The Pacers were thrilled to see Goga Bitadze still available when the team picked at No. 18, J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star relays. The scribe hears that many within the league were surprised Bitadze was still available at that spot. However, several executives told Michael that had they been running the Pacers, they wouldn’t have taken the center unless they planned on trading either Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis.
Most of the executives Michael spoke to believe that if the team decides to trade either Turner and Sabonis, the latter will be the one to go. Turner is entering the first season of a four-year, $80MM contract, while Sabonis is entering the last year of his rookie deal.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Pelicans were Derrick Favors‘ preferred destination once it was clear the Jazz were moving him, Tony Jones of The Athletic tweets. Utah needed to trade Favors in order to accommodate the Bojan Bogdanovic signing.
- Former Rockets center Zhou Qi plans to play in Europe next season, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando relays. Zhou has not yet picked a team.
- Milos Teodosic will make slightly over €5MM during his three-year contract with Virtus Bologna, Carchia passes along in a separate piece. Teodosic last played for the Clippers during this past season.
If Pacers GM trades sabonis over turner, that will be his first big screw up. Turner thinks he is a 3 point scorer and he is not. His shot selection at big moments is awful. Sabonis is fundamentally sound. We don’t need turner taking shots from oladipo and brogdon. If this rookie is that good, he will replace both.
Turner might be the second best defensive center in the league. He’s huge on that end of the floor, and while I agree efficiency is lacking, he’s young. Shot selection improves with age.