Editor’s Note: Below is a conversation between three NBA analysts from The Athletic with different specialties. Seth Partnow (analytical), Sam Vecenie (NBA draft / scouting) and Danny Leroux (CBA / salary cap) discuss the Pacers’ rebuilding plan, as The Athletic reported on Tuesday, and analyze what it means for the organization and the rest of the NBA is heading towards the NBA trade deadline.
Seth Partnow: With most of the early-season transactional oxygen of the NBA sucked in by Ben Simmons’ situation in Philadelphia, we didn’t have much to say in terms of changing the leadership of the teams until present this year. That could change soon. Yesterday our Shams Charania and Bob Kravitz reported that Indiana Pacers management has secured the property’s blessing to approve a full scale rebuild. In particular, Indiana is looking to move on from one or more of Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner and Caris LeVert, according to Charania and Kravitz
Danny Leroux: There are teams that are deeply disappointed with their departure every year and at 10-16 the Pacers fit that description at first glance. However, it seems important to note that they are in fact outperforming their opponents so far, with a NetRtg of +1.6 in non-trash time (by Cleaning The Glass) good for the 12th in the NBA. How does a six-game team under.
