Indiana Pacers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pacers Sign Justin Anderson To 10-Day Contract

March 28th, 2022 at 3:04pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran swingman Justin Anderson, whose previous 10-day deal with the Pacers expired over the weekend, is back under contract with the team on a new 10-day pact, according to a press release.

While the Pacers’ announcement refers to it as Anderson’s second 10-day contract, it’s actually his third this season with the team. Anderson signed the first one back in January under the hardship provision, so this is his second standard 10-day deal with Indiana — that means the club will have to either sign him for the rest of the season or let him go after this new contract expires next Wednesday night.

Anderson, who has spent much of the 2021/22 season in the G League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Indiana’s affiliate, has played in a total of 11 NBA games for the Cavs and Pacers. In eight appearances with the Pacers, the 28-year-old has averaged 7.6 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG on .377/.294/.786 shooting in 21.8 MPG.

Indiana had an open spot on its 15-man roster, so no one needed to be cut to make room for Anderson, who will earn $111,457 over the course of his 10-day deal. The agreement will run through April 6, covering five of the Pacers’ seven remaining regular season games.

Myles Turner Won’t Return This Season

March 28th, 2022 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

Pacers center Myles Turner will miss the remainder of the 2021/22 season, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).

Turner, who turned 26 last Thursday, has been sidelined since January 14 due to a stress reaction in his left foot. According to Wojnarowski, Turner has made “good progress” in his recovery, but the Pacers only have seven games remaining and are out of the playoff hunt, so it doesn’t make sense to bring back the big man at this point.

Prior to going down with his foot injury, Turner averaged 12.9 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 2.8 BPG in 42 games (29.4 MPG) for Indiana. His name surfaced in several trade rumors earlier in the season, but his injury diminished his value to some extent and Indiana ended up moving its other center, Domantas Sabonis, while hanging onto Turner.

It’s still possible the retooling squad will shop Turner this offseason ahead of the final year of his contract. But with Sabonis no longer in the mix, the Pacers may be more inclined to keep Turner, perhaps envisioning him as their long-term starting center.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes (via Twitter), Turner is eligible for a contract extension this offseason and Indiana could theoretically use its cap room to to renegotiate the last year of his current deal, giving him a raise on next year’s $18MM salary as part of an extension agreement.

Pacers Head Coach Rick Carlisle Out Next Two Games

March 24th, 2022 at 4:01pm CST by Rory Maher

Head coach Rick Carlisle will miss the Pacers‘ upcoming road games at Memphis on Thursday and at Toronto on Sunday due to personal reasons, the team announced. Assistant coach Lloyd Pierce will serve as acting head coach in Carlisle’s stead.

As Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files observes, this is the second time that Carlisle has been away from the team this season. He contracted COVID-19 in December and missed four games, with Indiana going 2-2 with Pierce at the helm.

“I encouraged Lloyd to follow his instincts,” Carlisle said in December. “He’s an experienced head coach — and when you’re on the sidelines and you’re making the play calls and you’re calling the timeouts and things like that, there’s a feel element to it. And you can’t have that interrupted just because you work for the guy that’s not there.”

In other Pacers news, rookie Isaiah Jackson was unable to play the second half of Wednesday’s game against Sacramento due to a headache, according to James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star.

Jackson suffered a concussion last week and missed two games. Carlisle said he didn’t know whether Jackson’s headache was related to the concussion.

“I don’t know exactly what’s gonna happen,” Carlisle said, per Boyd. “Doctors felt it was best to keep him out of the game. … The hope is that this is not anything serious, but we’ll know more (Wednesday night) or (Thursday), and whenever we can let you know where things are at, we will.”

Jackson has been ruled out of Thursday’s game, Boyd tweets.

Pacers Notes: Warren, Hield, Haliburton

March 22nd, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Pacers forward T.J. Warren, who has already been ruled out for the rest of 2021/22, will also remain away from the team for the remainder of the season, says Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. Warren had previously been practicing and playing some 5-on-5 with the Pacers, but is continuing his rehab and preparing for next season on his own.

“T.J. Warren will continue his ramp-up for next season at his home in Raleigh, NC,” the Pacers said in a statement provided to Agness. “He has the full support of the Pacers organization and medical staff.”

Warren, who missed the entire 2021/22 season due to a left foot injury, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, so it’s possible he has played his last game for the Pacers.

