Indiana Pacers 2024 free agency preview: Power forward position

Indiana Pacers 2024 free agency preview: Power forward position

time to look ahead at the free agency of power forwards for the Indiana Pacers who could they target at this position a lot of internal candid it’s obviously Pascal seaka and Obi to and could they anyone else what scenarios would change their thinking Ethan creger and I break it all down today on the lock on 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 Tuesday and welcome into another edition of the lockon 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 free agency by position continues with power forwards a lot of Pascal cakam a lot of obit toop and a lot of other guys maybe we’ll talk about all of it today why the Pacers would Target a Forman at all including their own internal guys on the market who are the best players available we talk about LeBron James for more than 60 seconds how about that realistic targets at the position Beyond of course Pascal seak monobi top and Ethan kriger formerly of the greatest Pacer side of all time in the Fieldhouse as well as 8 points9 seconds joins me to break it all down really good discussion we get into everybody you could imagine using the spot track list of available power forwards on the free agent Market as it heads up there’s a chance this episode is out and you’re hearing about free agent signings because the finals are later it hasn’t happened yet Ethan and I recorded before I’m going to put this up at midnight so it’s as relevant as possible but it’s possible that Celtics win game five and then teams can negotiate with their own free agents and you start hearing about signings if so just know that if there’s nothing out yet I will have episodes up about the Pacer signings if they happen as soon as it happens if not the Mavs win great this episode’s awesome you’ll get player season reviews tomorrow thank youall for that let’s just Dive Right In with Ethan kriger power forwards last year this episode looked a lot different because the Pacers had none power forwards they hadn’t drafted yet they hadn’t traded for Obi toen yet they hadn’t traded for Pascal yakum yet who the heck’s going to started the four for this team is it going to be a Smith well now they have lots of stuff to sort out of this position but at least a base in place with restricted free agents guys in their team SE yakum looking like he’s going to be back and yet we have to cut through the free agent Market at maybe the most important position in the NBA right now and joining me to do it a guy who last year I think when we did this we talked about Grant Williams and ruy aiura man what a time it’s Ethan creger formally of the greatest Pacers website of all time the Fieldhouse as well as eight points n seconds Ethan what’s up man how are you I am good man how about you give me we’re recording this at 6:30ish on Monday so give me a pick right now who’s W Finals over tonight I think Boston closes it out tonight yes I would like to see it go longer but yeah it just feels like it’s Boston’s series to win obviously and why not just close it out tonight so that’s that’s my pick for sure I agree with you and I’m using that as my segue to say if that happens and Boston wins there’s a chance you’re listening to this episode and free agency has already started and some of these signings are getting leaked so there’s a chance that we’ll go from this episode to talking about actual signings the Pacers make if not the series will continue and player season Recaps with Kaylin will rule through the week so the power forward spot last year way up in the air for the Pacers who the heck is GNA be around Jordan War are they is OA Bret gonna Ste be on the team what’s going to go on this year it’s a little different and I always start these with why would the Pacers sign someone this position and the Doomsday reason would be SE yakum signs elsewhere and toen you know doesn’t agree and then there’s a scenario of they keep sakam but they don’t keep topping but they still would like someone there maybe somebody better than jerus maybe somebody worse than Jaris and then there’s a scenario where they keep both seaka and toppin but you still want fours in case of injury or you want a vet so there’s lots of paths this could go and I say that to say generally you would like someone in this spot no matter what but it feels like it this like the big the big picture of this is resigning their own guys but there’s still reason to add a fourman even if everything kind of goes expectedly for the Pacers this off season do you agree with that yes I do for sure um I definitely think most likely situation is keeping Pascal is keeping toen uh but then there is like some space after that I know um I mean I I’m assuming Jaylen Smith probably picks up his player option is still still on the team next year um but that’s you know possible that could be a spot that becomes open uh James Johnson you know it’s it’s great to have him on on the bench as kind of that you know vet leader but is he actually gonna have a roster spot next year too so if things kind of go as most people would hope and the Pacers keep Obie and they keep uh Pascal there there could still be some space to bring someone someone in you know some more uh depth they’re like a good vet just to have that extra you know voice in the um locker room so we’ll we’ll see how it all kind of shakes out but yeah kind of regardless I think there is room to bring in at least one like one guy here for sure so my SMI okay so first of all Kendall Brown