2 Pacers trade candidates entering 2024-25 season
Following their most successful season in a decade, the Indiana Pacers kept their core together in the 2024 offseason. Their recent accomplishments lead to entering their 57th year as a franchise with championship aspirations. An Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2023-2024 marked their best year as a team since Paul George led them to a similar result in 2013-2014.
The Pacers clearly still have ground to cover on the defending champions Boston Celtics and the rest of the conference. However, the front office chose not to make any drastic moves in the offseason. Instead, the 2024-2025 season will mark the team’s first full year with former All-NBA forward Pascal Siakam on the roster. Several key names changed teams at the previous deadline, including Siakam.
Alongside Siakam, the Pacers will again be led by star guard Tyrese Haliburton flanked by Myles Turner, Aaron Nesmith, Bennedict Mathurin, Obi Toppin and 2024 playoff hero Andrew Nembhard. Their most notable offseason acquisitions consisted of rookies Johnny Furphy and Tristen Newton, with the latter on a two-way contract.
With the type of expectations the franchise has given itself on the heels of a successful year, the potential for disappointment is high. Teams in similar situations often turn to the trade market. The Pacers just did that to acquire Siakam in 2023-2024; a move that paid off to perfection.
Should the Pacers enter the trade market in 2024-2025, they have a few names on their roster more likely to be moved than others whether they aspire to become buyers or sellers.
Obi Toppin
Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
As it currently stands, Toppin is the Pacers’ fourth-highest-paid player behind Haliburton, Siakam and Turner. He was brought in during the 2023 offseason to start at power forward, an idea that was fulfilled at the beginning of the year until Siakam’s arrival.
Regardless of his change in status coming off the bench, 2023-2024 was still a career year for the Dayton product. His 82 games played and 28 games started were both career highs, as were his statistical numbers across the board. Toppin is not the player he was expected to be as the No. 8 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft but the change in scenery has evidently benefitted his career.
Following a rough stretch in the middle of the year, Toppin thrived to close out the season. The 26-year-old was a key part of Indiana’s closeout game over the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. In Game 6, Toppin notched 21 points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes off the bench.
If anything, Toppin’s resurgence has raised his trade value entering his fifth professional season. His lack of size and defense does not make him a viable backup center to share the frontcourt with Siakam. The addition of Furphy further makes him expendable. With his price tag, Toppin is now an expensive backup to the second-best player on the team, something the front office may look to change sooner rather than later.
If Toppin maintains his performance, the Pacers could have enough to exchange him for a bigger roster need. Toppin is the team’s top trade candidate even after signing an offseason extension.
Bennedict Mathurin
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
When it comes to Mathurin as a potential trade candidate, it is less about his value as a player and more about timing. As the No. 6 overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, Mathurin had the expectations of becoming Haliburton’s running mate. He has performed well in his opportunities, averaging 16.7 and 14.5 points per game in his first two seasons, respectively. The problem for him is now his fit with the team following Nembhard and Nesmith’s unexpected emergence.
Even though Nembhard has started over him the past two seasons, Mathurin has still been the more efficient scorer. Nembhard has yet to crack double digits for a season. Instead, he brings value as an additional playmaker next to Haliburton, something Rick Carlisle values. Nembhard signed an extension in the offseason following his late-year surge.
While Nembhard and Mathurin were previously seen as 1A and 1B, the expectations entering their third years have changed. In the latter’s absence, Nembhard exploded in the 2024 playoffs, averaging 21 points and 7.8 assists per game in the Eastern Conference Finals with Haliburton sidelined. It would be hard for Carlisle to bench him with the former Gonzaga Bulldog now seemingly cemented in his role.
It would be equally as difficult to see Mathurin starting over Nesmith, who has become an unexpected staple in the starting lineup. While not much of a scorer, Nesmith’s defensive prowess and physicality are a necessity. He proved to be the perfect fit on the perimeter, averaging a career-high 12.2 points per game in 2023-2024 while shooting 42 percent from deep.
The simultaneous rises of his teammates lock Mathurin into the bench role he has settled into to begin his career. He has excelled offensively but saw his numbers drop in year two while continuing to be a liability on defense. Mathurin still has obvious trade value in his third year, something the Pacers could look to take advantage of with their backcourt now firmly established.
The post 2 Pacers trade candidates entering 2024-25 season appeared first on ClutchPoints.
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