Why the upcoming season is so important for the Indiana Pacers future at the center position

Why the upcoming season is so important for the Indiana Pacers future at the center position

let’s talk about the future of the Pacers at the center position not because they don’t have centers right now but because how they build out that position going forward is going to be extremely tricky and important for the Pacers this season Miles Turner Isaiah Jackson money all sorts of important stuff other guys out there we get to it all today with r Bower on the locked on Pacers podcast you are locked on Pacers your daily Indiana Pacers podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day what up y’all happy Wednesday and welcome into another edition of the lockon Pacers podcast where we of course talk about the Indiana Pacers as always my name’s Tony East I cover the team for Forbes and Si and today we’re talking all things Center position for the Pacers and you will understand why very early in this conversation because this is too me for lack of a better term the most influx position on the roster they have stability either via length of contract or options and every other position center is kind of up in the air despite having talent at the spot already with Miles Turner and Isaiah Jackson and developing James wisman behind him why is it so interesting what are the Pacers going to do about it how can they get through this what is the best possible outcome R bow and I break it all down looking at why the upcoming season’s going to matter why future finances are a big deal how this could could actually sort itself out for the Pacers and decisions that are made at other positions how it could affect the center position for the Pacers going forward a lot make sense as the conversation progresses hope you guys enjoy let’s just get right to it with red Bower well this must mean that the Pacers just won or lost a series because red bow is back and that was his role for the the month prior to this as the Pacers won two series and lost one he was always the closer today we are not talking about playoff basketball but we are talking about to me the most interesting roster storyline for the Pacers now going forward and that is the center position point guards tyres Halton locked up Andrew nard at least one plus more years and you could call him a two guard if you want well great Ben matheran and Ben Shepard are also there and aarin neith’s on the wing jarus Walkers are forward and sakam is a forward and Obi toppin a forward great they’re set miles Turner’s a center his contract’s expiring is Jackson’s the center his contract expiring James wisman is a center they gave him a very small guarantee and a team option and he might not just be good enough to be on a contender what is going to happen at Center Beyond this season for the Pacers can they afford to keep mouse turner what does that mean for the rest of their team it is the most fascinating position on the team who’s the backup going to be Beyond this season is it somebody already in house how do they allocate the resources because hey here comes the luxury tax next year I’ve been talking for 70 seconds Rhett hasn’t said a word Rhett oh my goodness is this an interesting topic to me and I don’t really know how to dive in I do I have some ideas but uh I think it’s going to be a big storyline for the next let’s say 12 months of Pacers basketball yeah I think if you had told me before the playoffs started that you said hey you can come on after every series ends I I I would have said Okay cool so you just want to talk to me once this off season that’s great um but no the center uh forecasting the future of the center position for the Indiana Pacers is is incredibly fascinating but I think it’s like I feel like it has been more years than not for the last like decade probably the last seven years for sure and so it’s a different kind of fascinating right now and I’m I’m really really curious where we end up on it last year was a weird calm it was too calm at the center they need to get back into Rocky Waters that’s what everybody’s familiar with so here’s why this is the situation right the the problem as it as it stands for the Pacers is not that Miles Turner and isah Jackson aren’t good they are right that that is a good Center rotation it’s a good starter who fits playoff basketball and a backup that performed the playoffs in his first postseason and certainly can still grow and now is locked into 82 games of being the backup but not intermittent right those are good players like that’s a good rotation here’s the the trouble and why this is a fashinating discussion I mentioned it last podcast their next summer spending is very tricky they are like 51 million from the tax without m conell without nard without Turner I think I’m missing one player who’ll probably need to get paid next summer oh Jackson duh and so that probably doesn’t all fit uh already um Turner can’t be extended which is very rare in the NBA but with the way the capab grows 10% next year felt very smart of him to get on the market as a 28 29 year old whatever uh after 10% cap growth so he C his contract cannot be extended this season because his aren negotiated right Isaiah Jackson also on an expiring contract he’ll be restricted next year if they want to keep him they can but extending him is functionally very difficult not because he’s not worthy of a new contract but because of the same thing I said earlier their taxs next year they have to be careful about thrown out extensions now unless