could be a free agent like he’s 43s James Johnson is a free agent like I’m kind of just tossing them to the side for this discussion because that’s like the last thing you do in the summer right so it’s not like so important that we refer to those I like you will I will operate most of this podcast as if Pascal cakam is on the Pacers just because that like if he’s not this this whole discussion is is different like we we’ll I guess we’ll get to it next segment because like Tobias Harris is a four who I guess could start and Kyle Anderson’s kind of good maybe you could just start Obi and try to get somebody else but like yeah without him this whole conversation’s kind of impossible to have because their resources are a lot lower like they don’t just have that much cap space all of a sudden so who how they would manage as a four spot if they don’t have him it is there it’s a disaster all of a sudden like you know their whole summer completely Chang and so y that that is like why would they sign a four well because they want to sign the best free agent they can get which is Pascal seag so like duh after that I I kind of feel like there’s a lot of things so to address something you just said which is really interesting Kaitlin and I just did our season reviews for centers and we talked about Jaylen Smith’s player option we’re both like well there’s a good reason for both sides I actually leaned opt out and then a few days later Michael Scot reported that that is the early indications for Smith which is interesting so like we’re go we don’t have get into that decision right now I only bring that up to say like pretends that he does if you’re the Pacers you like yeah we’ll be topping you could be our backup five or third five and then you definitely want another four uh so that’s another wrinkle to what you just said or you want uh four five instead of top and if he signs elsewhere or gets priced out of you and restricted free agency so the Smith factor is certainly interesting because a lot of their fours can play five they played small ball five with yaku in the playoffs toin played some five it went F fine enough uh so that is a part of it as well but the more interesting part behind SE yakum to me specifically is what is jarus right if they want to find a role for jerus is it at the three and if they can’t do they want someone solid if they lose Obie do they not care about that and they’d rather just sign somebody behind jerus that’s where I think it’s interesting with Obie because I think that if you’re a small Market team you just keep the players rights and figure it out right he’s positive value keep the player maybe trade him later I’m rambling here to say if they want to on if the it would be a great summer if they address the power forward spot by resigning who they had the four last year but I I do understand with jarus and the potential of some other guys in this market to at least think about what resigning Obi looks like at this spot yeah for sure and it’s interesting with jarus too because coming into his first season like when I was you know kind of watching draft tape and everything with him uh once the Pacers kind of took him last summer I I kind of viewed him more as a possible four five me too and then just kind of seeing him like throughout this year and just like seeing his actual you know uh like skills and what his game actually looks like I think he translates more to a three4 than a four5 so then it just kind of becomes yeah is is he your potential bench four if you do lose one of these guys or like do you want to play him more at at like at the three do you think he’s ready yeah so he’s a big um kind of wild card in this whole topic anyway uh just because I’m not really sure what spot he should play anymore and I’m not sure where the Pacers kind of view him in terms of being ready for actual minutes next season either so we’ll see they might view him as whatever position they have minutes available if if they lose Obie with their proximity to the tax and this might depend on what Jaylen Smith decides to do they could have the forid level and so they could actually get like a decent three or four as a backup if they really wanted to and they didn’t care about burying jarus at all like Robert Covington would that’s probably too much for him I I I already said Kyle Anderson so I don’t want to mention him again there’s got to be somebody who who this actually makes sense for but no that that is something that they could look to do uh and we talked about the threes last week with Alex golden tornet Prince maybe fits the bill so that’s an option as well but to me the most interesting kind of like why they would sign someone is like they you need depth at this spot and if jerus is playing the three or the five do you just want like a token vet or guy who’s not going to expect minutes but can play because now they’re you like maybe they want development spots for guys that can’t play but when when your goal is development you kind of use those bonus roster spots on like young guy to take a flyer on when you’re trying to win you use those spots on like well crap if three players are hurt one night and we need to throw somebody in there we need someone to that is like not gonna suck right like a former Pacer will get to later like fad young for example and that kind of feels like a Pursuit that I I said this with the threes too if they just resign guys that that makes sense to me just like here’s a guaranteed minimum contract come be a vet play if if there’s injuries or play if our rookies aren’t ready