for players like OG Anunoby or Pascal Siakam, or second-tier supporting pieces like De'Andre Hunter or Jerami Grant.
The Pacers have the luxury of time and flexibility as they continue to add pieces, letting their young pieces develop at their own pace and being ready to capitalize when the right opportunity presents itself.