Here’s more out of Indiana:

Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield was one of the NBA’s most one-dimensional players in Sacramento, but has exhibited newfound driving and passing abilities since arriving in Indiana, Louis Zatzman of FiveThirtyEight writes in a breakdown of Hield’s evolving game.
Hield is averaging 5.0 assists per game in 16 games with the Pacers after registering 1.9 APG in 55 games with the Kings this season. Indiana has a 117.8 offensive rating when he’s on the court, which would rank first in the NBA. “Different style, different opportunity,” Hield said, per Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com. “I think (head coach) Rick (Carlisle) gave me a better opportunity than (I had in) Sacramento that helps me to show that. When I wanted to (do more with the ball), they just wanted me to be a corner catch-and-shoot guy. So now I’ve been able to show what I can do and just be free and playing basketball happy again.”
The Pacers will host the Kings on Wednesday, and while Hield and Tyrese Haliburton are looking forward to seeing some familiar faces, they downplayed the importance of meeting their old team, with Haliburton suggesting he has friends and family who are “behind the narrative” far more than he is. Hotchkiss has the story and the quotes at Pacers.com.
In case you missed it, Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic was fined $40K by the NBA following an altercation with a Pacers fan in Indiana on Sunday. The fan allegedly made disparaging remarks about Nurkic’s mother and grandmother. Nurkic’s grandmother passed away of COVID-19 in 2020.

Central Notes: Wade, Cavs, Bulls, Anderson

March 20th, 2022 at 4:42pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Pacers signed swingman Justin Anderson to a 10-day deal on Thursday in part as a response to his efforts with their NBAGL club, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, and to give him a chance to prove he deserves to stick in the NBA going forward, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. He certainly has his fans around the league.

“I don’t know what else Justin can do at the G League level to prove to teams he deserves to be back in the NBA,” a source that was not Anderson’s agent informed Agness. The 28-year-old previously inked two 10-day deals this season, one with the Cavaliers and another with Indiana earlier this year.

“He’s been the best player on the [Mad Ants],” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said, “and probably the best player in the entire [G League]. He’s earned this opportunity, he knows our stuff, he’s kept himself ready. And the one thing about him, he’s appreciative of the opportunity and he’s really fought for these chances to be back in the NBA.”

There’s more out of the Central Division:

Cavaliers forward Dean Wade, who has already dealt with some inconclusive imaging on his sore right knee, is set to undergo further testing on the knee this week after missing Cleveland’s last three games, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. Fedor notes that there is “growing concern” about a meniscus tear.
The Cavaliers have exhibited strong mental toughness down the stretch of the regular season as they push for their first postseason berth since 2018, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic. “For us, it’s a mental thing,” head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “Our guys are pretty confident and pretty sound in our schemes. … And if you’re never in this position, you don’t gain that experience. You never are able to figure it out.”
The Bulls are struggling to find much of a response whenever opposing defenses opt to double-team All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan, opines Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “Probably the most [double-teams] I’ve seen in my career, to be honest with you,’’ DeRozan said. “For me, it’s one of those things that we got to figure it out. It’s on me to help the guys figure it out as well… The best way to learn is to be knocked in the mouth like we doing. Now it’s a matter of us responding, letting it click. Once it clicks, we be fine.’’

Central Notes: Warren, Smith, Wade, Bulls

March 19th, 2022 at 1:33pm CST by JD Shaw

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle expressed disappointment that T.J. Warren (foot) won’t be playing this season, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star writes. Warren has been rehabbing from a stress fracture and recently started playing five-on-five in practice.

The 28-year-old hasn’t played at all in 2021/22 and only appeared in four games last season, but he did average 19.8 points and 4.2 rebounds in 67 games in ’19/20. He’ll become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“He had one of the most challenging years of rehab and trying to bring himself back that I’ve ever seen a player have,” Carlisle said. “He stayed positive. He stayed in the fight the entire time, and he is close. We obviously wish him the very, very best, and we’ll see where it goes from here in terms of when he’ll be back.”