because again my operating assumption for a lot of this is going to be Pascal’s back and I think it makes the most sense to retain Obi that’s kind of boring but the reasons to sign a four would be depth at the spot and keeping the guys you have in house so that is like the external not guys they have reason which it’s hard to find that guy who’s willing to take a no minutes role right people either want to play or they want to get paid so there’s a very limited scope of who that would be but I talked about those with the threes as well so that’s kind of the last one to me of this yeah it’s kind of funny too because this is the first summer in a long time where I’ve kind of said the Pacers just bring back everyone I’m I’m kind of good with that like it is boring but obviously we saw some you know just some massive like uh moves from the team this year like just in terms of getting better making it to the Conference Finals you can say they had like a you know not the hardest path to to get there that’s fine whatever they still got there with this team and they’re still young for the most part so it is the first season that I can even think back since I started following this team that I’m just good bringing back you know most of who was a a key a key player last season just kind of see what happens next season too everyone gets older everyone you know kind of gels more and just kind of keep building that way too so yeah uh it’s it’s a weird Summer from that angle too just because I feel like the Pacers have not been been in this spot for a long time for sure yeah they’re so young that if they run it back they’d go yeah we think we’ll be better right like these exact same players six or seven of them should just naturally be slightly better that’s not how it works but like that thinking makes sense to me right yeah so it’s very Str and then if next year happens and they lose in the first or second round then they go okay now we have multiple years of information about all of our young guys let’s let’s build our team okay the way I go second on these free agency discussions we’ve gone through why they would sign a for well right now they have none but likely they’ll have or at least somewhat likely they’ll have one or two good ones hey guys short little break so we could talk about FanDuel it’s summertime the NBA Finals the Stanley Cup baseball my favorite and plenty more you can bet on it all at FanDuel right now new customers over there get $200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet2 $100 that’s 200 bucks you can use to bet on everything Finals MVP Stanley Cup MVP who’s going to hit one out of the park the spreads the overunderish bets fanduel.com lockon that’s FanDuel America’s number one sports book the best guys on the market and the top of the market is very funny uh this year it’s very strange because what spot Trak does is it sorts by last year’s salary which sounds like a good way to sort by player talent in this position it does not do a very good job of that the top top top guy is LeBron James who has a player option and could opt out look let’s let’s do let’s do this for 15 to 20 seconds so I can check a box and smile y Bron’s in the draft y Pacers have some second rounders I don’t actually buy that LeBron’s going to opt out and sign with a different team if bronnie gets drafted somewhere else um and I and he’s not gonna just sign with if his son wasn’t joining the NBA he’s not signing with Pacers so I’m not going to think that that’s even a thing but there there’s my 20 seconds on that yeah my my thing with that is I could see him opting out to join a team that drafts Brony but not the Pacers like there’s no way that he would ever come here regardless of if Brony is here or not uh so if the Pacers want to spend a second round pick on Brony who a lot of people think shouldn’t even be drafted and his name is only up there because he is you know Brony James uh sure but I I do not think the Pacers should try to do anything to try to get LeBron here because I just don’t think he would ever come regardless of if the Sun is here or not I have wondered if like a second round or at what like at what point does a pick I can’t even describe what I’m trying to say like if bronnie is still available like 40 do those picks all of a sudden like our team’s like oh we you know we can get bronnie like does it become more valuable in this crabby draft but it and the other thing you said that I think is interesting I don’t want to make this a brownie discussion is he was thought of as like a lotto guy before a heart thing so it’s kind of hard for know what he is because he was not a good player last year but that’s yeah you know whatever um LeBron’s not going to be on the Pacers next year bruise over that even though before before last year I think there was like all the reporting was like yeah he wants to play with the sun and now everybody’s like okay maybe not the next guys in annual value there’s only five more players at this position on spot track’s list of of fours who made more than 10 million last year two of them made a lot one of those is Pascal sakam and he would make a lot of sense for the Pacers uh because he played for them last year and there’s a lot of good sense in that the other one is Tobias Harris uh I don’t know what to make of what gonna happen with him in free agency is he worth more than the mid-level exception probably yeah is he better than Obi toen yeah so if they lose seaka and Obi toen maybe Tobias Harris could be on the Pacers uh if not I don’t I don’t see it doesn’t make sense for