they’re so confident in the player and so yeah it’s possible that Isaiah Jackson has a longer deal before the season starts but I would certainly not predict it and so they are they are heading into a reality in my head at least of they are going to enter next summer with unless James weisman’s awesome no centers on the team who aree rotation quality and limited resources to actually keep centers and keep the rest of their team and the answer could to this entire discussion be pay Miles Turner figure some other crap out with the guards that I mentioned earlier but that is why it’s so fascinating to me because they might not be able to decide Miles Turner could go somewhere else if he wants he’ll be an unrestricted he is guaranteed to be an unrestricted fre agent and they just saw the I’m talking so much right I’m so sorry and they just ran through the Playbook of how to keep guys with zakum and they could do it again but they have so much to decide and they have absolutely nothing committed to that position and I think that is fascinating do they need to make a trade now for a center do they need to figure out what centers are going to be out there next summer what do they are how much are they gonna do the game plan with Miles Turner making sure he feels like this is his home after 10 years playing here that’s crazy how is this all going to work out I have no idea it’s endlessly fascinating to me when you said we were talking about this I I started thinking about all the things and I was trying to say like okay there’s three things I’m paying attention to and then I got down I got was like well there’s five but then there’s like both sides to three of those five there’s like 10 to 12 things that are going to factor into Center position and the Pacers are in control of like two of them and that those two are the playing time for jarus Walker and Isaiah Jackson like th those are the deciding factors for this season that the patents can control because beyond that it’s what does Miles Turner want to do with his career what are other teams valuing Miles Turner as what other players are available on the market that might impact how the Pacers spend money going forward yeah what does a what’s Andrew NIMH hard want in an extension like Pacers can’t control that if it’s over a certain number which makes his restricted potential restricted fre agency later on more crazy like Isaiah Jackson play is gonna matter how like how valuable is he and then if all those young guys play a bunch either they prove that they’re good which is means you have impact players on um cheap deals which is awesome means you can spend more but that means they’re going to be more expensive very very soon which puts you in trouble if they don’t play well then you have distressed assets that make it hard to trade them and get other things in the building and then you are going to be even a more shallow team which means your starters are going to play even more and do you want to have to pay Miles Turner a to the degree that he’s going to be relied on to like for his contract to remain a value because if he’s getting like the 25ish million dollar a year mark we’ll get to that yeah that’s a that’s $115,000 between your point guard power forward and center and that doesn’t even get into the other players that are still under contract like I I don’t I don’t know if they would extend him right now for a number he would sign for even if they could that is a good question yeah it it that so that is why I laid this out yesterday and finnally tomorrow’s podcast with Yosi golin is going to be all about next year’s tax for the Pacers he’s the best um so the reality is I just reran it to make sure I’m not crazy if you take away miles cap hold doesn’t matter with cap holds if take away miles next year take away TJ next year take away Isaiah next year assume declin to team options for James wisman and Kendall Brown take away injur Mard so he would enter restricted free agency that gives the Pacers $136 million in guaranteed salaries to eight players right so like they gotta fit 51 million of seven players in there and so if we start with Miles because he is the best of those players who are not back on the team okay well let’s just see what the Center Market has become and you just mentioned 25 million and some people go whoa that’s a lot and I would say no it’s not um Nick Claxton just got that and Isaiah hardenstein just got he got that I think it’s clear to note that that that there’s a team option on the end so they probably paid a little more to get that Bruce Brown also got 48 million or 44 million yeah yes yes so that that is where that number is coming from right the starting good starting Center Market has formed because every other Center in free agency this summer was not starting level not even close right the next highest paid guy was Mo Vagner he got 11 million per season so 22 million guaranteed from the magic G Mo Vagner is a good player but Miles Turner is a much much better player and fits well with the best two players on the Pacers uh and was very good was good for much of the playoffs last year like you want to keep that guy but if you do and you like even if it even I would call 25 like a good value because yes the cap goes up 10% next year from those two deals 27 and a halfs where that starts it would get into the 30s by the end right like 25 a year I think you’d be happy about his Pacers well then you have 26 million under the tax to pay nine players two of which in theory would be McConnell and nard n hard’s probably sniffing 