Will the Indiana Pacers get involved in the buyout market?
A key date on the NBA calendar comes later this week as March 1 approaches. That's the final day a player can be waived and still be playoff eligible if they sign with another team. It isn't technically the final day of the veteran buyout market, but it effectively is.
Team's often buyout or waive veterans to save some money or open a roster spot. The player, in turn, usually recuperates the money when they sign elsewhere and get to join a squad that has aspirations in line with the player's goals. It's a win-win for everybody. That's why players like Justin Holiday, Reggie Jackson, Danny Green, and several others changed teams after the trade deadline.
So far, the Indiana Pacers have not gotten involved in the buyout market. Their roster is full, and their salary cap situation is clean. Historically, though, the Pacers have considered buyouts. They added veteran forward Trevor Booker a few seasons ago and saved some money by buying out Tristan Thompson last year.
Depending on your definition of buyout market, the Pacers are already technically involved. They moved on from Serge Ibaka just after the NBA trade deadline, and the veteran center can sign elsewhere. The Pacers didn't buy him out since he was on a minimum salary deal, they simply waived Ibaka. But the big man is playoff eligible if he is to sign with a different franchise before the end of the season.
Indiana used the roster spot created by waiving Ibaka to bring back forward James Johnson, who they cut at the trade deadline to facilitate a trade.
Since then, though, many more players have gone through the buyout cycle, such as Russell Westbrook, Patrick Beverley, and Kevin Love. Most veterans with buyout options will have their plans sorted out by the end of tomorrow.
Typically, players who get bought out or waived this late in a season have just one season remaining on their contract. On occasion, a player with more than one year remaining on their deal will be bought out — like Blake Griffin a few years ago — but it is very rare.
The only players with expiring contracts on Indiana's roster are George Hill, Oshae Brissett, and James Johnson. Considering that Johnson just re-signed with the franchise, it seems exceedingly unlikely that the veteran would be on the move already, and Brissett is just 24-years old and has appeared in 49 games for the franchise this season. He is a nice depth piece at the power forward spot. He and Johnson are both on minimum salary agreements as well, so a buyout offers the Pacers no savings.
Hill has only appeared in one game since being acquired by the blue and gold, and the veteran guard shared that he chose to stick with the Pacers instead of opting to pursue a new deal with a contender at the trade deadline. A buyout feels improbable.
"It's a place that I always wanted to be," Hill said of the Pacers. "It puts me close to family and friends in a city that I love."
With all the context involved in the Pacers' roster situation, it seems unlikely that they will get involved in the buyout market. They don't have an easy way to clear a roster spot, and there aren't any vets available as a free agent that make sense for the 27-35 team. Hill, Johnson, and Brissett have more value on the Pacers than elsewhere, and no other contract makes sense for a buyout in Indiana.
If the right young player becomes available, perhaps the Pacers think hard about what they could do to make a move. For example, R.J. Hampton was waived by the Orlando Magic and signed with the Detroit Pistons earlier this month. Hampton was a first round pick in 2020 and has shown some talent since joining the league, so he may have made sense on the Pacers as a developmental project. But he chose Detroit.
KZ Okpala and Leandro Bolmaro, who are both under 24 years old, were recently let go by their teams. That would be the type of player that the Pacers would theoretically consider, but they don't have the roster spots to make such a move right now.
Bolmaro is in a unique situation in that he is eligible for a two-way contract. That would open up more signing options for the Pacers, but they would have to waive one of Trevelin Queen or Kendall Brown to make such a move.
In a vacuum, a Hill buyout would be something a team like the Pacers thinks about. But it's not a vacuum. George Hill is with his hometown team and wants to retire with the franchise. Indiana is using all of its roster spots effectively, so barring a surprise, it seems like the team will stay out of the buyout market unless an unforeseen opportunity arises.
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