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Latest Indiana Pacers offseason rumors + Doug McDermott, James Johnson, Kendall Brown, more in FA



Latest Indiana Pacers offseason rumors + Doug McDermott, James Johnson, Kendall Brown, more in FA

let’s cut through the Pacers offseason rumors what have we heard so far about the Pacers free agency plans potentially plus let’s talk some more about some of the backend Road uh free agents for the Pacers Doug mcder James Johnson Kendall Brown two-way guys lots of considerations to get to on today’s lockon Pacers podcast you are locked on Pacers your daily Indiana Pacers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team everyday what up y’all happy Thursday and welcome into another edition of the lon Pacers podcast where we of course talk about the Indiana Pacers as always my name’s Tony East I cover the team for Forbes and Si and today boy oh boy do we have a lot to get into we’re going to make this a hybrid show two different things part oneish will be the rumors that we’ve gotten so far about the offseason their roster largely pretty full so there’s not a lot of rumors flying around about the team because there’s not a lot they can reasonably do in their situation and yet they’re still pretty substantial I’ve alluded to them let’s dive into them in more detail today because there’s some specifics on both sides of both reports that I think are necessary then at the end because I can’t talk about both of them for the whole show we’ll do a little more detailed breakdowns of free agency for the guys that do not Merit their own episode Doug mcder James Johnson Kendall Brown the two-way guys Oscar sheway Quinton Jackson and Isaiah Wong and tie it all together so that we have a good preview of everything you need to know ahead of Pacers free agency which could be coming very soon because the Celtics won game three the finals could end soon teams can negotiate with their own guys once that’s over I’ll be very curious what timing of reporting that leads to if players will even agree to a deal before every team can negotiate with them legally or what that will look like although I think we all know so I I’ll be very curious if we could in Theory start hearing deals trickle in Saturday depending on how game four of this series goes so got to have as many bases covered as possible let’s start with Pascal sakam alluded to it a lot did a whole free agency episode with Tyler Smith on this and Sham strania a lot of people have reported through the the times since the trade about uh what the expectation is for the Pacers in SE yakum in this coming free agency and that most around the league expect there’ll be an agreement and all that that’s great and I think that’s extremely relevant what we’ve heard since the offseason started from Shams is about the reporting is that that expectation still exists right he said in his uh in the athletic that he is told there’s mutual interest between the Pacers and sakam in getting a deal done this off season and the Pacers understand it’ll take a Max Level type contract to keep the forward will be unrestricted fre agent that’s the part that doesn’t get talked about as much is the specifics right he went on runit back TV fanduel’s uh Sports Talk Show he was talking about that I can’t remember who the rest of the TV was but he called it the priority for the Pacers obviously which something they said he said the heavy lifting on the Pascal seag front has been done on both sides then later they understand it’s a maximum level contract that you’re going to have to have with Pascal cakam that’s why preparing to offer this that’s what they’re preparing to offer this summer and he wants to be there there’s a mutual interest in getting a deal done so the the FanDuel TV run it back part that is separate from what what has been largely talked about is that seum directly it says and he wants to be there which Shams reported right so of course that’s great news for the Pacers and again that’s the expectation of Bose that they will try to resign him the other detail that matters to me and this is the max level part and if you listen to the episode with Tyler and I running through all of siakam’s free agency consideration right what the Pacers will think about can there is there any actual wiggle room to negotiate what yakum could want at this stage at the end we talked a little bit about could this be a shorter deal is there a merit to that could Pascal think about that but we landed on no with with acknowledgements that yes it’s possible that he considers it but as I think is important from Shams in two different places reporting a Max Level commitment or a Max commitment which has been what I’ve expected and what the reporting has suggested since January would be if it’s a Max Level deal it’s a five-year deal maybe it doesn’t hit the the full 240 whatever it ends up being depending on where the cap lands but five years a lot of money right is what I would interpret max level commitment to be or at least more than any other team can offer whether that’s via the years or via the dollars and look if he says yaka wants to be there and that is what the team hopes and what the player hopes perhaps if there’s mutual interest and that’s the case could end up at five for 220 something right when Tyler and I talked I made up