If the Pacers aren’t able to trade for a starting-caliber forward, either using the No. 7 pick or other assets, they’re expected to turn to free agency in an effort to land that sort of player, Marc Stein writes at Substack.
One player Indiana has some interest in, league sources tell Stein, is Kings forward Harrison Barnes, who will be an unrestricted free agent next week. As Stein points out, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle coached Barnes in Dallas, while point guard Tyrese Haliburton played with the veteran in Sacramento, so Barnes certainly has fans within the organization.
Stein classifies Barnes as a “strong” candidate to change teams this offseason, though he hears from one source that a return to the Kings hasn’t been ruled out.
Here’s more from Stein:
- A team with interest in acquiring OG Anunoby described the Raptors‘ feelings about trading him as “strong reluctance,” Stein writes. While Anunoby has no shortage of potential suitors – including teams like Indiana, Portland, Memphis, and Sacramento – Stein says the early signals suggest the Raptors may end up once again holding onto him, like they did at the trade deadline.
- The Hawks are “known to be interested” in Duke big man Dereck Lively and have spoken to Dallas about trades involving the No. 10 pick, according to Stein. While Stein doesn’t go into detail about how the possibility of Atlanta landing Lively would affect the team’s current big men, such as center Clint Capela, that frontcourt would be getting awfully crowded.
- A veteran personnel executive tells Stein that Bradley Beal getting to be the third option with the Suns should “suit him very well.” Beal was probably miscast as a franchise player in Washington, but made a career-best 50.6% of his shots this past season as he increasingly shared the scoring load with Kristaps Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma while his shot attempts per game dipped to 17.6 (his lowest mark since 2016/17).
Having the draft before Free Agency starts is dumb. NBA needs to change it
Shhhhh. Don’t say anything. Silver doesn’t mind changing anything. Like how everyone is rewriting history
I know this probably isn’t the right group to be asking a question like this but hey maybe somebody will surprise me… Which of these 4 young guys would you be the most willing to trade this summer if you’re Landry Fields, AJ Griffin, Onyeka Okongwu, DeAndre Hunter or Jalen Johnson? Which of those 4 would you be least willing to trade?… Feel free to add reasons why if possible.
I know I shouldn’t be responding to a condescending jerk but here goes. Whatever they do they shouldn’t trade Griffin unless he’s part of a package for a megastar..i.e.. Zion Williamson. That kids a stud and going to be everything anyone could want in a 3 and D wing.
The rest are situational on whether I’d keep or trade them. Okongwu would be one I’d most likely move he has tremendous upside but if they don’t do something with Collins or Capela he’s just wasting away on the bench. He could be a great piece to dangle in front of a team looking for a good to very good 4-5. He’s also a bit of a tweener at only 6’8″ without a jumper.
Hunter seems to have bounced back last season and to be back on the trajectory as a versatile wing that can play 2-4 depending on the situation. I would try to keep him.
I believe Johnson has the least upside but that’s ok. Every team needs guys that can take on a variety of roles off the bench and doesn’t cost a fortune.
Lol sorry if I hurt your feelings. But I mean there are very obv reasons why I wouldn’t expect much if anything from you guys. I love the fact that you put thought into your answer but the way you see these guys sorta reinforces why I don’t respect y’all’s opinions. You think AJ is a 3&D guy smh. He does vast majority of his work inside the 3pt line. He’s very similar to TJ Warren who is also not a 3&D guy. You clearly just looked at Dre’s ppg #s & concluded that he had a bounce back season & is now back on some trajectory that he had taken a detour from or something smh. You seem to think that Onyeka is wasting away on the bench & isn’t a true 5. And obv your take on Jalen is the worst of all. You basically proved my point while trying your hardest not to smh…. Before you guys criticize these NBA players so harshly and with so much venom please understand that you guys truly don’t know what you’re talking about lol
No one has hurt my feelings. Honestly it wouldn’t matter how I responded. You would just try to tear it apart. It’s obvious you get your rocks off from being a jerk. Whatever works for you I guess.
You gotta see the irony here bro… You guys are horrible to these NBA players. Y’all constantly hate on them and ignore/misunderstand their strengths & focus loudly on any misstep or flaw. Obv the more urban the guy is, the worse the guy gets it. And then when someone like me calls u out as sucking as a basketball fan the way u call out guys for sucking as basketball players you can’t take it & wanna call names… Definitely check out those 4 guys a lil more next season tho. They’re all gonna be really good NBA players for a long time
I never said any of these guys suck. I think there all good players but everyone has a role and every player has strengths and weaknesses.
