What moves can the Indiana Pacers still make during the 2023 offseason and free agency?
The Indiana Pacers have 15 players on standard contracts and three players on two-way deals, meaning their offseason could be slower for a while. They would need to make a trade or waiver to do anything significant.
But that doesn't mean their offseason is done. Far from it, actually. Beyond the aforementioned transactions that they could make at any time, they will also have to make a few decisions that will impact the long-term future of their roster.
Diving into those moves, and what they mean in the context of the rest of Indiana's offseason, paints the picture of the next two months for the Pacers.
Veteran Contract Extensions
Three Indiana Pacers players — Daniel Theis, T.J. McConnell, and Buddy Hield — are eligible for veteran extensions this summer. Each of them could add years on to their existing contract.
For McConnell and Theis, their new money would start in 2025-26. Technically, the Pacers could decline Theis' team option for the 2024-25 season and then give him a contract extension that starts next year, but there is little reason for both sides to investigate such a deal. Instead, both players are eligible for a deal that starts at up to 140% of their 2024-25 salary in the first added season and could append up to three years to their deal (or four, in Theis' case if his team option is declined).
Hield, meanwhile, is entering the final season of his contract. He could add up to four years on to his contract, with the first season (2024-25) starting at a maximum of about $26 million in a typical extension framework.
"I love Buddy. There's some things that he does that's not on the court. The way he keeps practice light. But I think we've got to define his role next year. And if we can get a role where he's comfortable and we're comfortable, then I'm not opposed to [an extension]," Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said in April. "Now I'm not saying we're going to do it for sure, but I'm not opposed to it."
All three players are technically eligible to have their contract re-negotiated and extended using cap space, like the Pacers did with Myles Turner last season. Hield is the most likely candidate for such a transaction, but the Pacers may want to hold on to their cap space until better options for using it dry up.
Once the 2023-24 season begins, McConnell and Theis will no longer be extension eligible. Hield will be until next offseason.
Rookie Scale Contract Extensions
Indiana just gave All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton a rookie-scale contract extension, and two other players on the roster are eligible for one in Obi Toppin and Aaron Nesmith.
Toppin seems unlikely to receive any extension. He has yet to play a game for the team, so they have less idea internally of his long-term value. If he has a good year, Indiana would be smart to pay him what he is worth in restricted free agency next summer.
Nesmith, meanwhile, had a quality first season with the team and could end up being a nice rotation piece on the wing. Typically, players don't take rookie scale extensions at low values, but restricted free agency can be tough for players like Nesmith. Perhaps there is a deal to get done here, especially with Nesmith's cap hold being over $16 million next offseason, but the Pacers have a ton of depth on the wing so it feels unlikely.
Rookie Scale Contract Team Options
By October 31st, the Pacers have to make a decision on rookie scale team options in the contracts of Isaiah Jackson and Bennedict Mathurin. Both options cover the 2024-25 season.
For Mathurin, it's a $7.3 million option, a no-brainer for a player of his ability level. For Jackson, the option's value is $4.4 million. Given the number of centers the Pacers have under contract and the value of reserves at the position, they might at least have to think about both sides of that option decision. But picking it up at that value, and with few better uses for $4.4 million in salary cap space, make sense. Keeping Jackson around seems like the smarter move.
Exhibit 10 Signings
Teams can sign players to one year, non guaranteed minimum contracts that contain an Exhibit 10 clause throughout the offseason. Exhibit 10 contracts give players a bonus if they are waived prior to the start of the regular season and then report to the team's G League affiliate franchise (in Indiana's case, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants) and stay there for at least 60 days.
Last year, the Pacers signed multiple players to Exhibit 10 deals including Justin Anderson, Gabe York, Deividas Sirvydis, Bennie Boatwright, David Stockton, Norvel Pelle, Jermaine Samuels, Tevin Brown, and Eli Brooks. They didn't sign the first one of those players until August 18, so there may still be time before Indiana inks any players to an Exhibit 10 deal, which is essentially a training camp agreement.
Any signing or trade
In theory, the Pacers could make a signing or legal trade at any time. They have just shy of $7.5 million in salary cap space at their disposal. Doing a trade or signing would lead to a corresponding move (a waiver or another trade) in the future, so the team would have to weigh the opportunity cost of making more additions.
Indiana has plenty of time to make all of these decisions and they may not come until later in the summer.
- Tyrese Haliburton hosts basketball camp in Indianapolis, talks Indiana Pacers offseason and Summer League. CLICK HERE.
- Jarace Walker exclusive: On his early time with the Indiana Pacers, gaming, development, and more. CLICK HERE.
- Reviewing Indiana Pacers trade ideas constructed by Bleacher Report. CLICK HERE.
- Report: T.J. McConnell is hoping to stay with the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
- Follow AllPacers on Facebook: All Pacers SI
- Follow AllPacers on Twitter: @SIPacers
