Derran Cobb is a freshman telecommunications major and writes for the The Daily News. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.
The future's looking bright for the Indiana Pacers and their fans alike.
On Sunday, they traded away guard Caris Levert to Cleveland in exchange for veteran guard Ricky Rubio and three future draft picks including two in this year's draft, with one being a lottery pick. Two days later, they made another trade that solidified the future.
Tuesday, Indiana traded away their biggest star in center Domantas Sabonis along with swingmen Justin Holiday and Jeremy Lamb to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for guards Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and veteran center Tristan Thompson.
This trade made headlines around the league and met Pacers fans with mixed emotions.
Many fans were finding it hard to let go of Sabonis since he had been the team's best player since the departure of guard Victor Oladipo and made two all-star appearances in five seasons in Indiana. Other Pacers faithful, including myself, realize the upside of the trade: Tyrese Haliburton.
I thank Sabonis for what he’s done for us in recent years, but I am looking forward to what's to come.
Haliburton is one of the best rising stars in the league and is only 21 (will be 22 this month). In his rookie season, he averaged 13 points and 5.3 assists while shooting 47% from the field and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. This season he is averaging 14.3 points and 7.4 for assists while shooting 45.7% from the field and 41.3% from 3-point range.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle describes the benefits and upside from this trade.
“It’s an exciting trade and it changes the landscape significantly, an elite young point guard that affects the game positively in many, many ways,” Carlisle said. “We’re getting three players who are good now and in the case of Tyrese, he has a chance to continue to grow. … Finding a franchise-caliber point guard at age 21 is extremely difficult to do.”
Paired with another promising young player, rookie guard Chris Duarte, they could become the team's future. Both players were named to the NBA’s Rising Stars challenge at this year's all-star weekend. They both are skilled playmakers who can both score 20 points on any given night.
Other important pieces of the team include veteran guard Malcolm Brogdon, 3-point shooter Buddy Hield and center Myles Turner. Hield is currently shooting 36.8% from deep (he also has the third most made 3-pointers in the league behind all-stars Stephen Curry and Fred VanVleet) and averages 14.4 points a game.
Rookie center Isaiah Jackson also provides a good look into the future and we’ve seen glimpses of his potential already this season. In his first career start on Jan. 31 he put up 26 points on a 63.2 field goal percentage and gathered 10 rebounds. He will serve as a good backup to Turner in upcoming seasons.
While the Pacers have had a very disappointing season so far (19-37) and will probably finish towards the bottom of the eastern conference, the future's looking good with Indiana planting the foundation with recent trades and the upcoming draft.
Contact Derran Cobb with comments at derran.cobb@bsu.edu or on Twitter @Derran_cobb.
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