Full trade: Indiana Pacers acquire Jordan Nwora, George Hill, Serge Ibaka, three second-round picks, and cash for draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet
The Indiana Pacers only trade deadline deal is now official. They made a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks that involves a ton of pieces.
The Pacers acquired three players in the trade. They brought in 24-year old forward Jordan Nwora, 36-year old guard George Hill, and 33-year old center Serge Ibaka from the Bucks. In order to open up three roster spots to add the trio of players, Indiana waived center Goga Bitadze, forward Terry Taylor, and forward James Johnson.
On top of adding the three players, the Pacers also acquired three second-round draft picks from Milwaukee in the trade. Additionally, the Brooklyn Nets sent Indiana cash considerations in the multi-team deal. According to a league source, the Pacers acquired the more favorable of Milwaukee's two second round draft picks in 2023, Milwaukee's second round draft pick in 2024, and Indiana's (originally sent to Milwaukee in the Malcolm Brogdon trade in 2019) 2025 second round pick. All three are unprotected.
To complete the deal, the Pacers sent the draft rights of Juan Pablo Vaulet to the Nets. Indiana acquired his draft nights in 2021. The Argentine forward has not played in the NBA since being drafted in 2015.
In the end, the Pacers acquired a young player in Nwora, two veterans in Hill and Ibaka, three draft picks, and cash. They sent out draft rights and waived three players to make it happen. All in all, the blue and gold got great value on the margins.
The three players Indiana waived all had a contract that expired, or could have expired, at the end of the ongoing season. It's possible that none of the trio was in the Pacers long-term plans, so using those roster spots on different players and netting three picks is good business.
The Athletic reported that the Pacers are going to waive Ibaka, and a league source told All Pacers that Indiana has interest in bringing back Johnson if he clears waivers. If both of those transactions happen, the Pacers will have essentially swapped Bitadze and Taylor out for Hill, Nwora, three picks, and cash, with the only caveat being that they are still paying Bitadze and Taylor's salaries for the rest of the season.
Nwora will help the Pacers by providing depth at the forward spots, where the team needs bodies. He is under contract for the 2023-24 season as well, so the blue and gold will be able to get a good look at him and his fit with this team during the next 1.5 years. Hill, meanwhile, has previous ties to the franchise. He played for Indiana from 2011-2016 and was on two different Pacers squads that reached the Eastern Conference Finals. Hill was teammates with Pacers center Myles Turner during the 2015-16 campaign.
It is unclear if Hill will have a role on the Pacers this season, but he can be a useful veteran and locker room piece. His contract expires at the end of the ongoing season.
The Pacers roster is still full, but they did good work to add multiple assets without sending away parts of their long-term vision. Now, the question is how well their new acquisitions will fit on the court.
- Why a contract extension made sense for the Indiana Pacers and Myles Turner. CLICK HERE.
- Report: Pacers acquire Jordan Nwora from Milwaukee Bucks in trade. CLICK HERE.
- Source: Indiana Pacers to waive forward Terry Taylor. CLICK HERE.
- Daniel Theis debuted for the Indiana Pacers and showed how he can help the team. CLICK HERE.
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