the fake five for 228 number because that is more money than any team can offer SE yakum and still more than he could get per year than any other team could offer him because the Pacers can offer more raises and more years so perhaps that’s a way for the Pacers to save a little bit over the life of the deal maybe they want it all in the back who knows so there’s like a little bit of wiggle room even within this reporting but I think the specifics of this are important right because we’ve read from a lot of people for a long time that the expectation around the league is that these two parties will end up together after free agency you have to have a certain level of percent tolerance chance to resign him to do this trade at all and so the Pacers clearly thought that that that percent was high enough and so assuming all of these factors are the case and that all the reporting is correct including these two reports from Shams that I’m talking about I would I would wager that sakam return is a very high likelihood and on a deal that would be longer because of that but the the specific details that matter that are new I would say are you know we’ve heard zakum said that he likes Indiana and the things he likes about it and how the team really gave him a home after you know a tough period for him after being traded right he wants to be there is new from Shams and that the specifically max level contract part of it matters too not any major deal so nothing huge there that’s already been talked about and Tyler and I dove through all those minations but to read it and share the reporting and the difference between what’s been talked about in the reality there is important now a more nuanced one of reporting here very interesting stuff from Mark Stein relating to a different client of Pascal siakam’s agent Andrew neard uh I that’s only fresh in my brain because of draft prospect AJ Mitchell who came through Indie on Wednesday also is in that agency and he mentioned it at his workout um the reason I bring up that part is also because Todd ramasar is mentioned in the markstein’s report about Andrew nard and this I also have mentioned in the extensions episode but markstein added more detail after that so if you missed the first part of this Mark Stein and his substack the Stein line uh first had a blurb about T.J McConnell and Chad Buchanan saying on the radio that the Pacers are hopeful they can keep McConnell for the rest of his career I don’t say that rumor because the GM said it that’s not a rumor that’s an on the reccord statement the rumor part is Stein’s reporting uh the last paragraph of his Pacers segment from his I believe June 2nd article I’ll get the dates right because he has two back-to-back reports that include Pacers details yes June 2 if you would like to find this yourself it says I scrolled too far away to get back to it my apologies uh it says that I don’t know how to read and I can’t find it again um it talks about sakam and yes here we go the Pacers are also widely expected to resign Pascal sakam this offseason to a lucrative new contract after acquiring sakam from Toronto via trade in January that part we just talked about and then the second part is the new part and likewise come to terms on a contract extension with Andrew nard after a string of strong player performances from the Canadian both players are represented by the same agent and then it lists him in the agency so widely expected to come to terms on a contract extension with Andrew neard I alluded to that on the extensions episode already uh and that’s a huge deal uh if you have missed it or you haven’t heard it on the show hit uh McConnell and Jaylen Smith and Andrew neard could in theory all be extension eligible for the same extension uh this is not it could be below this amount but the max would be four years about 78.4 million that’s my current estimate although it will change depending on where the estimated average salary lands or That season that it would officially start so that’s just an estimated number but it would be roughly that uh which I find fascinating for Andrew mhart I’ve talked about the factors why kind of wondered if he would take that and why I think the Pacers should be trying to jump all over that um and so I’ll explain those Dynamics first and then we’ll go through the extra reporting because Stein added more later that I haven’t talked about here yet but to me the mid-level exceptions climbing very fast and will get close to 17 million which would be 17 and a half million be the first year value of this rough extension for for rough approximate extension for an Mard right and he is certainly worth more than the non- tax pyramid level exception so that’s Factor one here Factor two is he the Pacers have restricted free agency on the back end of his deal if they decline his team option so they can guarantee themselves the chance to keep Andrew nard in the future so if that is the case and they have a very high Budget on what they’re willing to spend on him then that those are kind of conflicting Dynamics but those all suggests that nard if he knows he’s going to be with the Pacers Beyond next season on some new contract should want it to be for a number that makes sense and a number that he feels like there’s no way that something could go wrong and he wouldn’t be that next year when