20 million and can you keep McConnell at that point maybe not you definitely can’t keep Jackson at that point and oh my gosh you still have four Oster spots to fill out and maybe one of them the first round pick and that’s cheap but you still have a whole rest of your team it’s like it’s really tricky and so if you take Turner out of the equation it’s easier to keep the other guys but then you’re way worse you have no other Center options over the cap so I don’t really know how they should handle it because I think the best scenario for them to win with their current court it’s that Turner on the team but that means that to have the best center rotation possible the Pacers have to make decisions at other positions that may not be particularly fun yeah and I think the prevailing wisdom over the last probably since the Warriors like small ball run like where Draymond at the five the death lineup all that stuff was at centers you just go out and get a center and that that you can just replace that that is not the case go out and look at starting centers and see how many miles Turner is better than and you I guarantee you you can get miles like pretty close to the 10 Mark like and the rest of those centers are either like wanyama level or chat homr level or they’re making 40 million or more so I I don’t see a world where the Pacers get a center that makes 40 million or more because they already have two players on their roster making 40 million or more and uh that’s going to be just about it so the the downgrade from miles at like a $27 million Mark to a replacement level Center at like the 18 million Mark is going to be so significant that I’m not sure that like I don’t know how the Pacers would recover from that from a talent and fit standpoint unless there are other things to consider that we just can’t see at this point which is very possible um not to you know Pascal seak wanted to play with Miles Turner um and that fit is significant but then again per Miles Turner is the longest tenard Pacer I I I want to look at this I meant to do it before tonight how many other players have played for the Pacers for 10 years well that’s a good question how many guys in the league have longer tenure than Turner and I was gonna try to spit ball them all but I do not know the question you actually ask it’s single digits but yeah both low numbers yes yeah so like again opening opening night will be his 10th season that’s crazy 10 yeah like I and so like you have to like I I don’t know about you like I I try not to be a fan like oftentimes I’m a fan but in this case like it would be really tough to not like to not have Miles Turner be a Pacer but at the same time you look at the money and it’s like gosh how do you afford to have Miles Turner as a Pacer hey guys let’s quickly talk about the good folks over at game time an authorized ticket Marketplace of Major League Baseball which makes getting tickets faster 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everything you could possibly want in a ticket buying app game time has it so take the guesswork out of buying TI ticks and MLB tickets with the game time app download the app create an account use the code locked on NBA for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account use the code l c n NBA for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed all right let’s do the exercise that you just hypothetically spit B okay yic embiid Anthony Davis bam sabonis uh porzingis goar that’s eight right seven is Anthony Davis the center yeah I put Anthony Davis in there so then you’re you’re then you’re in a tier of like Jared Allen miles Claxton uh towns huh towns Wy obviously I missed him um I have a salary thing it front of me towns is four five so he’s in this group somewhere between 8 and 12 right so you could easily call him a top 10 Center and what you you’re right the Warriors broke everybody’s brains because they were so talented but Horford and porzingis and Gafford and Lively were perfect centers for that team right you have to have the right center for what your team is and chat was great because he can do five out for a team that plays Five out and yic is the best player in the NBA like all these teams that made deep runs have Mitchell Robinson just got a bunch of money from a different team right all the teams that made even the conference semi-finals have good centers that fit their style Miles Turner is a good Center that fits the Pacers style so maybe we’re overthinking this and the answer is just pay Miles Turner make other decisions elsewhere part of the reason that also makes sense is they don’t have another starter level player in the wings like Isaiah Jackson’s good I don’t think anybody is like he’s ready for 30 minutes a night perfect let’s go good backup centers are good backup centers I don’t mean this to disparage Isaiah Jackson he deserves a second NBA contract that pays him more than he makes right now but he’s not a starter level player the other problem is next year’s free agency class at the five is uh is interesting there are some names on the list yes yes there are um Rudy goar is gonna opt in most likely Brook Lopez is not as good as Miles Turner anymore he’s 37 Clint capella is not as good as Miles Turner Nas Reed is a different kind of player I think Turner is better than NZ but I think naz’s good um and he’s gonna he also has a player option he’ll probably opt out but he’ll get paid um and then you’re down to Stephen Adams zubot uh I mean it’s it’s the drop off yeah the drop off and Looney is like the worst are thinking