There’s more from the Central Division tonight:

Pacers center Jalen Smith suffered a head contusion in the team’s win over the Rockets on Friday, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Smith, who exited the game with roughly four minutes left in the third quarter, finished with an impressive 17 points and 10 rebounds in just 13 minutes off the bench.
Cavaliers forward Dean Wade will undergo further testing on his sore right knee, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes. Wade will miss his fourth straight game on Saturday and underwent tests that came back inconclusive. According to Fedor, there’s growing concern about a possible meniscus injury.
The Bulls have now lost eight of their last 10 games, dropping a 129-102 decision to the Suns on Friday, Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic writes. Chicago (41-29) ranks fifth in the Eastern Conference with 12 games left in the season. “It’s just snowballing downhill,” star guard DeMar DeRozan said. The Bulls were first in the conference standings just three weeks ago.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Central Division

March 18th, 2022 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

For the rest of the regular season and postseason, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this offseason. We consider whether their stock is rising or falling due to their performance and other factors. Today, we’re focusing on a handful of Central players.

Zach LaVine, G, Bulls

2021/22: $19.5MM
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Up ⬆️

LaVine is dealing with a knee injury that has diminished his explosiveness, but it hasn’t slowed him down too significantly — he hasn’t scored fewer than 20 points in a game since the All-Star break, and he’s coming off a 33-point showing in Utah on Wednesday.

While the injury is a short-term concern that may need to be addressed surgically in the summer, there’s no reason to believe at this point that it will be a nagging issue in future seasons. LaVine is still significantly outperforming his current contract and is in line for a maximum-salary deal this summer, likely with the Bulls.

Collin Sexton, G, Cavaliers

2021/22: $6.35MM
2022/23: RFA
Stock: Down ⬇️

Sexton is also dealing with a knee injury, but it’s more serious than LaVine’s. The Cavaliers guard appeared in only 11 games before meniscus surgery sidelined him for the remainder of the season.

The fact that Sexton averaged 24.3 PPG with an efficient .475/.371/.815 shooting line in 2020/21 shouldn’t be overlooked, but there are a number of factors working against him. With Darius Garland and Caris LeVert under contract for next season and Sexton entering restricted free agency in an offseason when few teams will have cap room, the Cavs will have plenty of leverage in negotiations. Concerns about Sexton’s knee and his defense may further limit his ability to secure a significant raise.

An eight-figure annual salary is still certainly within reach for Sexton, but a payday in the $80-100MM range no longer looks like a good bet.

Bobby Portis, F/C, Bucks

2021/22: $4.35MM
2022/23: $4.56MM player option
Stock: Up ⬆️

Portis raised some eyebrows when he settled for a two-year, $9MM deal with the Bucks in 2021, giving the club a “hometown” discount after winning a title in Milwaukee. That agreement included a second-year player option, so Portis has the opportunity to revisit the open market in 2022. At this point, it’s hard to imagine he won’t take advantage of that opportunity.

With Brook Lopez out for much of the season, Portis has been thrust into a larger frontcourt role and has responded with a career year, averaging 15.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG on .484/.405/.752 shooting in 61 games (28.9 MPG). He’ll have Early Bird rights this time around, putting him in a better spot to get a raise from the Bucks, who shouldn’t expect the 27-year-old to once again accept a team-friendly rate.

Cory Joseph, G, Pistons

2021/22: $4.91MM
2022/23: $5.16MM player option
Stock: Up ⬆️

The Pistons have been one of the NBA’s worst teams since the start of the season, and any national attention they’ve gotten has focused primarily on Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey, and the rest of their young core. Their 30-year-old journeyman point guard shouldn’t be overlooked though — Joseph is enjoying one of the best seasons of his career in Detroit this season, averaging 8.1 PPG and 3.8 APG with a career-best .423 3PT% in 59 games (24.8 MPG).

Joseph may be happy with the Pistons and not interested in seeking a change of scenery. But if he decides to opt out this summer, he should certainly be able to earn a raise, perhaps from a team much closer to title contention.

T.J. Warren, F, Pacers

2021/22: $12.69MM
2022/23: UFA
Stock: Down ⬇️

Having officially been ruled out for the rest of 2021/22, Warren will enter unrestricted free agency having played just four games in the last two seasons due to foot injuries. It’s been an unfortunate run for the veteran forward, who had a great 2019/20 season and looked like one of the NBA’s very best scorers in the Walt Disney World bubble that summer.

What Warren has gone through is reminiscent of what happened to another former Pacer, Victor Oladipo, following his breakout years in Indiana. Oladipo battled leg injuries for two seasons and ultimately settled for a minimum-salary contract when he became a free agent.

Unlike Oladipo last year, Warren should be healthy when he reaches the open market this summer. But given how little teams have seen from him over the last two years, he may not be able to do a whole lot better than the minimum deal Oladipo got.