he is a free agent because I’d imagine they’re going to make him a restricted free agent and not risk an unrestricted free agency so if he has a sensational season could he get way more than four years for about 80 million maybe you know good starting guards get that we’ll see what like cavius calwell Pope gets this summer I think neard certainly trending to be better than him at some point in the near future but you know I wonder if he thinks that a good season could get him more than that but could a Bad season end him closer to a four for 60 guy or if mine explodes could the Pacers think about their future with him differently but they still have restricted free agency to keep him so there are pros and cons for both sides to do or not do this and Stein runs through some of them in his report and adds more details that I find endlessly fascinating about a potential Andrew n heart extension let’s get to those in the second segment here which we’ll get to after we talk about the good folks over at game time who make getting tickets to NBA games including the finals even faster easier prices on the game time app actually go down the closer it gets to tip off with killer last minute deals all in prices view receipt and their lowest price guarantee game time takes the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets there’s so many ways that game time is so valuable it saves you time it saves you money and it gives you confidence and I think all that’s important with 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download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed we are back here on lockon Pacers thanks for making us your first listen today and every single day for your second listen check out locked on Celtics Up 3 in the finals stayed up late thought I was wasting my time and it was a 21.4 quarter game then it was awesome and the Celtics still hung on uh very trending towards us we’ll see how much the Mavs can pick it up there’s a chance the Pacers by far have the best point differential against Boston in the postseason depending on how this goes we’re also very close to potentially O’Shea brassette NBA champion good for him after his time with the Pacers he is uh in a great spot for his career in terms of winning a title and what it could look like with the Celtics continuing on nard the reason I wanted to add more from Stein is after that report he had on June 2nd I believe it was June 5th now a couple days later uh yes June 6th excuse me he wrote more he wrote The Following I wrote in Sunday’s notes compilation about the Pacers desire key thing here that I just said Pacers desire to sign injured Mard to a contracts extension this offseason in addition to the lucrative New Deal that Indiana is expected to comfortably hash out with yakum so lots of lots of fun adverbs there that are important to this right comfortably with yakum great that’s easy that’s good um p Pacer’s desire to sign nard to an extension okay so we know Pacers side to get this done now if I were in the Pacers front office as I said on the extension episode I would be trying to get it done right now because I think that’s what solid starters are worth now and nard is only going to get better uh but then Stein continues with more he said n hard’s case is far trickier after his outstanding performance in the playoffs nard is increasingly considered by some rival teams a lead guard meaning that he also might project as a player capable of generating richer offer a richer offer in down the road free agency that the Pacers can offer an extension this summer which I just alluded to right if the ml is going to go up and he’s valued higher than it by other teams then he could be a $25 million a year guy to somewhere uh you know and then signing for four for 80 doesn’t make a lot of sense Stein continued with the Canadian emerge as a sturdy postseason compliment to tyres halberton yet with a scheduled salary of Just 2 million next season in the final year of his current deal nard will be restricted to T teching on four years um due to cba’s limits on raises that’s the the deal we talked about um and then he mentions that something you heard here which is that his extension couldn’t happen till July 22nd uh and then this part the key at the end if no extension materializes this summer Indiana have the option of making n hard restricted fre agent in the 2025 offseason with matching rights on any external offer he gets by declining his team option and then issuing a qualifying offer so even if a team come like what the Pacers would be afraid of if they were going to lose him is someone comes in next summer even aned free agency and offers him like four for 130 and it’s like 30 million a year and they’d be a tax team and they can’t afford it and or or they have to decide between him and Turner or something like that right that’s the fear if they don’t get an extension done now is that likely or possible I don’t know I’d have to look at the cap space teams for next year the Cap’s probably going to jump 10% next summer uh but the but those are a lot of good details from Stein about yeah partially why the Pacers would want to do it because potentially a team could jump in and do something like that but also the down of right yeah that sounds great for Andrew neart right A Team thinks he’s a lead guard and