like no we don’t want to for eight million right like it’s a quick drop so the pivot to just like let’s just use the mid- level on a different Center that’s not mouse turner also doesn’t sound like a good idea that sounds like making your team worse the trade market for centers on reasonably priced deals well go go listener if you would like to to explore go try to find one go try to find a center that makes not crazy money that would be available right next summer also A Hard Exercise of good players because all the answers that you could squint and say maybe that guy they’re like locked into their team or they’re good there’s a reason they’re not actually available so it’s really hard to figure out what the Pacers should do if they were looking for Alternatives and I don’t even think they should be looking for Alternatives so that brings me to the fact that the the Pacers have to think about this season that they’re gonna have to pay Miles Turner next year so that already makes their backup center spot tricky um and if Turner shows that that if they’re land on that decision it’s out of their hands Turner can decide to sign elsewhere then they figure that out uh he can’t extend like it’s all very convoluted and overlapping I think that their goal to start this season should be to see what you can get from the young guys and then be more aggressive in really pushing to win games later in the season because you you have essentially like the first couple months of the season to really see what the young players can do and the rest of the year is probably going to be spent winning games and like not really like jarus Walker if you come in and you make a mistake like you’re probably not going to play that much because the game is going to be close and we’re going to need crunch time Benedict Maan if you come in and you can’t defend and your shots not going like we’ve got Andrew nard and Ben Shepard is right here ready to go and so like I it’s really really tough to see how the Pacers can give the roster the young players on the roster the bandwidth that they’re going to need to flesh out what they can be in the NBA while also pursuing their goal of winning as many games as possible because I don’t think the East is gonna be as bad as like it’s not the West obviously the top eight is better than last year in the East yes yes N9 through 15 uh those those are basketball team but those are in fact members of the National Basketball Association um the thing with that is you mentioned the top eight like so if you mess around too much and you find yourself in that seven eight range play yeah you’re in the playin and I don’t know about you but I don’t really want to end up in the playin and then I don’t want to see Boston in the first round if you end up in that situation too like there’s there’s a whole lot of incentive to be as good as possible but you can’t afford to squander a very narrow window to figure out what your what the value of your young guys is because your team is going to get incredibly expensive or not incredibly expensive incredibly hard decisions are gonna have to be made with the cap sheet in mind that start literally in 12 months 11 months actually because would be before free agency next year yeah you’re you’re spot on about that and like I that’s so I’ve been talking about this like that they did what I would have done this summer but now now they have to make the next step decisions which it might just be one but it’s going to be one like man we have to do this but this trade or move just hurts like hell to do right like it’s gonna feel like un Pacers Z or something but they just have to do it and it’s hard to do that in a way that doesn’t take back crappy salary or doesn’t bring back players that won’t play like it’s hard it’s a very you’re right that it’s a very tight needle the thread and the center position’s kind of the face of it because they still need a good center right they’re trying to win now so one solution we haven’t discussed is just they pay the tax um I implore you to look at how much luxury tax payments the Suns and Celtics alone are going to be contributing to the rest of the NBA next season before that is your your answer look every fan should want their team to pay as much money for the roster as possible that’s the easiest solution to this problem we’ve we’ve put together but I I have my hunches on where this would go for any team that sniff the line um and so they they have to think about it and I think the easiest answer for the starting spot is pay Turner but hey guess what there’s two centers have to play at least you need three to me the P have always had three well let’s say you do keep Turner and maybe you do pay uh one of or both of McConnell and Mard you’re cozy up with the tax well hey Isaiah Jackson is just still out there and needs his money so can you fit him into that 51 million gap I talked about earlier and that’s right now they could make trades but if not they need someone there too and and the budget would be tighter so think worse than Isaiah Jackson right maybe like what he makes now for a vet would be like similar production but less upside like it that also is hard that is also a tricky route to deal with and like yeah you can open up way more reasonable centers if you’re just aiming for backups right Dwight Powell plumbley Alex Lenn like these guys are fine you’re fine if they backup moamba Dron sharp I think I’m the only person left to likes Dron sharp like I like sharp he’s fine uh you know there will be there will be guys but it’s like now