taking advantage of perceived weak draft

[nivisi9]

Is there a way we might be able to take advantage of this perceived weak draft?

could Masai say-- attempt trading 2025 IND 1st pick for a top 12 pick in this draft? Like for a falling prospect? (ex. Cody Williams, Collier, Risacher etc.)

Might another team prefer a 2025 1st round pick instead of paying high salary to a prospect in this historically weak draft?

Could we exploit these aspects + our cap space + flexibility

We will need to get creative regardless.

What are some ways we may take advantage of where we are now + historically weak perception of this draft?

[ontnut]

The most likely (and possible only) situation would be with OKC at 12. MAYBE slight chance of Memphis at 9.

But I'm not sure I want to give up that IND pick. There's a very real possibility that Pascal leaves, and/or Haliburton doesn't have that insanely hot start to the season he did this year, and/or their team 3p shooting comes back down to Earth. Look at the difference from year to year with a team like SAC that played very similarly to IND this year. SAC was 3rd in the conference last year on the back of a historically great offense that relied heavily on above average 3pt shooting years, just like IND. I don't believe Toppin is a 40% shooter, just like I didn't believe Achiuwa was a 36% shooter, or Pascal a 38% shooter. I'm not sure Nesmith is a 42% guy, Jalen Smith at 42% is highly unbelievable when that's 10% higher than his career avg before this year. McConnell is wildly inconsistent year to year too. I just simply do NOT trust this IND team can sustain this level of shooting year over year. Teams will also make adjustments.

Pacers made it to 6 this year over the Heat and 76ers, two teams that probably should've finished above them in the standings if they were fully healthy all year. Pacers actually tied with the 76ers for 6 and won it on tiebreak. There's a real possibility that the Pacers fall to 8 next season, lose the play-in, and the 2025 pick is lotto bound.

[tecumseh18]

I've made this same mistake, but the future Pacers pick isn't 2025. It's 2026.

Which makes sense because Pacers wouldn't be allowed to trade FRPs in consecutive seasons. We got their 2024 and 2026 pick, and some other pick we traded for Kelly and Ochai.

Unless a team is basically giving it away, I want no part of this (2024) draft. But we need to somehow accumulate 2025 picks. That's a very strong draft throughout. And we're certainly not trading our own 2025 pick.

[Duffman100]

Trade poeltl and the 19th to OKC?

[Lord_Zedd]

Trade poeltl and the 19th to OKC?

For their 12th pick? I honestly don't see that much a drop off in talent from 12 to 19.

I don't think I'd do 19 + Poeltl for Memphis 9th pick either.

[will]

More like Toronto getting taken advantage of already.

[Raps in 4]

Trade poeltl and the 19th to OKC?

For their 12th pick? I honestly don't see that much a drop off in talent from 12 to 19.

I don't think I'd do 19 + Poeltl for Memphis 9th pick either.

TOR trades:
#8 pick
#19 pick
2x SRPs

OKC trades:
#12 pick

(or MEM trades #9 pick, same ****)

We're not making any trades to move up in this draft. It would be career suicide for Masai to make a trade like this.

[MiamiSPX]

And we're certainly not trading our own 2025 pick.

Masai: "Hold my beer"

[ItsDanger]

Use cap space to acquire draft capital and young talent via bad contracts. Not trading future 1sts at this point.

[NotMyKawhi]

Masai shouldn't be allowed to trade a pick until we make the 2nd round

[Duffman100]

Trade poeltl and the 19th to OKC?

For their 12th pick? I honestly don't see that much a drop off in talent from 12 to 19.

I don't think I'd do 19 + Poeltl for Memphis 9th pick either.

Poeltl and 31st then?

[Lord_Zedd]

Trade poeltl and the 19th to OKC?

For their 12th pick? I honestly don't see that much a drop off in talent from 12 to 19.

I don't think I'd do 19 + Poeltl for Memphis 9th pick either.

Poeltl and 31st then?

I don't think I'd do that trade either to move up. If we had a promising C within our roster to replace Poeltl, I'd be more willing to trade him. We've gone through tank commander Baynes, along with the corpse of Birch just to nab a decent C again - especially with a very cap friendly contract.

I'm sure we'll get alot of calls about our 31st pick itself. Teams wanting to move down from their early/late 20s just to get an extra night to do their "homework"

[Tripod]

We are not trading Yak. People need to stop with that foolishness.

We are going to add a C who can learn from Yak and Olynyk....expecting it from pick #31

[will]

We are not trading Yak. People need to stop with that foolishness.

We are going to add a C who can learn from Yak and Olynyk....expecting it from pick #31

Zach Edey says HELLO.

[mdenny]

The way to take advantage of a weak draft is to opt for volume (quantity) rather than draft position (quality).

Especially given the rookie contract commitments. Better off spreading those commitments out.

Look for teams seeking to trade down *ie trade the 8th overall for the 14th and 18th type of thing.

The weaker the draft, the less important the draft position.

[NotMyKawhi]

We are not trading Yak. People need to stop with that foolishness.

We are going to add a C who can learn from Yak and Olynyk....expecting it from pick #31

We better trade yak. Tanking and freeing up cap space for 2025 is our only chance

[DG88]

Rather not let's just get 2 young depth pieces and figure out away to get another pick in next year's deeper draft

[ConSarnit]

For their 12th pick? I honestly don't see that much a drop off in talent from 12 to 19.

I don't think I'd do 19 + Poeltl for Memphis 9th pick either.

Poeltl and 31st then?

I don't think I'd do that trade either to move up. If we had a promising C within our roster to replace Poeltl, I'd be more willing to trade him. We've gone through tank commander Baynes, along with the corpse of Birch just to nab a decent C again - especially with a very cap friendly contract.

I'm sure we'll get alot of calls about our 31st pick itself. Teams wanting to move down from their early/late 20s just to get an extra night to do their "homework"

I would try to do a “reset” of sorts but I’d need to have a few steps set up to complete it. I would want a deal to acquire a second 2025 1st.

Poeltl + 31 for 9 + Kennard + flotsam

Brown or Kennard for long term bad salary + 2025 1st

Let Trent walk, try to sign Jalen Smith or Goga Bitadze for the full MLE (2 years) as stop gap C. Might be an overpay but we can withstand it in the short term.

Head into 2025:

Two 1sts in 2024
Two 1sts in 2025 (our own being high)
Two 1sts in 2026

To do a rebuild right you need multiple bites at the apple. Getting off Poeltl for a lotto pick this year is a soft reset. Getting another 2025 1st could be difficult. Obviously a lot of moving parts but one can dream.

[mdenny]

Mike Conley playing with so much guts and heart. Buffy respect.

[Tripod]

We are not trading Yak. People need to stop with that foolishness.

We are going to add a C who can learn from Yak and Olynyk....expecting it from pick #31

We better trade yak. Tanking and freeing up cap space for 2025 is our only chance

You are going to be disappointed