Pacers Notes: Anderson, Turner, McConnell, Jackson, Draft

March 17th, 2022 at 10:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Swingman Justin Anderson is eager to display his skills after receiving a 10-day contract from the Pacers on Thursday, James Boyd of the Indianapolis Star writes.

“I just want to be out on the court and show my impact, show what I can bring. I’ve been biting at this for a long time,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, injuries have kind of had me in and out of the NBA, but that’s over and done with. I only have two tibias, two legs, and both of those have been operated on, and I’m back stronger than ever.”

Anderson was averaging 27.8 PPG, 6.9 RPG and 4.4 APG in 22 games with the G League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

We have more on the Pacers:

T.J. Warren was ruled out for the remainder of the season on Thursday due to his ongoing foot issues. Myles Turner (foot) and T.J. McConnell (wrist) probably won’t see the court for the remaining 12 games as well, Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. Turner has been out since mid-January, while McConnell hasn’t played since December 1.
Isaiah Jackson has entered the NBA’s concussion protocol and will not play Friday at Houston, Boyd writes in a separate story. Coach Rick Carlisle said the rookie big man suffered the injury during the team’s home loss to the Grizzlies on Tuesday when he was hit in the face with the ball.
With the Pacers headed for the lottery, Carlisle has kept an eye on potential draft prospects, Boyd tweets. “I’ve been watching stuff for the draft since January. … There’s a lot of really good players,” he said.

Pacers’ T.J. Warren Done For Season

March 17th, 2022 at 12:51pm CST by Rory Maher

Pacers forward T.J. Warren will be out for the remainder of the season, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Warren will miss the entire 2021/22 season after playing just four games last season while recovering from consecutive stress fractures in his left foot.

Warren, 28, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and the plan is for him to prepare for the 2022/23 season. As James Boyd of The Indianapolis Star observes (via Twitter), it’s interesting that Woj reports that Warren has fully recovered and returned to full basketball activities, considering coach Rick Carlisle said there was “no update” on Warren last week.

However, at 23-47, Indiana currently holds the fifth-worst record in the league, so Warren returning for just 12 games to a team with virtually no chance of reaching the playoffs doesn’t make much sense, especially after already missing 70 games.

The Pacers confirmed Wojnarowski’s report in a press release.

“Our organization’s guiding principle will always center on a holistic approach to our players’ health and prioritizing their overall well-being,” said Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard. “T.J. Warren has worked incredibly hard over the past 14 months to get to this point – a full participant in on-court activity with his teammates – all while navigating the many challenges that accompany this type of injury.

“However, after thoughtful conversation with T.J. and his representatives, it has been determined that the most beneficial course of action at this point is to allow him to focus on the 2022-23 season. We will continue to provide T.J. with all the care, support, and resources necessary to ensure he returns to the high-level of play to which he’s accustomed.”

Warren had a standout season in 2019/20, averaging 19.8 points and 4.2 rebounds on .536/.403/.819 shooting in 67 games. The points, field goal and free throw percentages were all career-highs. He was one of the stars of the Orlando bubble during the pandemic-disrupted season. He’s played just four games since, having undergone surgery in December of 2020.

It’s hard to predict what the market for Warren might be like as a free agent this summer. It’s a weak free agent class and he’s one of the more proven scorers available, but he hasn’t played an NBA game for 15 months.

Pacers Sign Justin Anderson To 10-Day Deal

March 17th, 2022 at 11:07am CST by Arthur Hill

MARCH 17: Anderson has officially signed with Indiana, per Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (Twitter link).

MARCH 16: Justin Anderson will sign a 10-day contract with the Pacers, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

The 28-year-old swingman had been playing for Indiana’s affiliate in Fort Wayne and recently captured G League Player of the Week honors. In 22 games with the Mad Ants, Anderson is averaging 27.8 points, 6.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists.

Anderson played for the Pacers earlier this season, appearing in three games after signing a hardship 10-day contract on January 1. In December, he joined the Cavaliers on a hardship 10-day deal and played three games for them as well.

A first-round pick by the Mavericks in 2015, Anderson has played 232 total games for six NBA teams. He was with Indiana in training camp, but was waived before the start of the season.

If Anderson signs his 10-day contract on Friday, he will be eligible to play in five games before it expires. Indiana has a roster opening, so no move will be necessary before adding Anderson.