you have to do something there and if you do that then you can’t you know sign any mid-level players and maybe it’s harder to keep some it’s like it’s just such an influx position and so I think if you’re the Pacers your hope is that Miles Turner plays another season so good and healthy right I think it matter lot he played 77 games plus playoffs last year that’s so obvious that he should be kept and then you’re set at Center but you have to figure out another guard and your second big that’s probably the best solution because the alternative is that you think you like Turner might if Turner decides to go somewhere else or he doesn’t play well this year because you can’t extend him like that you have to think about do we make a trade for a different Center do we extend nobody like it it all kind of hinges on this one position to me the only contract that I would hear people saying oh that makes sense for the Pacers is anako ok kongu who has four more years at 62 million and is is pretty young not sure he’s like an awesome fit but contractually that’d be a good fit but how would that trade even come together I don’t want to really talk about fake trades but I think the best case scenario for the Pacers to solve this discussion of what should they do with the five is Miles Turner has the exact same season if not a little better that he just had yeah which you know that makes it very easy yeah that that does make it very easy and I think really the the only way that the Pacers can move forward this year is just by planning to have Miles Turner on the team likee I mean you have him for this season obviously you are playing to play well so trying to figure out a replacement for Miles Turner while Miles Turner is still on your team probably gets a little bit icky but Miles Turner is also used to that sort of discussion so I don’t know how how much that would that would uh don’t don’t don’t put that don’t don’t put that Juju into the air I would not not want to deal with that again that was like I would not third episode of Locked on Pacers for three years was like well they two centers y shout out Gordon Hayward um but really it’s I mean you know you pull from one bucket to to put into another right like if you were going to pay Miles Turner you cannot pay probably two of Isaiah Jackson jarus Walker Benedict maen and Andrew nimart like that the math gets tight real quick and that doesn’t even get into the question of whether like you know whatever trade comes along TJ McConnell’s not under like it just gets so weird but I think Miles Turner was so good last year and is such a great fit with SE yakum and plays so well with halberton that you just can’t I don’t think you can find a replacement that makes you better on the floor that makes it worth it on the cap sheet and can find a player that makes it better on the cap sheet that makes it worth it on the floor and another factor in this is like pretend there’s like Pascal seak and halber run into each other and they’re both out for the season after like 20 games or something stupid right so the Pacers goal is changed dramatically well even trading Turner is kind of hard because any team that acquires him also can’t extend him right right and and he’s good so it’d be good teams but a lot of the best teams have their Center because Center’s like very stylistically important to teams right it’s very hard to mismatch that which other reason I think the best case scenario for the Pacers is that Turner plays well and they just keep him so it’s it’s re it’s really this season has a lot of Miles Turner in it and they need it to go well or pretty close to last year so they can feel good about paying him and taking from another bucket like you said and I keep and I keep talking about the tax next year because that’s probably their biggest hurdle after the cap grows another 10% it’ll be a little easier but they you know you’re right NE even let’s say they squeeze it in they can keep all of nard McConnell and Turner they did it oh gosh now we got to pay Ma you know like it just never stops it never stops for them so that’s why nailing it’s so important and why Finding if they can a cheap good backup with a long contract would be awesome but that’s hard to do everybody wants that is there any outcome from this season that would make you okay going for sort of like a cavan looney type like a hey let’s get a I said this about jayen Smith I was like there is a world where Jaylen Smith is the starting center quote unquote and then you just close with seak at the five because of the way the money looks out so is there a world where Harris Walker plays so well that him and seak can kind of yeah is there a world where that happens I don’t see it personally because of the stylistic exactly like what you said there’s nobody who can match that yeah I agree and I mean like Obie worked at the five because he could like hang with poris in that first round Series right and we haven’t really seen seaka with the five and maybe jarus can be a wrecking B right away but like part of that is they need someone to defend a five that’s why you’d have right lunar who random Center X yes is to do that and it’s very you you run into very few matchups where you’re like yes good we can defend the center or we have to close with random Center X at the five and so will you have the talent across the roster to make it so that another team will bend to you going small and I don’t think the answer will be yes yeah it’s it’s really hard to do and maybe you’re just like well who cares shakum at the five toen