Fort Wayne Mad Ants acquire two former NBA players in recent moves, trade away former Pacer Deividas Sirvydis
The Indiana Pacers G League affiliate team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, have made a few recent roster moves ahead of the stretch run of the G League season. The G League trade deadline was on Friday.
The first big addition the Mad Ants made was on February 8. On that day, they signed point guard Elfrid Payton, an eight year NBA veteran. He was the tenth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Payton has spent time with four different NBA franchises, and he most recently was with the Phoenix Suns. He appeared in two games during the 2022 NBA Playoffs. Fort Wayne is the first G League team that Payton has played in a game for.
In five outings with the Mad Ants so far, Payton has started four times. He is averaging 11.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game for the Pacers affiliate club to date and will be a key piece for the final month of the season.
One week later, the Mad Ants traded away a former NBA player. Center Norvel Pelle, who appeared in 21 games for Fort Wayne this season, was sent to the Mexico City Capitanes in exchange for the returning player rights to Tyler Davis and Justin Reyes. Pelle has three years of NBA experience and signed a training camp deal with Indiana in September.
With Fort Wayne, Pelle averaged 6.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. He started in six games.
The most recent transaction from the Mad Ants involves two players with Pacers ties. Deividas Sirvydis, who spent 2022 training camp and preseason with the blue and gold, was traded to the Wisconsin Herd for guard Jordan Bone.
Sirvydis has been dealing with a back injury recently and only played in six games for the Mad Ants this season. He averaged three points per game with the Pacers during the preseason, where he showed off his three-point shooting ability.
Bone played for Indiana's summer league squad in 2021. He averaged 6.2 points and 2.0 assists per game across five outings for the Pacers that summer. He has averaged 18.3 points and 5.5 assists per game in the G League this season.
The 25-year old guard played for the Detroit Pistons in the 2019-20 NBA season and the Orlando Magic the following year. He had 24 NBA appearances under his belt.
The Mad Ants are currently 13-9, which puts them in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Armed with Payton and Bone, Fort Wayne could have a solid final ten games of the 2022-23 campaign. If they do, the team may be playoff bound.
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