The Indiana Pacers are currently sitting in the sixth spot in the NBA Eastern Conference and are looking to improve before the postseason starts. There have been rumors circulating around franchise player Paul George about him possibly being traded before the NBA trade deadline this Thursday. George has stated that he wants to bring a championship to Indiana but has yet to sign a contract extension with the team. The Pacers look like they have decided to try and appease George by bringing in some reinforcements to help the team win now. He becomes a free agent in 2018 and Indiana wants to make sure they give him a reason to stay.
Pacers looking to make moves before deadline
Even though the Indiana Pacers have a pretty solid starting five and decent depth on the bench, they still may try to make some moves this week to strengthen their roster in order to be ready for the playoff push. The core of newcomer Jeff Teague, second year stud Myles Turner, and Paul George has been surprisingly underwhelming giving the weakness of the NBA Eastern Conference. There are quite a few players that are available that could help the Pacers win right now. Guys like Darren Collison, Iman Shumpert, Ricky Rubio, and Reggie Jackson have all been reportedly made available by their respective teams. The Pacers seem to be maybe one or two key players away from legitimately competing for an NBA championship.
If they can acquire the right pieces before the deadline then they could have a shot to challenge the defending champion Cleveland Cavaliers for supremacy in the NBA Eastern Conference.
Indiana targeting Okafor in potential deal
Jahlil Okafor of the Philadelphia 76ers is on the Pacers radar as a potential trade target. The second year big man has pretty much fallen out of the rotation in Philly because of the emergence of Joel Embiid and the return of Nerlens Noel from injury.
Okafor is not known for his defense but his offensive prowess is something a lot of teams covet and he's also still very young. The logjam in the Philly front court has made Okafor expendable and the team may be ready to move on from him. The Pacers would be a great trade partner for the 76ers and a potential deal would allow both teams to upgrade their rosters at positions they are weak in.
With the trade deadline only two days away it will be interesting to see if the Indiana Pacers stick with what they have or if they decide to pull the trigger on a deal with Philadelphia. Either way with Paul George's free agency not to far off they definitely need to do something soon if they plan on keeping him around long term.