offers him a bunch of money next year what if he has a that good season right what if he gets hurt so there’s a lot of factors that play here especially for a guy who’s only made the minimum his whole career uh does he well a little over the minimum earlier but whatever uh does he want to suddenly make 80 million life-changing money right and if he knows restricted free agencies in the backdrop is it worth playing the chicken and egg game and trying to to prove that you’re better than that but then if you don’t you lose a lot of money so it’s hard to say I actually think it’s possible this gets done as an extension I think the Pacers should want to and if I’m the Pacers I want to and if I’m andrean mhart I probably leaning a little out of it but I understand that I might understand that like this might be what I get next year anyway uh so why risk it for a year and that’s what he has to decide if he plays out a season what is the range of outcomes for him next year and where would this current Max extension land for him so I do think it’s very I’d probably put this at like a 5050 chance this gets done done Stein’s second reporting was interesting after he said widely expected um so I’ll be very curious where that lands that is the end of the offseason reports we’ve gotten a good offseason report about on TJ McConnell from Jake fiser which was not anything about the offseason at all uh but did allude to more of the Phoenix Suns wanting him last season which is very funny to me uh there’s just like ver like one legal trade that is possible and it’s not even something that makes sense for the Pacers to do and we haven’t really heard any offseason stuff from cred insiders let me be very clear about that uh in the offseason so far so good stuff uh in the athletic Z you can find sham stuff or on fandel TV and then all the Mark Stein stuff is in his substack the Stein line so let’s pivot here and cover some ground that we haven’t gotten to yet and that is the rest of the Pacers free agents Doug McDermot James Johnson Kendall Brown and the two-way guys and go a little more detail you we talked about them in the Pacers offseason Outlook episode today I want to dive in a little more let’s start with mcder he made a lot last year uh and he’ll make significantly less than that this year and Caitlyn and I both surmised on his season recap from last year we don’t think he’ll be back on the Pacers this year um here’s why I think that and then I’ll talk about why I guess I would understand that if he was back but it have to be under different terms is if I’m Doug McDermot right now at at his age I want to either have one of two things happen I want to be on the Celtics or the Nuggets or something like that where I’m contributing on a very good team the Nuggets makes a lot of sense for him actually um but contributing on a very good team where there’s a chance I win my first championship right he’s played for so many legendary coaches he’s made the Conference Finals now he’s been on lots of good teams in New York in Chicago and OKC right even in Indiana if you count the Conference Finals so what is next for him is it that route go to a really good team try to get a ring really make your career awesome because he just finished a big contract right that’s the that’s the goal he hit free agency at a great time after one of his best seasons now you try to build on that and he did so now it’s that it’s either that or go to a team where he could play the most right if there’s an opportunity where he could be in a rotation for 15 20 minutes for someone and then a chance to earn more in a future contract if he has a good season or option three would be taking the most money he could get uh knowing that there may not be a lot of years where that reality for him anymore where there is a most money situation right so there’s a lot for him to consider and the reason I mention all that is the Pacers specifically because they might have tax concerns if they bring back Obi and Pascal because jarus is coming up because Ben Shepard and Ben Maan will both be healthy presumably to start next season and because the Pacers look you can maybe call them a title Contender they’re one of the last four teams left but I don’t think anyone considers them that right this second they kind of don’t check any of the boxes that makes sense for the next Doug mcder team right and at the same time if I’m the Pacers I don’t know what they’re personally thinking uh but you know we got a glowing review of jarus Walker from Chad bu Kennon at his Z interview so if they really believe jarus is ready to step up into a more prominent role then jarus Walker should be ahead of Doug mcder returning on a depth chart so all that to say is there a reason Doug McDermot would want to return to the Pacers Well yeah if he likes the Pacers I suppose that is it but given the things that typically guys at this at his stage of a career want it seems like an interesting Fit already uh especially with the resources involved that said we just did the small forward for agency episode with Alex golden and to me something the Pacers should want is if they can get it a wing who can play in a pinch who doesn’t expect minutes uh and can would take like a small guaranteed minimum deal like that’d be great for the Pacers to have because then if someone gets hurt or