While Pascal Siakam hasn’t officially re-signed yet, signing some of his best past teammates might further entice him to stay with the Pacers.
The Indiana Pacers are fully expected to re-sign Pascal Siakam. They will be offering him a full five-year max extension. It’s hard to see him turning that down, especially with the kind of run that Indiana went on after acquiring him. He should be signing that as soon as he’s legally allowed to.
With that in mind, the Pacers will be bringing their entire starting lineup back from a year ago. They still are looking to improve their team to make sure that they can make the final leap to make the NBA Finals. Signing a few of Siakam’s ex-teammates might be a good way for them to do so.
There are three guys whom the Pacers should target in free agency to help get the team over the edge. One of them would have to take a pay-cut in order to paly for Indiana, but the other two should be affordable for Indiana. All three would be if Herb Simon is willing to spend some money.
The first player on this list is oft-injured but is still a great player when he’s healthy. He’s looking to score with a big payday too.
- OG Anunoby
OG Anunoby was traded by the Raptors near the deadline, much like Siakam was. Anunoby went to the Knicks where he made an immediate impact. When he first got there and was healthy, he helped New York go on a 24-5 stretch in the regular season. His impact was instant.
Anunoby averaged 14.5 points per game on 49% shooting in the regular season while shooting 38% from three. He also averaged about 1.4 steals a game. When he’s healthy, he is the perfect three-and-D player for any team out there who is a contender. It’s why New York went out and got him.
The issue for Anunoby is that he simply can’t stay healthy. He hasn’t played more than 70 games in a season since his rookie year. He has played more than 50 just once in the past four years. We saw him get hurt again in the playoffs against the Pacers. He’s just very fragile.
That injury history is the only reason why the Pacers have any hope of signing him at all in free agency. Anunoby loved Siakam as a teammate and played college at IU. He has Indiana ties. That injury history could drive down the amount of money he’ll make.
If he would go for a four-year $80 million contract, the Pacers would barely be able to afford that. They could bring him in though. That would give them the defensive wing that they so desperately need to win an NBA championship. He’s a good offensive player too.
The second player on this list who the Pacers might consider signing would also help on defense.
- Gary Trent Jr.
A more affordable option for the Pacers would be Gary Trent Jr. he might only command something along the lines of $18 million per year. That would give Indiana a little more flexibility in terms of its cap sheet. Trent Jr. is also younger than OG, which is a plus.
We talked about Trent Jr. recently and what value he brings. He’s a decent-sized guard who can make three-point shots on offense and who won’t get bullied on defense. If he started next to Tyrese Haliburton, he would be able to negate a lot of hunting by opposing offenses.
The Pacers need more players in their starting lineup that opposing teams can’t hunt. Tyrese Haliburton will continue to get hunted unless he gets stronger. But as the offensive engine, that’s a tradeoff Indiana is willing to make. Andrew Nembhard is feisty, but not tall enough to withstand some switches. We saw what Jalen Brunson did to him.
Aaron Nesmith is a solid wing defender, but even he doesn’t have the size to deal with the likes of the better wings in the East. Paring someone like Trent Jr. with Nesmith would give them better odds though. He can switch on most actions.
The issue is that Trent Jr. is a guard who is just marginally better in totality than Andrew Nembhard and he will be more expensive. It may not make sense for the Pacers to offer him a significant deal. Still, if Siakam demanded that they sign him, I’m sure something could get worked out.
The final player on this list is someone who would be an incredible signing for the Pacers because he’s big on the outside and he’s a veteran to give them some leadership.
- Demar DeRozan
Demar DeRozan left Pascal Siakam and the Raptors right before the title win in 2019. In fact, he was part of the package that Toronto traded in order to bring in Kawahi Leonard. DeRozan has yet to win a title and has now played on three different teams. He’s now a free agent.
The Bulls are likely going to finally start to rebuild. That means they won’t be bringing DeRozan back. He’s running out of time to win a title. He’ll be 35 years old next season but he’s still quite a weapon. DeRozan averaged 24 points per game last season and made the All-Star team in two of the past three years.
DeRozan did just make over $27 million last season. At 35, he can’t expect to make that much money with his next contract. He likely has just two or three years left before he retires. He’s made plenty of money in his career. Why wouldn’t he want to take less money to win a championship?
Indiana could offer him the final contract of his career. They could give him a three-year $50 million deal to be the veteran wing that the Pacers need. He would fit perfectly alongside Aaron Nesmith and Tyrese Haliburton and would give them another midrange scorer.
DeRozan is pretty good defender and a good rebounder, something the Pacers struggle at. The only issue is that he doesn’t shoot threes. He never really has. Indiana takes a ton of threes, so there might be a stylistic issue there. Still, his playmaking more than makes up for that aspect. They could use Haliburton off the ball a bit more.
Any of these three players would improve the Pacers in the short-term and the long term. If Siakam could convince them to come to Indiana, that would be even better.
Discussion about this post