Indiana Pacers Trade For Jay Huff To Add Center Depth | Another Low Risk, High Reward Trade
[Music] What’s going on, Pacer Nation, and welcome back to another episode of Bring the Juice Pacers. Well, guys, a lot’s been going on uh in Indiana Pacer world with the Indiana Pacers, unfortunately, not winning the NBA Finals, Tyrese Hallebert and Terrence Achilles, and then Miles Turner leaving in free agency for the Milwaukee Bucks. So, we try to keep up with it, but it’s definitely been tough. I know Derek, you and I have kind of had a little bit of a crazy couple weeks here in terms of our own life. We haven’t even really been able to do much for the Colts end of things either, but the Indiana Pacers do make a move here to help at that center position. Um, according to multiple different people, the Indiana Pacers are trading with the Memphis Grizzlies for center Jay Huff for a second round pick and a second round pick swap here on Saturday. So, a little bit about Huff, he’s turns 27 here in August. And Derek really so far, um, especially last year with Memphis, more of just kind of a role guy. Um, you know, last year didn’t play a ton, but he was pretty efficient in his time with the Memphis Grizzlies. definely played a little bit under 12 minutes per game. So was kind of a role guy, but in that time he definitely did some good stuff um you know as a stretch five. You know he shot 40% from three. And here’s an interesting fact about Huff as well. He was just one of three sevenfooters to shoot 40% three-pointers while taking at least 200 attempts. the other two Carl Anthony Towns and Chris Stops Orzingis and also was 24th in field goal percentage allowed on layups and dunks last season among 90 players to contest at least 300 shots. So just a couple different things there when regards to Huff. So really has been a guy that hasn’t had a big role with the team so far in his career, but has an opportunity here with the departure of Miles Turner to potentially come in and compete for a spot. seems like he’s a guy that is very similar in terms of skill set to Turner. You know, he’s a guy that can shoot the basketball um and can do a lot of things, you know, that you’re looking for. Obviously, doesn’t have the pedigree that Miles Turner does, but could be kind of a potential stop gap sort of solution here. Guy that’s going to go in there, compete with guys like Isaiah Jackson and some others for that starting center position. So, what were your thoughts here on seeing the Indiana Pacers first move here in free agency or really at all after, you know, they lost Miles Turner here? What are your thoughts on Jay Huff and just what the Pacers did in this trade? Yeah, the uh the Miles Turner news just kind of blew up the Pacer world and you know, after that happened, everyone was like, well, what what is going to happen here? What are the Indiana Pacers gonna do when it comes to the rest of these guys? And you know, unfortunately, you know, the Pacers, they had a number with Miles Turner. They even had a number for DeAndre Aton and ultimately none of those numbers worked for either one of those guys because you know you have a guy on your bench Cody who you’re probably going to have to pay here very shortly too in you know Benedict Mathan right if you don’t pay him he’s gonna get go at some point and you know he he will definitely have a hot market but you want to keep him around because he’s definitely a scorer that you So, you know, you you weren’t willing to shy away from your from the number that you were going to give Miles and now you get Jay Huff. And it definitely is an interesting signing. One thing about it is there’s just not a whole lot of like there’s just not a whole lot to go off of with Jay Huff because you know this last season the most usage he got out of any season so far was drafted in 2021 uh for the Lakers. Only played in four games. Didn’t do anything else there. And then you know the next season went to Washington. Only played in seven games. didn’t do much of anything there. Denver, he played 20 games and, you know, again, tried to find some momentum, but you know, the way they utilized him, it wasn’t, he was only getting two and a half minutes a game, so he wasn’t doing anything there. This last season was the first time that you got to see Jay Huff actually have any sort of significant time at all. And albeit he only played on average of 12 minutes a game, he w he did play in 64 games and started in two of the games. And then you finally saw he was averaging seven points, you know, was shooting over 40% from three-point range, you know. So, this does feel just kind of like a a stop gap player that’s very similar to Miles, a little bit bigger than Miles Turner was. Not nearly the shot blocker that Miles is, but definitely a guy that can still shoot from behind the three-point line given the opportunity to, which you know, again, that’s what the Pacers want, right? You’re not going to get you’re not going to go out and get a center that is going to just dominate the middle of the paint. That’s not the way that the Pacers run their offense. So, you want a guy that is tall and can play defense against centers, but also somebody that is capable of shooting beyond the arc if you ask them to. So, this definitely is interesting because yeah, J just because you sign Jay Huff does not 100% mean that he will be the starter come day one next season for the Indiana Pacers. You know, there will definitely be some other options there. Uh, we saw that the Pacers a lot of times would not would unorthodoxly put, you know, like Obi- Toppin or Isaiah Jackson or some other guys on the center for other teams just because that was how they needed to do it defensively and they were still able to keep their offense intact. So, it’s ultimately going to come down to how Jay-Huff actually does with the num with the attempts that he gets. And it definitely is a great it’s a great thing to see that in his first season where he played in the majority of the games and started in a couple that you know he isn’t a big scoreer but he is efficient in the amount of field goals that he does take. So you look at it and if you’re thinking, okay, if Jay Huff can play 20ome minutes in during our games and, you know, can still shoot 50%. And shoot high 30s from three-point range, you know, being able to have that as a center option for you can really come in handy for sure. And this is definitely a lowrisk potentially highreward sort of thing here because you know Jay Huff got a little bit later on you know in his I guess basketball career when he actually is starting to get some more roles right he’s turning 27 but the good thing here here Derek and we’ve seen the Pacers do this with guys like Obin for example where they