How the Pacers and Jazz won the NBA trade deadline | Hollinger & Duncan
John Hollinger and Nate Duncan praise the Indiana Pacers’ trade for L.A. Clippers center Ivica Zubac and Utah Jazz’s trade for Memphis Grizzlies big Jaren Jackson Jr. — with caveats.
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5 Comments
The issue with Indiana is rebounding. Imo ofc if the sibonas trade was for miles instead the Pacers would have a championship.
Tyrese Haliburton should do fine when he returns. He is being given plenty of time for a full recovery of the achilles, roughly 17 months. There isn’t a rush to get him back on the court. I anticipate he will be participating in full intensity 5 on 5 basketball by this summer. As long as he can be 80% of his former self the Pacers should be clicking. And be “mindful” that the version of Haliburton we saw last season was him not being 100% either having a lingering hamstring injury. His game is not overly dependent on athleticism either, as the key strengths he provides to a team is elite court vision and decision making, the real gamble is how consistent his jumper will be. As long as he isn’t a disaster by January next year the Pacers should be a top team in the conference. I have heard that he has put on almost 30 lbs since being out with the achilles, going from 185 to nearly 210. Hopefully that weight is in the form of muscle, that can help prevent soft tissue injury in the future and allow him to be a better defender. The reason the Pacers made the move for Zubac now is so that Mathurin could be a tradeable asset, as they had no intention of matching the offer he was likely to receive. As good as Mathurin is (very good in my opinion), the Pacers have Haliburton, Nesmith, Nembhard, and McConnell who all fit the Pacers play style better than Mathurin. The Pacers would have needed to make Mathurin the 3rd highest paid player on the team, while he was best suited as a sixth man due to his lack of defensive flexibility. I’m of the opinion the Pacers intended to move the 2026 pick anyway if it fell outside of the top 4, mostly due to the top heavy nature of this draft talent wise, and most of the other best prospects being at the guard positions. Koa Peat and Nate Ament are possibilities, but the Pacers retained Jarace Walker and Obi Toppin at the forward spots. All in all I think the pessimism over the risk the Pacers took is a bit overblown. When considering the full context of where they are as a team it was measured risk, and an acceptable risk.
If the Pacers get a top four pick then this trade was epic. Benn is a great player but he just didn’t fit with the Pacers
The wizards are easily the biggest winner by far. They didn’t really give up any assets of substance to end up with Trae Young & AD.
Ace is coming along offensively and honestly he’s already a top 5 defensive guy on the team. Watching him catch up with the speed of the NBA has been fun this year. He’s still a kid and I think he’s in the right system, by 21 I’d put money Down on a 20 5 5 guy.