him or the correct uh correct me if I’m wrong with him but was his name not in some Pacers trade rumors like at least in the last couple of years yes um yes I’ll say that uh I think that had a lot to do with how much he was making yeah yeah so yeah that makes sense only thought there was if the Pacers did previously have like have some sort of you know want to add him to the team uh you know might be a name that they look at if things go completely wrong and they have a ton of money to just kind of throw out there to people but yeah if they lose the yeah go for it but that’s that’s pretty much it to me unless I think he could like start at the three but I think think no one in Philly no nothing about his Philly St makes me think they should be tripping all over themselves to try to do that the next up is yakum nothing to say they should try to keep him and pay whatever it takes and then the only other three guys who made more than 10 million last year PJ Tucker who’s gonna opt into an 11.5 million player option even though he barely plays anymore davish bratans made 16 million last year um and he’s gonna be stuck with the Hornets for a little bit into Camp because of the way his guarantees work he’s a good player but whatever and Robert comington who made 12 million last year is an unrestricted free agent is kind of good he’s probably like close to as good maybe a little worse than Obi toppen uh do any of them mean anything to the Pacers the problem is we have to go back to what we said in the first segment if they’re not better than Obie what’s the point you know just keep Obie at that point right PJ Tucker no uh I think he is completely aged out of this team they really have no use for him at all uh Covington is a guy yes only if you know things kind of go crazy and they don’t bring back Pascal and like maybe top in get a crazy offer from somewhere else he is a name that you might kind of look at he’s a guy that you know would bring uh you know help to the team on uh defense for sure which is good this team could definitely use that his offensive game has kind of fallen off the cliff as he’s age he can still shoot but like if you just look at his points per game it’s like four points like five points for like the last three or four seasons he just doesn’t score uh the Pacers do plenty of that without him so I might might be a name that you look at just kind of balance the the team out some but yeah uh only if there’s a spot that opens with one of the two Pacers players uh deciding not to come back yeah I agree formerly a first team all defense guy not that anymore decidedly but um formally would be like PJ Tucker and Robert cubbington five years ago I’d be like wow that’s exactly what the Pacers need um and then Bon’s sick shooter uh that’s it again in all these cases I think you’d just rather have OB if you’re the Pacers he fits really well so the top end guys from last year there’s some better players than that Kyle Anderson’s good um he might be better than Obi I’m not sure where I feel on that he does not fit the Pacers style at all to me but he can defend so there is there is that um torian Prince is a good player to me I don’t know what he’s worth or if he’s better than Obie toping in my head and the rest of this free agent group at this position is not particularly awesome do you like anyone else um no honestly like as I was kind of looking at this list and going going through everything the only people that I kind of wrote in very small print yes next to were were Harris if if like the money is there and they’ve got to do something with it Covington kind of like same thing if if toen leaves maybe you bring him in and you know he he can kind of fill that same role in in some ways torian Prince um and then the only other two that I had were James Johnson for the reasons that we already know uh and fad young just for like an extra you know bet piece besides that honestly I mean to me Anderson is just too slow to fit this team Jeff Green is way too old Marie Morris uh no thank you um and then yeah there’s really just yeah yeah there’s just not too much else out there uh in terms of players that the Pacers could actually get um so yeah it’s kind of a skinny position which I think lends to the Pacers probably just bringing their guys back because there really not a lot of great options out there there’s some like two three fours and three fours that are appealing uh and potentially you know squeaked into this discussion in previous episodes but yes for this list specifically because again for everybody asking I use spot track’s list of players out of position so I don’t do overlap with people doing these man it’s rough it’s a it’s a tough crew from last year you mentioned Toren Prince I think obies better than him he is a good player right like he shot at least 30 7 and a half% from three in all but one season since 20178 that’s good that’s valuable he’s a good enough Defender he’s got some size at one point he could really rebound he hasn’t really shown that as much with with recent teams so like if they lose Obi toppen that’s a good pivot to me if they really want to not like if they’re not ready to play jarus i’ I’d get that because like like Kyle Anderson Kyle Anderson can defend like he people call him slow-mo because like his moves are slow not cuz he is literally slow but stylistically he would just not really gel with them offensively but he is not a shooter right and like that would be really tough you we’ve seen what that can look like in the Pacers offense so that like he’s good too he’s as good as