After rejecting the Suns and Clippers' offers, the Pacers finally waited for the chips they wanted. Sources come from EPSN, and the Pacers have decided to make a big 4-for-3 deal with the Kings, as detailed in that the Pacers sent Sabonis Jr., Lamb, Holliday Jr., the 2027 second-round pick, and got Hield, Halliburton, Hilde, TT (Tristan Thompson) from the Kings. It is reported that in the process of listening to the deal offer about Sabonis Jr., the Pacers originally wanted to get 1 potential rookie + 2 first-round picks, but over time, the Pacers gradually realized that Sabonis Jr. was not hot in the trading market, and many teams were reluctant to take risks on a European interior line, even though Jokic had achieved great success.
Just when the Pacers were at a loss, the 76ers, dizzy, the King took the initiative to come to the door, providing a sincere deal offer, the core chip is Fox + Hield + draft picks, according to the King insiders, the above plan is enough to get Ben Simmons, but the 76ers do not know where to get the confidence, determined that Harden will break up with the Nets in advance, terminated the trade negotiations with the Kings, so there is the plot mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph, the King and the Pacers actively seek cooperation possibilities.
Considering the obvious gap between Sabonis Jr.'s static talent and Simmons, coupled with the Pacers' desire to take the opportunity to solve Lamb's multi-million contract, the Kings took a corresponding cut in chips, not only did not provide draft picks, but also put the long-lost TT on the table. Of course, the Pacers management is not a vegetarian, and after several games, the Kings had to replace Fox with Haliburton, the former 2020 first-round No. 12 pick, with the NBA's top basketball IQ, once defined by the outside world as the cornerstone of the Kings' team. For the Pacers, whether intentional or not, getting Haliburton is definitely a better result than Fox.
In addition, from the NBA reporter Scott Agness's report, it is known that since the Pacers have been led by the tenth place Eagles in the East by seven wins, the possibility of qualifying for the playoffs this season is very small, leading to the idea of new signings TT leaving, which is obviously the most willing to see the Results of the Pacers, TT's departure will not only free up more playing time for young players, but also alleviate some salary pressure. It is understood that the 30-year-old veteran has contacted the Pacers management and offered to buy out, and the Pacers who want to rebuild are also unsuitable for the team, so both sides are interested in a peaceful breakup.
Even if TT does not take the lead, the Pacers will most likely continue to seek a trade, for reasons just said, TT is indeed not suitable for teams that are in the process of rebuilding. Finally, talking about the Lakers, there are sources that show that after the buy clarification period, that is, after the restoration of free agent status, TT hopes to join a playoff level, preferably championship level team, the Lakers are most likely to be the next stop in their careers, because there is his former big brother LeBron James, interestingly, the Lakers just happen to be in urgent need of a blue-collar interior line, if they can successfully buy out with the Pacers, the possibility of TT and James reuniting in Los Angeles will become very large. Thank you for reading and following, and welcome to leave a comment in the comments section below.