JULY 6: Evans’ deal with the Pacers is now official, the team announced in a press release. “With Tyreke, we thought we needed a secondary ball-handler to not only compliment Victor [Oladipo], but he can turn it downhill and make plays for others,” said president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard.
Indiana also made its deal with McDermott official today.
JULY 3: The Pacers are in agreement on a one-year, $12MM deal with Tyreke Evans, according to Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski had reported (via Twitter) that Evans and the Pacers were closing in on a one-year deal.
Twitter user @SneakerReporter first broke word of a potential $12MM deal between the Pacers and Evans nearly 24 hours ago, though it’s not clear if an agreement was formally in place that early or if the two sides finalized it today. Evans traveled to meet with the Pacers today after having already met with the Thunder, Lakers, Warriors, and Hornets earlier in free agency, and Wojnarowski indicated this morning that Evans and the Pacers were still working toward a deal.
A former fourth overall pick and Rookie of the Year, Evans appeared in 52 games during an injury-shortened season for the Grizzlies. When healthy, he looked as good as he has at any time in his nine-year NBA career, averaging 19.4 PPG, 5.2 APG, and 5.1 RPG with a .452/.399/.785 shooting line.
The lottery-bound Grizzlies held onto Evans at the trade deadline rather than getting what they could for him, and at the time reports suggested that Memphis intended to push hard to re-sign the 28-year-old as a free agent, using their mid-level exception. However, there has been no indication that the Grizzlies made a strong effort to bring back Evans.
While other teams showed interest in Evans, none of them had the ability to make the sort of $12MM offer the Pacers did. Even after committing to Doug McDermott earlier in free agency, Indiana still had about $12-15MM in cap room to work with, and will devote most or all of that room to Evans. He’ll provide another play-maker in the backcourt for the Pacers, who lost Lance Stephenson to the Lakers.
According to Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link), Evans was the Warriors‘ initial target using their taxpayer’s mid-level exception ($5.337MM), but they were turned down by the guard, who was seeking more money and a larger role. He should get both in Indiana, though Golden State is probably happy with its fallback plan for that MLE.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pacers said they had to get perimeter shooting this summer. They got Holiday, Evans, and McDermott.
Thank you for that second paragraph. I was thinking I was going crazy because I could swear I saw this yesterday haha.
I don’t get the fit. He is strong…can guard Kyrie etc. rookie won’t see many minutes….lots of guards. A very small ball lineup coming….VO,Evans,collision/holiday,bog/dougie,turner/Sabonis. Good bench.
Evans is the Pacers only big point guard. He’s Oladipo’s backup. He’ll battle Bogdonavich for the 3. Bogdonovich can play the stretch 4. Pritchard wants Sabonis and Turner to play together 25-30 minutes a game. As long as he’s healthy, Evans gives the Pacers a lot of versatility. He’ll get at least 25 minutes a game.
It’s a perfect fit
Pacers starters: Oladipo, Turner, Young, Collison, Bogdanovic
2nd team: Joseph, Evans, Mc Dermott, Leaf, Sabonis
Same starters as last year. Upgrades at the 2 and 3 for the 2nd team. Only real question mark at this point is Leaf at the 4.
Kyle O’Quinn takes care of that.
The Grizzlies are so poorly run its honestly astonishing
The Grizzlies r the classic example of falling in love with certain guys instead of selling when they r hot and rebuilding. Conley a couple years ago would of brought back a first rounder and a young guy. Now he’s worth a bottom second rounder maybe. And u can say the same for Gasol.
Conley is well worth a lottery pick; he’s still young as PG’s go and the heel spur surgery should solve the lingering ankle issues he’s had the last several seasons.
I dont know, with that contract and the quality of the other pgs in the league I would be surprised by a lottery pick. The teams that need a pg are not in a position to compete.
Gasol has value still. He is an high iq, great passer and defender, he can be played all game even in the modern nba
Yeah but he should be moved. They aren’t going anywhere.
Agreed, last year was the time to start cleaning house sending evans and gasol out
Conley’s contract was just signed July ’16. It’s been two years. Most people felt the contract was bad as soon as the ink dried. Other than a crap for crap trade, I don’t think he had much trade value. Gasol they should’ve moved tho.
Of course Conley is worthless now but Gasol still has plenty of value.
You must respect a man like Tyreke, who puts $$$ & his roll in the team (aka PT) ahead of jumping in the bandwagon of Golden State, real kudos for you “Too Easy”, you my hero. Ring chasing is never a nice thing to watch.
Replaces Lance, with an upgrade. They’ve addressed their shooting on the wing, but they could still use defense in those spots, especially after losing Glenn Robinson
Tyreke can guard multiple positions
The Pacers got everything they were looking for this summer, and once again didn’t overpay.