prince in my head but I think of like the legitimately okay players that like if you lose Obby toop and you’d say the Pacers could sign that guy and I say I I would probably rather play jarus than this guy but at least I get it torian Prince is like the only maybe the only guy on the list like I would not get it for Covington or bons uh Tobias Harris isn’t taken their money because he wouldn’t play enough like it’s just there’s not a a person on this list that makes sense in that way there is one more for me as you as you scroll way towards the bottom but it takes a lot of weird stuff to also happen as well so if Pascal decides to go somewhere else which again I think is very unlikely the Pacers do not give up what they give up well like what they give up to get him if they’re not planning on maxing him and giving him exactly what he wants but say he just you know for whatever reason decides to go somewhere else do you think Cleveland Maxes Moy uh this guy on this list is uh his brother Isaiah Moy well never mind never mind would be awesome I was like oh I figured out exactly what you’re gonna say um so you don’t want to Max Isaiah moley uh no I do not I would Max Evan Mobley I love Evan Moy is I don’t know why I didn’t look at the first he’s three seasons in so he’s extension eligible this summer they could trade an arm and leg for him and they’d still say no but yeah yeah you know how it is yeah he’s three seasons in okay um my bad my bad that’s okay I like that we got to talk about Isaiah Moy that would never happen he doesn’t suck he’s like a fine two-way player it’s very funny to me that jonay Porter is still listed on uh on this I know yeah I I saw that too and that definitely made me chuckle a little bit yeah yeah everybody else is like hoping to get a roster spot or minutes really um I Jeff Green’s fine I guess but does he play on the Pacers no uh I mean he’s played everywhere else but the Pacers so maybe it just makes sense for him to just check one more team off his list I don’t know Dario sarch was in rotations last year yeah he didn’t really do do much for them I I bet he would be wanting to play still he played 64 games last year it’s kind of it in terms of the top I can’t believe I’m about to finish talking about Dar s say that’s kind of it for the top guys one more break here guys we can talk about eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also 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toppin and potentially the third best fit for the Pacers as a Forman this summer is James John right like what we’re talk what I want to actually talk about and the reason for this exercise is nonon the team players like if they added someone would they would is there someone out there who actually fits in or there’s a role that makes sense for them or a job that that has value and so there’s kind of so if they if they Lo we we mentioned Harris if they lose SE yakum he’d be I guess he’d be the first pivot point if they just lose top and we we’ve nailed those guys that’s your your Andersons your princes but the next step down from that is they have to be good enough to say we’re exciting this guy to not play jarus Walker and there’s not anyone else in that group and so that kind of lends me to anyone they would get three four and we talked we talked about Gordon Hayward last week like I guess there’s something there would be someone who either is a young guy that they’re like yeah this guy could play or like get better with us and maybe sneak in and and be interesting I have some names that I would throw out for that in a second or the opposite which is is a veteran who never plays but can play in a pinch and let me be clear what I mean by that I do not think James Johnson is what I just described James Johnson is an awesome veteran and a locker room guy but they don’t want like if there’s an injury they do not play him like they don’t whereas there are vets like mcder a little bit but not as much where like he did play in a pinch right like he can physically do it like there is a difference like there there would be if there was a Depart of fours James Johnson would be fourth behind this guy I’m describing because that all make sense to you yeah for sure and it’s funny with James too because you’re absolutely right like he never should really play under any circumstance I don’t really know if he wants to either like I’m pretty sure there was one game during the the postseason I forget which series it was but it was a game that the Pacers were just clear like clearly GNA win and late in the fourth quarter the crowd started chanting for for James to like actually come in Rick I feel like kind of looked at James and James just still did not come in was very happy just still sitting on the bench even though like it was a total blowout win it was it was over so I’m not even sure I mean I I don’t want to like put words in his mouth I’m not even sure if he really wants to play I I think he’s more than happy with his role where he’s at just kind of being that like veteran presence and being the kind of enforcer when he needs to uh when things are kind of going crazy during during a playoff game or whatever so yeah I I don’t think he fits what you’re talking about that like kind of vet that can still actually jump in and give give you like some actual minutes if if you really need him that that does not say or scream James Johnson to me at like at all either oh yeah I remember the the ride in the high of the Pacers game four and the crowd chanting James Johnson I was like this is gonna be a story if he