Pacers Open To Trading Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Caris LeVert

December 7, 2021

The Pacers are beginning to think a rebuild may be necessary given their slow start, and may be receptive to trading some of their bigger names with an eye toward the future, according to Shams Charania and Bob Kravitz of The Athletic.

All-Star power forward Domantas Sabonis, center Myles Turner and guard Caris LeVert were identified by Charania and Kravitz as players who Indiana may be willing to move.

All three have generated “significant interest,” Charania and Kravitz wrote. Turner, in particular, has been the subject of trade rumors regularly over the past two or three seasons.

It’s unclear whether the Pacers would be willing to part with all three players, though Charania and Kravitz reported that splitting up Sabonis and Turner in the frontcourt is something that “appears to be on the horizon.”

The Pacers (10-16) entered Tuesday sitting in 13th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference under new coach Rick Carlisle. That said, they’re only four games back of the eighth-seeded Hornets with plenty of season left.

So it’s hard to know which direction the Pacers could really go. One thing they do want, per Charania and Kravitz, is to keep getting regular minutes for rookie shooting guard Chris Duarte and rookie power forward Isaiah Jackson.

So if it continues to look like they’re merely spinning their wheels, stockpiling young players and/or draft picks is something that would make sense.

“Pacers owner Herb Simon, who is 87 years old, has historically resisted the idea of rebuilding due to concerns that any extended period of losing could substantially hurt attendance in one of the NBA’s smaller markets,” wrote Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors.

The Pacers also could use small forward T.J. Warren as a trade chip, Charania and Kravitz noted, though Warren has made it clear he wants to remain in Indiana and is recovering from foot surgery.

As an aside, Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell underwent wrist surgery and could be out for the season, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.