You should take some of your own advice. Pay attention. You start off with Griffin who took 7.4 shots per game last season of which 3.6 of them were from deep at a .390 clip. You probably should notify him that your plan for him to do the “vast” majority of his work inside the 3 pt line.
Hunter bounced back as in he played in more games and seems to be recovering from his injury and knee surgery he had the prior season.
Okongwu is very active and can come out to the perimeter to defend on a switch without missing a beat. Until he fills out he’s going to have a hard time against taller bigs. He reminds me of a young Adebayo or Ibaka. That’s extremely high praise. The Hawks should trade Capela and start Okongwu but McMillan seemed reluctant to do so, hopefully Snyder will make that change but if not, why keep him when they already have Johnson as a bench big?
I’ve defended some of the most criticized players on these messages boards. I’ve said many times that Durant is a grown ass man and if things aren’t working out and the situation isn’t what you expected then by all means, ask for a trade. I’ve also said that Westbrook is still capable of rumming an offense and isn’t net negative. He just shouldn’t be trying to do it with Lakers. He proved me right with Clippers. I’ve said that Simmons needs to get his head and body right before worrying about basketball and that he should be paid while receiving treatment for a mental illness just the same as he would if it were physical. I’ve pointed out all the charitable work Kyrie does that goes unnoticed while everyone is whining about his negatives. I could go on and on but I’ve defended players over ownership, critics and media.
I also compared Okongwu to Bam before his draft. I actually thought he had a little more comfortability with his shot than Bam did too. He hasnt had much opportunity to develop the way he should
He is spot on with this really. I like you both though.
Tacocat is right about every player analysis here. I think Atalanta should rebuild a little. Either get lively, Ayton or Wiseman if available. Then figure out if Hunter is your guy with potential. Trade Murray for a high pick this year. Miller instead of hunter would be good too. Then go find a SG. Joking but try Culver again
I actually wouldnt necessarily trade any of those guys, and would focus more on adding a wing shooter to replace Huerter at the 2/3. Sadiq Bey does potentially make 1 of him, Hunter, and Griffin a little more expendable, but I think a couple of those guys can also play on the wing in certain lineups. Johnson can also be used as a smallball 5, and then I still am big on Okongwu, even though his rookie scale is coming up…
I personally wouldnt have ever traded Huerter, and none of this matters as much, but I would have been trying to trade Capela the last couple of years
I think to answer this question, I would have to know who they could get in a potential trade, look closer at the cap sheet, what the draft situation is this year, and then who I might be able to grab in FA…so I dont think this question can be answered in a vacuum
That being said, if I know they’ll have Capela, Collins, and Johnson as options at the 5, I guess I would have to say Okongwu would make the most sense to move, but his current value around the league isnt what it could be, so would that even make sense?
I don’t see Jalen as a plausible 5 except in rare circumstances tbh. He’s a 4 but he’s much better suited to pg than 5 rn. Maybe once he gets older/stronger/slower he could be a small ball 5 tho… I’m also pretty big on Onyeka (pretty big on all 4 of them tbh) & I think he probably has the highest trade value of this group… I’m not sure why you woulda been trying to trade Clint the past few yrs tho. He was 1 of the top5 rebounders in the league in that time & still is. He’s also great defensively in the paint, he’s on a team friendly contract, he’s currently in the prime of his career & he meshes extremely well with our best player… As far as replacing Kev, 1 of the main reasons we traded him in the first place was bc him & Bogdan had overlapping skill sets. Bogdan was pretty great as our designated shooter off the bench last yr. And overall we shot pretty well from deep down the stretch of the season after we picked up Saddiq & as John got more comfortable shooting with his mangled right hand
Bogdanovic is more of a guard though. I would have continued using him off the bench as a scorer/space and having the ball in his hands more from that spot in the rotation. Huerter doesnt need the ball in his hands as much, and defends multiple positions
Jalen Johnson is a 4, but I see him as a smallball 5, even though he may be a bit thin now, as you say. His skillset is similar to guys like James Johnson, where he can put the ball on the floor and playmake, bring the ball up the floor off rebounds, I think he can defend multiple positions, and then he can potentially shoot it more than people think if there is better spacing around him…again, when I say stuff like that, it doesnt mean always play him at smallball 5; just that they should use him there on the matchups that are necessary. I just think if he is at the 4, you want a space at the 5 next to him, like Collins (before last year where he struggled from 3 b/c of the areas of the floor he was used in).