they can’t rely on jarus to start the season even if is not in the rotation or something if they need this Wing to play they’re valuable but they have to know they’re not going to get minutes every night is Doug mcdermit that guy does he fit into that group it’s hard to say but that would be the if he is back that is the way that it makes sense to me is if Doug McDermot knows he’s behind jarus if there’s injuries or rotation discussions at that spot so jarus whatever spot he ends up mcder behind him uh he he plays in a pinch but is not expected to ever be in the rotation if that is found on a minimum deal then yeah mcder returning would make sense otherwise it doesn’t make as much sense and that ties in to Kendall Brown which we will talk about after the break as well as James Johnson and the two-way guys but my prediction for Doug mcdermit that he’s not back with the Pacers we’ll see though we’ll see let’s talk about some more fre agent stuff to close out Today’s Show before we do that though let’s talk about prize picks America’s number one fantasy sports app where you just pick more than or less than on two to six player stat projections and with prize picks you could turn $10 into a th000 in a single game watching your favorite sports this summer make prize picks in as little as 60 seconds you just need to pick more than L on two to six player stat projections and you’re locked in they have promotions all the time they’re America’s number one daily fantasy sports have over five million active members so you can get on the action too and with the finals going on in the NHL and the NBA uh you can dive in with the star players it’s boosted payouts and when the finals are over the Hoops action does not stop women’s 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I am surprised how that they’re up three 0 even though two of the games have been within five in the final couple minutes Fel Celtics have felt very dominant I am surprised by that even though I was surprised by people’s predictions coming into it as well I thought this would be more in the middle than it is even though I would have picked the Celtics in six dominance from them so far up 3 lock on Mavs to hear about half of that series let’s continue here with some of the Pacers backend FR agent so mcder my prediction is he’s gone what does that mean for Kendall Brown who plays the same position kenel Brown as it stands right this second me talking to you is not a free agent he actually has a contract that is non-guaranteed for 2.1 million next season and then a non-guaranteed team option The Following season for 2.3 million his his minimum right his two-way deal got converted um in March and he’s in a really interesting situation because his contract’s non- guaranteed 250,000 of it gets guaranteed on opening night the first day of the season right so that is kind of a decision point where the Pati have to decide not is Kendall Brown worth keeping on the team is Kendall Brown worth keeping on the team for $250,000 for some amount of time you know and then they could reconvene later so if mcdermitt’s gone he is a depth wi but are you confident he can play if there’s injuries or young guys aren’t performing maybe not he is also a young guy they did trade stuff to get him in the draft and now they’ve had him for two years in their system maybe they view it as one or one and a half because he got hurt last year but still what do they think of him right they think of him as someone who could still grow into something if so should mcdermit be gone maybe they think yeah we could keep him around but what I think will happen is is that he will be on the summer league roster with a kind of like a final prove it kind of chance right and if he gets a good two-way offer from a good team or even an offer with more guaranteed money from a good team I’d imagine the Pacers would just do the favor and wave him uh but either way I I have a guess and just because this logically makes the most sense that he would do summer league and if it goes fantastic maybe they consider bringing him into training camp and if that goes fantastic and he looks like he’s a better player ready to be more involved if there’s a need for him then they could just keep him into the season but if he is not a good summer league player they could wave him then or if he makes it through summer league but isn’t good in Camp they could wave him then similarish to if you remember Dwayne Washington and I don’t know officially what the Pacers would have done if Aton wasn’t a thing that summer because Dwayne Washington got waved as a part of that but his guaranteed date was earlier in the offseason but he played in summer league with a chance to kind of fight for that guaranteed money and did not have a good summer league that year after having an okay rookie year for the Pacers he did not have a good Summer League at all and then when the eight and stuff was happening and they needed the cap space he got waved right that could kind of be what this looks like for Kendall Brown that said between an external minimum free agent or the 36 pick would you rather have that or those things or Kendall Brown on the team I might lean towards the external factors you know in a bad draft is pick 36 worth more than a flyer on Kendall Brown who’s already on your team I don’t know that’s