trade a late round pick and they get a guy that fits well into their system and thrives right so could that be a potential thing and the good thing about Jay Huff is Dererick he’s cheap and he’s under contract for the next three years. So, you have him around as a guy that at the worst can be a bench roll player for you, but you know, potentially if he gets more of an extended look here, who knows? If the efficiency stays put, he could become a pretty darn good center in this league, right? So, yeah, I I think it’s definitely a lowrisk, potentially high reward sort of thing. I mean, if it doesn’t work out, no harm, no foul. It’s at the end of the day, it’s a second round pick. like, you know, a lot of times, you know, you you’ll trade those and take risks on guys like that. So, for me, I like that. I think this could potentially be a guy, and obviously the Pacers are very particular with the guys they bring in that they feel like can fit their system, right? So, I feel like this is potentially a a move that we look back on and we say, “The Pacers got Jay-Hub for what, excuse me, like we did with Obie Toppin, right? Because Pacers have done that. They found I mean, we we watch how they’ve built their team. They’ve had multiple guys who have either been second round picks themselves or been traded for second round picks and that’s kind of how they’ve built this roster overall, especially some of the bench guys. So, could Jay Huff be that? And, you know, another opportunity here and at the very worst the second round pick and he’s a roll guy. He comes in, you know, he he plays a couple minutes, he plays, let’s say 11, 12 minutes per game like he did. Okay, that’s fine. You know, that’s totally fine. But I do like taking these risks on guys like this where if it doesn’t pan out, you’re not hamstring to anything because it’s what $3 million per year for Jay Huff over the next three years. Like you’re going to take that, right? For for even if he’s a bench guy, that’s totally totally fine. But he has a chance here to compete, right, with Isaiah Jackson, depending what you do with James Wiseman and you know, whoever else, you know, Thomas Bryan as well. Like we’ll see. Tony Bradley’s another name. So, there’s going to be a lot of guys potentially competing for some playing time here. And you just bring another guy in here to compete and whoever the best player is, if it’s Jay Huff, if it’s somebody else, you at least know you’ve done your work to try to figure out, you know, with what a lot of people would say is kind of a wash this next year with Tyrese out likely for the mo most of the season. Um, you know, you get a more of a long potential long-term answer on what you have at center or don’t have. Yeah, I mean you’re right. It regardless of the role of a Jay Huff that it just being able to get any kind of help from him definitely will help you. But it definitely is a surprise and you know it’ll be very interesting to see just what comes of this cuz you know again Miles Turner he had his struggles in the playoffs at times specifically in the finals. I mean, Miles was a complete liability for a a good chunk of the play of the final series, at least from the offensive perspective. Don’t know what happened there, but it definitely it definitely is a concern because, you know, you need to replace a guy that was averaging, you know, 17 points a game and, you know, was getting you five or six rebounds a game, right? I mean, ultimately, you know, he wasn’t a big rebounder, so we already knew that about him, but, you know, if Jay Huff can, you know, potentially be that starter and get you even relatively similar similar numbers, then, you know, you’re right. It this becomes a situation where, you know, it, like you said, it’s low risk, high reward. And but I I’m still definitely curious on how the Pacers will still go from here. I wonder if this is just a stop gap or if there’s anything else. I don’t really think there is many other moves that they can make for the center at this point. Right. It’s nice to see them bring somebody else in at least to compete and just kind of take it from here. I mean, like I said, like without Tyrese likely for the majority, if not all the season next year, you know, you do kind of wonder like, you know, is this a year to kind of I I don’t know if I’d say rebuild, but kind of retool a little bit, right? Is this kind of an opportunity? And is Jay Huff a guy you just give a chance? And if it works out, great. If not, you kind of figure that out next off season. I don’t know. But right now, the Pacers are kind of in this weird spot, right, where you just came off one game away from winning the NBA Finals. You lose two of your key starters likely for the 2026 season. I know at least one and and probably two. And you just got to figure it out what’s going to happen next. They’re in just this weird position. But I do think they have enough talent to be a playoff team this next year. But we’ll have to see when it comes to center, right? Because unfortunately Miles played himself out of a bigger deal, right? With the Pacers at least. Obviously we saw what he signed with the Bucks. Um and and that’s just what it was. And it just sucks because you do wonder like, you know, if a couple things went differently if Tyrese doesn’t get hurt. I mean, this could be a completely different situation. But you take it as you go, man. And this next season is going to be kind of interesting to see how do the Pacers weather it because they do have a lot of talent still on the roster. And you bring Jay Huff in a guy that’s been a roll guy so far and potentially gets another open, you know, opportunity here to even get more minutes. And we’ll just have to see. Yeah, definitely. It’ll be fun to see what they do the rest of the way. Absolutely. I do like the fact that he plays similar to Miles. Um but he’s got to be a heck of a lot cheaper than Miles, right? Not going to say he’s going to be Miles, but he’s got some of those tendencies, right? He can shoot the basketball. He can do some things that you like and kind of how the Pacer system, you know, set up Miles well the last couple years with Rick Carile. So, we’ll see how Jay Huff kind of plays it out. If he’s a bench guy, so be it. If he challenges for a starting spot, that’ll be great, too. But guys, let us know your thoughts here on the newest Indiana Pacer. Jay Huff here, the newest player and the newest member of the Indiana Pacers. Got traded today from the Memphis Grizzlies. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below. But that’ll do it for this one. Thank you guys so much. Let us know your thoughts on him. That’ll do it for this one. Thanks, guys. And go Pacers. [Music]
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