comes in the game and he didn’t play and what what do you remember what happened in the next game they got smoked in New York and then he did play in the garden you know like he got in that was his only playoff game was that one for one minute it’s funny that you mention that because my was asking like what’s fre agency look like like blah blah blah and I was explaining all the fre agents he’s like you don’t talk about James Johnson very much and I was like yeah he played nine games last year he made three shots and then she wanted to watch them so we watched all three of James Johnson’s made shots together literally this week so he makes sense to come back like clearly being a zero on the court they don’t care they still want to have him on the team they did that last year and like I still wonder you know when Obi toin and Bobby Porter get into it in game six at home and he steps up and gets a tech does that Tech Stop OB from getting ejected does that win them the game like that that has like incalculable value so anyway James Johnson if they bring him back yes makes a ton of sense I get it uh I know other people think just become a coach but like there’s value to like practicing with everybody whatever um so there is The Sweet Spot and you mentioned a guy I do want to talk about there’s a couple of these this guy I know is like an incredible vet so I start with him that’s Thad young who played for the Pacers before he is not the player he once was obviously or else he’d be a lock to be on a team last year like everybody thought it was a big deal the Suns got him last year played 10 games for the Suns right like he’s not he’s not that valuable play anymore but he does not suck like he played 15 minutes per game for Toronto last year two seasons ago he played 15 minutes a game 54 games he’s certainly declining but is certainly still an NBA player so he’s probably in that sweet spot of like guaranteed money doesn’t play now and so if the Pacers need a third fourman this guy would not play over jarus still a good vet as preferable to a bad vet obviously that young make does make some sense if he’s want to take their minimum money yeah definitely and I would love to have him back uh I don’t think there’s really anyone in the whole state that disliked Thad Young when he was here and playing for for the spacers team so I think a lot of fans would love to have him back and yeah is is a guy that you if if you really really are desperate and need someone that can just jump in and fill in five 10 minutes he is still that yeah you’re not screwed you’re not screwed right and that that’s like like you’re not screwed screwed if James Johnson’s the game but you know what’s what’s coming where whereas with Thad young you know it’s a little different um so I I know Thad Young from when he was on the team and I covered him before so I obviously know what kind of Veteran value he has it’s very funny every time he goes to a new team he does the same quote of like I love it hear these guys aren’t buttholes he says butth holes every time he did it with the SPs with the Raptors and the Pacers um another vsh guy that like he can play a pinch he play in the playoffs against the Pacers Danilo galinari probably fits the spill he might also be looking for guaranteed minutes this season because he could just go to Europe and play a bunch and be right legendary if he wanted to uh but the vet crew after that is not very good Marie Morris I guess uh a little different there I just I I kind of think it’s just that or galinari in that way yeah and I should have looked at Jeff Green’s actual numbers like is he still actually getting any minutes whatsoever not he had a he was in the rotation for the champs two years ago man Jeff I mean yeah that’s true but that’s two years and now he’s what 78 games last year yeah okay hey so he he could definitely kind of fit that same role as as Tad young I think he too good for really yes because he would be perfect to me like every team he’s on freaking loves Jeff Green right but I just feel like the the yeah I think the Rockets could just pick up his giant option trade him next year use him as salary so I don’t even know if he’ll be available but he he he does check the boxes we’re talking about he’s too good he’s actually too good for this spot fair fair that’s what I yeah besides that I honestly man yeah I I don’t see a whole lot else here that really well let me let me Pitch your stuff okay sure so this is this is the hardest player to sign a league and that is a young guy who actually has some like Intrigue in Pizzazz who’s willing to take a a a slot on a team where he would not play right like that’s gonna be tough for the Pacers this summer because they can’t offer minutes if they keep topping in tium let me just throw out some gu some names sure let’s let’s do the name game uh Jeremiah Robinson Earl any interest in him he used to play for the Thunder a lot now he doesn’t play at all um I mean I feel like the Pelicans probably just pick up his option at at his I bet they do too but know they have tax concerns they have tax concerns maybe not that’s true that’s true so if not if he is actually out there yeah I think that’s a that’s a name that you you could potentially look at I just would ECT that he’s back with the Pelicans I do too but we’ll see what kind of shakes out with that trying to be hopeful uh I used to like Usman guba I I doubt I doubt that’s a thing yeah I liked him a lot like going into his draft and then just haven’t seen too much from him since he actually got to the league so I like Dom