probably pretty close is there an external free agent that you like more maybe that depends on what the PES you’re actually looking at but it feels like there’s enough uses of that roster spot because there’s no money it’s sunt cost that I would I my guess be that he’s not back but he has chances to be back by playing well in situations that some of them will be able to see and some of we won’t so that is I I don’t know that he’ll be on the summer league team but just given his contract situation and age and ability it makes a lot of sense that he would be on the PAC for summer league roster his third summer league but uh he’s shown some growth in the league but I’d be I’d be very curious what his summer league looks like if it doesn’t go well um then my guess would be that Kendall Brown is gone uh that non guarantee they have potentially a way to then just either draft somebody with 36 to fill that spot sign a free agent for a minimum deal or even an unguaranteed minimum who knows uh James Johnson not a lot to say here um no basketball stuff to say he is the guy he the Pacers love him they love him and I mean the Pacers like the roster he they love having him around and I do think people talk about just make him an assistant coach like okay sure I do think there’s some value of the guy being in the trenches with you at practice and on the grind and all that but you know he is effectively an assistant coach or like that kind of Veteran Mentor he doesn’t do coaching activities per se but uh it’s just different when you’re a player and you you know I could see him play through on three or scrimmage with guys all the time when we’re at practice either way uh if the Pacers want James Johnson back they’ll have him back if he doesn’t want to play anymore maybe they won’t I have no idea where that’s headed there’s really not a lot to analyze besides they love him and and if they want to keep it going I’d imagine they will because he’s an awesome culture fit they clearly like a lot of the toughness elements that he brings funny guy fits in well with this younger group I wonder what the situation will be there maybe that’s a way they could open up a roster spot for a draft pick but uh I’d say 50-50 there as well last year they really liked him and they didn’t bring him in at first until they cleared up a roster spot uh in December I guess they had the roster Bond didn’t bring him in till December but I’ll be curious if they opt to bring him to Camp they don’t whatever who knows uh and the last stuff to talk about that I haven’t really talked about at all my prediction be 51% Johnson backck 49% gone just to lean on on an official side so so far I’ve predicted of the Pacers non SE yakum top and free agents mcmi gone Kendall Brown gone James Johnson back so they’d have two roster spots in Tony land now uh they’re two way guys what’s going to be the deal there they could make any of them restricted free agents Quinton Jackson Isaiah Wong Oscar sheway if they wanted to keep them two-way restricted free agency would suck uh it’d be super weird for the players it’s like a thing I guess but not really I think if I had to rank them well it’s kind let’s go through some situations I think Quinton Jackson’s the best player of the three that dude can score he’s really Shifty uh he didn’t play much for the Pacers because he got signed pretty late but he did good stuff for the Mad ANS um that alone like he’s good has he has two years of NBA service might be worth keeping or like again exploring in a summer league setting see if he looks awesome and then he could keep him there if you have Mees restricted free agent hey Kendall Brown last year floated through after coming off a two-way deal floated through summer league with no contract and then got a two-way deal right and he had some good moments in summer league and some bad ones but that is a reality for all these guys potentially to think about fighting for this summer twoa are guaranteed money so Quinton Jackson has that reality and maybe he can get another he was in training camp for the Bulls last year like he’s good enough to maybe get that kind of offer somewhere else so that if likes the Pacers maybe he’d be willing to just wait and think about a camp deal before Matt aning next year but I think he’ll kind of canvas the league see what’s out there for him um would you rather have you know a an undrafted two-a guy or your 50th pick than Quinton Jackson 50th pick may be undrafted I don’t know he’s pretty good there’s OS Al also Oscar wow that was horrible sheway who was the rebounding god of the G league and had a wonderful season and won some G League Awards and probably isn’t ready for the NBA just yet needs a little bit more jumper a little bit more uh defensive focus a little bit more offensive cohesion all the time but he would instantly be one of the best one or two rebounders on the Pacers so can you do better than that on a two-way probably not I think that you know he’s a guy he is the ideal guy to develop on a two-way right has an awesome Elite level skill has a lot to work on right they got him on an undrafted deal he wanted to be close to Lexington he liked Indiana he came in you know can they especially if Jaylen Smith opts out and there’s potential for him to to maybe play more would he be want to take a two-a again to stick with the