Indiana Pacers are blowing up their roster
I’ve made no secret of my deep skepticism about expecting improvement from the Toronto Raptors given their current roster. The squad is valiantly treading water despite ceaseless injuries. If one could magically turn their two one-point losses into wins (we needed another half-second in each game), they would enjoy a 14-12 record instead of the flip. Yet here we are, about exactly where the team should be to make my prediction of a 36-46 season bang on.
I don’t want to be right; what I do want is the Raptors posting a winning record and making the post-season. They have little chance of doing so without finding a center. At the moment, they are down to Chris Boucher, backed up in theory anyway by Pascal Siakam. We shouldn’t be surprised at the injuries to Khem Birch and Precious Achiuwa. An NBA center’s life is precarious and violent. There’s a whole lotta bangin’ goin’ on.
Let’s move on to a quick discussion of the Indiana Pacers. This team enjoyed a run of eight playoff appearances in nine seasons before being nudged out last year, so their fans are used to success. The Pacers are like the Portland Trail Blazers; both teams are running in place with established rosters, and management is growing short-tempered. [Pace: I’m aware Portland just fired its long-time hoops boss Neil Olshey, so the parallel isn’t exact.] It’s taken a 3-game home win streak against so-so opponents to pull Indy back to a 12-16 mark.
I doubt the mini-streak will quiet Indy’s ‘blow it up’ advocates, so here goes:
Pacers C Myles Turner to Raptors for Gs Goran Dragic, Dalano Banton, Justin Champagnie & 2022 first-round pick
OK, you’re reading a Raptors fan blog, so I’m obviously going to make a deal which helps Toronto. But it’s not as much of a tilted-floor trade as might first appear. Let’s remember that a team which is blowing up its roster needs to lower its payroll to create flexibility. The Pacers might ask Goran Dragic to play a few minutes for them, since their two extremely useful T.J.s (Warren & McConnell) are sidelined. More likely they just buy The Dragon out; either way his contract is done after this season. By summer, 2022, they have a draft pick from the Raptors plus their own (both in the lottery? – maybe!), a ton of salary-cap space, and a pair of young, intriguing talents in Banton and Champagnie. There are a lot worse positions from which to start a rebuild.
For the Raptors, the deal brings Myles Turner, a center of proven quality. He can do plenty of everything that’s most needed, from the easily measurable to the less so. Turner scores from anywhere on the floor (35.7% from 3-point land in his career), and is a competent, if unspectacular, rebounder. He’s second in the NBA in blocked shots, after leading the league last season with 3.4 PG. He’s nearly 7 feet tall, and carries a well-proportioned 250 lbs. on a frame which won’t easily be pushed around. At 25 years of age, he should be rounding into the prime of his career.
Turner is exactly the kind of complementary center the Raptors need. He doesn’t demand the ball on offense, picks and passes, and pins opposing bigs just fine, thanks. There wouldn’t be huge pressure upon his arrival. We don’t need a savior.
A Toronto rotation with a ‘genuine’ center would run nine players deep, at least. Assuming everyone’s healthy, we’ve got a starting lineup of Turner, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby, Scotty Barnes and Fred double-V. Rarin’ to get in off the bench are quality people like Gary Trent (Sixth Man of the Year candidate!), Yuta Watanabe, Svi Myhailiuk, Khem, Boucher, Precious…maybe Malachi Flynn.
Siakam has been an All-Star once in his career, that being 2019-20, when his starting center was Marc Gasol (backed up by Serge Ibaka). No one on the Raptors needs a quality front court mate more than Pascal.
Conclusion – do the deal, Masai
While Pacers fans may whine about insufficient payback, this deal might look like a big winner within a year. They don’t need both Banton and Champagnie to make their rotation, but one of them at least is likely to. And they should love their second first-round draft pick, and the cap space they will have available.
For the Raptors, it’s a no-brainer.
- Tags: Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors
