Indiana Pacers' biggest mistake at 2025 NBA trade deadline

03/07/2025 03:07 AM

The Indiana Pacers were off to a rough start to the 2024-25 season, although they have now righted the ship even though their drop-off on the offensive end certainly raises some concerns. They have a 35-26 record and are still fighting hard against the Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

This Pacers team, as one would recall, made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. No one can take away from that feat of theirs even though some would put an asterisk on it considering that they took advantage of injury woes from the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks to make it that far. All a playoff team can do after all is to play the team in front of them.

At the very least, the Pacers would want to replicate what they did in last year’s playoffs. And with the way Tyrese Haliburton has been playing as of late, they very well could — especially when the team’s defense is much more improved from seasons past.

But the Pacers decided to stand pat prior to this year’s trade deadline, and this inactivity could end up costing their hopes of a deep playoff run.

Pacers stand pat despite moves from playoff rivals

This is not to say that the Pacers should have made a trade just because their rivals for the fourth-spot out East in the Bucks and Pistons made moves. The Bucks traded away franchise legend Khris Middleton for Kyle Kuzma in one of the few moves that has helped them get back on track, while the Pistons acquired Dennis Schroder, becoming an even deeper team without giving up any assets of note.

Even with the Pacers making no moves, they are well set up to compete for the rest of the season. They spent a good chunk of the season’s first half without their best wing defender Aaron Nesmith due to injury, and they have now gotten into a solid rhythm with their starting five during the 2024 NBA playoffs all humming together.

However, with all the marquee names that changed teams prior to the trade deadline, perhaps there was a trade that the Pacers could have made to bolster their dreams of making it deep into the playoffs.

It doesn’t even have to be a blockbuster trade; maybe the Pacers should have taken a chance on Kelly Olynyk, giving them another versatile frontcourt piece to help weather their frontcourt amid a deluge of injuries. What if the Pacers decided to bring Terance Mann, a switchable wing who can guard multiple positions, in a trade that would not have cost them more than a few second-round picks and some salary filler?

What’s difficult for the Pacers is that they don’t have much in the way of salary-matching. Obi Toppin stands out as someone they could dangle, but Toppin isn’t someone Indiana has shown any willingness to trade away. So perhaps the Pacers, a team that can deal away multiple future first-round picks, could have instead set their sights on a trade for someone on their rookie deal — a potential long-term contributor that won’t require a huge salary commitment just yet.

The failed Mark Williams trade showed that rebuilding teams are willing to sacrifice some of their young players if they can acquire draft capital that could end up being valuable down the line. The Pacers don’t even have to acquire someone as valuable as Williams, who would have netted the Charlotte Hornets a 2031 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers as well as a pick swap.

Perhaps Indiana could have used Day’Ron Sharpe, someone who thrives when given minutes. Or perhaps they could have been the team to buy low on Jake LaRavia, who has been struggling with the Sacramento Kings. Both of those players have shown flashes of being legitimate rotation players.

Someone like Quentin Grimes, who’s been tearing it up for the Philadelphia 76ers, could have been valuable for the Pacers, filling the important archetype of movement-based shooter — a kind of player Indiana doesn’t have at the moment.

The Pacers’ inactivity speaks volumes of the front office’s confidence in their current 10-man rotation. But some of Indiana’s players may be played off the court come playoff time; the likes of Thomas Bryant and Jarace Walker could be exposed a lot in the wrong matchup. Acquiring players that could help fill roles and help the team shapeshift a lot better could have been useful especially for a team looking to run the East gauntlet.

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