Pacers again could be like Kendall Brown last year where summer league is very important a theme of the day um I I would try to keep him around I guess but you know who who knows what he wants or what the Pacers think there Z Wong I don’t expect to be back just didn’t click and grow as a point guard enough to me he can score pretty well we’ll see he did make it through the whole season a period in two games three games so we’ll see what happens there I think he’s the least likely of the three to be back the questions are here they have two late picks 49 and 50 which is in my head there’s a cut off line for where the two-ways start and where if you get picked before this line you get a standard deal and there are some exceptions every year but in my head it’s somewhere between like 43 and 47 and 49 and 50 already feel like two a slots to me especially so for a team like the Pacers who don’t have a ton of roster spots available so they could pick both of them um and then keep oscar sheway but they also have Mojave King floating out there and they lose his rights if they don’t sign him to something this Summer that feels like it could be headed for a two-way maybe not for a long time but for some amount of time he played for their the g-league team last year if you don’t know about that so it is possible to me that the Pacers to tie this all together could trade or sell or something selling draft pick sucks but um get rid of one of their late seconds and then their two-way guys next year be sheway Mojave King and whoever they pick for example uh but because there’s so many options of stuff for them to do between the two draft picks and Mojave King I think it’s possible none of their two-way guys are back and they’ take a different bite of the Apple but if I had to rank their chances of being back I think I originally didn’t say this but now that I’ve thought more about it I think the chances they’re back the list would be sheway one Jackson two uh Wong three but if it was just purely ranked on talent I think Jackson would be the top of that list and that is the end of my free agency preview for the smaller stuff with a little more detail the first time we just ran through the actual parameters of the stuff this time we ran through it so of the free agents not named Pascal seak and Obi toppen Who merited full podcasts I would say James Johnson and Oscar sheway are the two guys that I I talked about today that I think have the best chance of being back and mcder would probably be third for me there uh if you have questions or think I missed something I’m on Twitter at Tony arti you can tweet at me there and this podcast is there at lockon Pacers tomorrow back player season reviews with Caitlyn Cooper doing centers Miles Turner Jaylen Smith Isaiah Jackson really looking forward to it and then after that I have a plan we’ll see if I stick to it because it might depend on what happens and how this all works out with the earlier free agency timing and if the reporting changes then yeah we have to go right away and then we’ll figure out the rest of the shows tell draft so we’ll see only one more easy and obvious episode to come hope you guys enjoy today’s show have have a wonderful day we’ll see you very soon

There have been a few offseason reports from credible insiders about the Indiana Pacers. What are they and what do they mean? Host Tony East breaks it all down before looking at Doug McDermott, James Johnson, and Kendall Brown’s free agency.

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7 Comments

  1. That's 42.5 mil a year at least. We need about 15 mil to sign a good SF.. and still need a backup C. Could take 9 to 10 mil and offer if to Naji Marshall and Oubre. See who takes it, then offer Drummond the rest. We need to continue to build our depth. I really hope they see that and keep our youth for development too.. If they sign no one else, that will really suck.. If they can't get that much extra cap.. I guess you offer Kessler Edwards around the minimum, or a little more and Drummond. Pacers would be smart to sign Andre Drummond, dude was an All-Star type of player. He still has that in him and he's grown a lot. He's looking to make a statement right now. Next year he will be even better. We need his rebounding, so why not go after him?? Offer him 6 or 7 mil, he's probably worth more.. If we could make these moves and possibly trade for Caruso later. I'd be happy with that. Even if it was only Andre and we draft a SF.. We need to keep building our depth and obtain valuable pieces. That's what will help us win come playoff time. We need those extra pieces to get over the hump.. Team's are too deep right now. We were able to hang with the Celtics, without having many pieces. We add a couple more and we become a real threat.

  2. We don't need Doug, or James. Could look to upgrade over Brown too. No sense in having guy's that we know we aren't ever going to play. When we need certain key role player's. One's who are solid defenders and can score the basketball. Too many guy's I'd rather have.

  3. I feel like Nembhard is going to get traded for a bigger piece, (possibly a wing) in the future. Especially if people around the league think he can be a lead guard. Plus, anything with him will cost less talent in other trades

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