Barlo I bet the Spurs just keep him in restricted free agency like this is tough and the other problem is a lot of the other young guys are gonna be wanting minutes minutes like B bow is not not obtainable right like he wants to play where he wants to go JT Thor probably wants minutes although he probably doesn’t deserve him so it’s hard to find The Sweet Spot player here and so this position might be really simple we might have just talked for 30 minutes about a position they’re going to go they won we got our two guys we’re done but there is value in at every position for a team that’s deep and young and like depth is pieces I’m going to say a name that people will ask about and that’s precious aoua because they need rebound really bad he was not good on defense in that Pacers Nick series but man can that dude rebound if if if they like if they if Jaylen Smith Ops out like I’d sniff around for him as a five on the Pacers but not a four uh and he is on this four list he’s just an interesting player to me but he is restricted I bet the Knicks just keep him but I did want to bring him up because he’s on this list and kind of good we didn’t see him would didn’t say chuma okiki who just was a first round pick and got hurt and then didn’t ever do anything with the magic I have no idea if he’s even an NBA player at this stage he only played 47 games last year uh I think that’s everybody good or interesting on this list that has at least had a moment where like oh they’re playing every day in the NBA I think that’s it yeah and definitely think precious could be a very useful fit here I you know saw his name and you know kind of thought about it for two seconds and then noticed that no I bet the Knicks just signed him to any offer sheet that he has so I mean like unless it gets crazy and it’s you know again possible that the Pacers could have some money to get crazy with if things just go south with Pascal for some reason but is precious the type of guy that you just kind of overpay if you do have all that money freed up I I would lean know he does bring uh some skills to the team that you know the Pacers definitely could use but I don’t think that’s the guy that you go oh we didn’t get seaks let’s just throw $20 million at at presses you know Anthony Gil went to Virginia and played 40 49 games last year maybe he fits that vet bill I guess we talked it earlier trendon Watford restrict he’s probably standing with the Nets that’s everybody we got them all uh do you have anything else to add about this position isn’t it so weird how the Dynamics of this position literally flipped to complete opposites in 12 months 100% man yeah I I feel like for the longest time this has been the position yeah yeah yeah like right when tab left this has been a gap since then and it is very nice to just kind of see what it looks like now and kind of like have the you know the idea of what it should be for the next several seasons moving forward if things go how they how they should this summer so it’s kind of nice not to have to worry about this spot anymore as long as we do bring back uh you know cakam and and toppen and we’ll see what happens with jarus in a season two but yeah it’s it’s crazy how quickly things can can change for sure since that I mean it was turbon which did not pan out at the four at all they tried like McDermot there Off the Bench and car Samson was playing some for and and in the in the Brogden era it was O’Shea brassett had that stretch starting at the four uh TJ Warren was playing the four for a little bit and Jaylen Smith was starting at the four for a little bit yep what a journey they have gotten to the point that this summer they have could have two very good for men back on their team next year Ethan this was great where can people find you and your tweets about the Pacers the fever video games everything important to me and you is the same so uh at creger Sports and yeah like Tony kind of said it’s a healthy mix of you know basketball video games F1 now I’m very into that this season so you can see me tweeting about that as well if you have any interest uh food bad jokes whatever else you want it’s all there here’s my beef with F1 it’s fun to watch it’s on at so early am Europe depending yeah depending on where they’re at that that weekend for sure yeah but it’s been very fun this year so far yes my uh I have family members who are very into it tomorrow uh after this episode I don’t know right now because it’s 655 uh and the finals are an hour and a half if the Mavs win uh you’ll just get the easiest week ever to season recap episodes with Caitlyn and the center preview at this position if the Celtics win we’ll see if the Pacer signs somebody that is obvious priority number one immediately so I can’t tell you what’s coming here but it’s either free agency for real free agency for fake or looking back at the last couple of players Kaylin and I have to get back to you should follow Ethan he’s going to play alen Rings DLC on Friday and I can’t wait to play it myself uh and probably the Olympic break for the WNBA I’m on Twitter or X or whatever at Tony R East thank you guys for listening have a wonderful day see you very soon

NBA Free agency begins in under two weeks. What should the Indiana Pacers be thinking when it comes to the power forward position in free agency? Host Tony East is joined by Ethan Krieger formerly of The Fieldhouse and 8 Points, 9 Seconds to break it all down, including the reasoning, resources, and targets that make sense at the position.

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