The reason I said that about Capela is that he and Okongwu have overlapping presence, and he gets paid, while Okongwu was on a rookie scale deal, not playing, and you also had Collins and Johnson…
Kev is a guard too. And what multiple positions can he guard?. I clearly remember him being terrible defensively (another reason we traded him). Bogdan is a better ballhandler than Kev but he doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He played off the ball more than ever last season & was just as efficient if not moreso… I like the James Johnson/Jalen Johnson comp (with James being the poor man’s version of Jalen). But James didn’t start playing as a small ball 5 til much later in his career. And Jalen has better guard skills & athleticism than James Johnson ever had. Both Jalen & John are too small to play much if any 5 rn tbh. Which hasn’t been a problem bc we’ve had such a strong pivot duo with Clint & O
I’m not saying Bogdanovic cant play off the ball. Obviously he can, b/c he can shoot the ball. I’m just saying he is more effective in the role I mentioned, considering the other guards on their roster. I dont know why you’re focused so much on size at the 5, or playing multibig lineups when you see it all over the league. You still have soze, but its across the board. Also those guys have the length to play there…again though, that’s dependent on matchups. I’m not saying you wouldmt play multiple bigs a lot either. That’s why versatility is a thing.
Huerter is a capable defender. He can also score in the half court, as he showed in the playoffs in 2021. I know he is also a guard, but he is more of a combo wing/guard. It’s a different skillset to Bogdanovic. Not that I would compare these players, but think a tyler Herro Jordan poole type with bogdanovic and klay Thompson/duncan Robinson or even a little bit of Christian braun with Huerter…in terms of role
I strongly felt that move could have been the difference of them being significantly better. They lucked into AJ Groffing falling to them in the draft somehow after previously losing depth at that spot, then turn around and trade Huerter, made especially worse after having traded for Murray. I felt as though he would have been important in the fit next to their guards, and guys like Hunter, Bey, and Griffin, and Johnson
I’m keeping griffin next d michell keeping Johnson and o hunter im on the fence just cause he always hurt we shouldn’t never traded hurter hope we don’t trade collins we never should of got bey I think we should run trae boggi hunter Collins m Cappella then murray griffin bey Johnson n o play every 1 play 20 mins then final 6 mins play who ever playing best hawks are really deep kill teams with depth and freshness tell me that bench with murray griffin bey Johnson n o not best m league and the strat 5 spreads the floor more for trae cause murrsy and trae have the same o and it colling the paint to much but me not trading any till allstar break collins way under man finger still crazy looking he was playing way better with quin and he guards any one usually the oops best playet
Man I certainly hope AJ turns into Spida Mitchell, that would be great. He’s such a natural scorer. I def lean toward making him untouchable too… Tbh I sorta lean towards bringing pretty much everyone back. You’re right John was playing better down the stretch. Esp shooting better & just getting the ball (slightly) more… I’m starting to waver on Dre tho. Dre is (slightly) more skilled than Bey but Bey is a good deal tougher, both physically & mentally. Toughness is something our team needs more of tbh. We could get a lot for Dre & we alr have a ready replacement
I’ll take the Easy road and go Hunter based on Salary –
Lotta talk Atl looking at Lively , if so they really gotta work on finding Capela a home first and foremost – Im interested seeing what Oko does with sone extra mins
TOR approach with Anunoby is interesting. He’ll be a UFA at the end of the coming season. In his spot, its unlikely he’ll re-sign in advance, but other teams have managed this situation better (i.e., without discussing the guy as a centerpiece in possible trades for over a year). Those teams, though, did express an intent to meet the market for their player if and when it came to that. Either TOR doesn’t want to do that, or Anunoby wants to leave apart from $$. Doesn’t matter which. While he’s not a star, its been awhile since a player his age with his positional value has become available (really) as a UFA. Those “interested teams” might want to look at their cap space situations next summer, because some of them should be in decent shape.
Hawks suck … how’s that.
They are going backwards. With all the top picks they’ve had. Before bringing in Murray. And now they are about to blow it up again. Going for Lively is hilarious to me LOL.
Since you told this board how great a center Okongwu would be. a (6’ 9”) centersmaller than Bron a Center ….
You know what happens to 6’9” centers. They get swallowed by real centers .
Jokic owning Bam …… and I Love Bam lol.
Honestly, it looks like the Hawks are going for a rim protector in Lively. They may switch picks with Dallas by trading John Collins for Bertans. Bertans has only got a year left on his contract so it’s not a bad deal. lively’s offense could can be worked on.
What’s Capela ?????