at the four guard it good luck like that you know that worked against the Bucks and it really Turner was even a part of that stuff they were the cross matching yeah so yeah it’s a tough it’s a tough pressure point and a tough position and I don’t I don’t really know how they handle it besides hope Turner continues to play well and and even if he plays bad you’d want to keep him in fact his price would possibly be lower but when it’s unrestricted you just never know so is there oh any value you smiled before you even started talking go because I thought of it earlier I was like is there anything that will tie back to the renegotiation and extend about the money that he got in that that the patents might be like hey man real quick like check this cap sheet out real quick I know you’re going to want 28 can we do 25 I think so that was nice because that gave like current technically yeah people look at his deal like oh he’s only making 19 this year but like he’s really making 25 or whatever should out to be I forget what his extension was two years and I think was0 million I think 60 sounds right yeah so you got 30 million per year of new money right maybe I don’t know I was just trying to think I was like okay you know is that something I don’t know how that works I think Claxton is the right comp in general because it was similar where the Nets were like well we’re over the cap what do you want you know like it’s going to be like that I think and then they have to decide from there what the rest of the position looks like so every other position I feel like the Pacers feel good about one of the two players they have at that spot even more than two in some spots for years for much of the Halbert and seia comparing era right in fact n Smith for three years and if you get two years out of any nard new cont that’s all all of the positions for all of the years of seaka hurn together except for Center and so it’s going to be a very interesting year of does Miles Turner prove and I think he has currently proven it like to be clear I think he’s already on the correct side of this but do he prove that yes I belong as the long-term center with this core so far he’s easily training TOS easily and right now that would be my priority number one free agency for the Pacers next year and what does Isaiah Jackson show of like the can we do we need this be squeezing this guy in or is this just going to be a cap casualty of a good player which has happened to restrict like Precious atua is floating out there right now for cap reasons he’s a good backup five like that just happens sometimes Paul Reed just got the same unfortunate fate right so that is from a roster perspective maybe the biggest storyline to me besides the potential for consolidation trade for the Pacers is what happens at the five did we miss any bases here uh I don’t think so I I think the only thing that I would say is that um five starters I don’t know if this is the right way of looking at it but average starter is about 20% of the cap wouldn’t you say yes yes agreed uh 25 26 Season that will be 30 thou $30 million not 30,000 $30 million will be 20% of the cap in 25 26 so keep that in mind as well Miles Turner uh is at a pretty significant discount right now but I can’t think of anything else other than maybe the Pacers luck into James wisman stepping up as the backup center and that saves them at least a good chunk of money look don’t get me wrong they are right to bet on their ability to to develop players like they have they have earned the right to tell me to shut up for being like why did they get a vet but like man they are they’re putting a lot of not a lot of eggs it’s a minimum contract they’re putting some eggs in a third Center that I’m like man they they need that guy to play and it’s really easy if it doesn’t go to just be like hey look Obi Topp and you’re the third five now great go or jarus or whoever so it’s not like that there’s like very little actual downside but just man that is uh that is some hope like if he if maybe that’s the answer this is I guess this is the last thing we didn’t talk about what what are the chances James wisman actually is good enough to be there backup five beyond the season like it exists it’s not zero definitely not zero no because again like you said iac’s getting paid Beyond this season like Goga bad funny enough we estimate his Goa was going to be the first contract I brought up was a little bit over eight yeah and that would hurt the Pacers like it just like Isaiah Jackson getting $9 million a year plus their 20th overall pick something making like $3 million that is that’s 12 of the $50 million you have to mess with and you haven’t touched McConnell Turner or nimart like that’s that is significant um I don’t I don’t think it’s zero but I am also not confident that James wisman is a good basketball player I think he’s just big and and fast he’s big and fast like I can’t quit him right I before they signed him I tweeted I tweeted about that with uh with somebody and like I I get it sometimes he’ll catch it at the elbow and just like power DB ball boom I’m at the ba basket bucket I’m like dang he’s huge yeah dang like that’s an Unstoppable play that just happened and then it never happens for the rest of the game so uh he just one extra skill for him right any level of competence defending pick and roll any range like his average shot since last year was less than five feet uh any passing like any one thing I’m be like okay that could be a backup five like I get it you know but so far it’s just been like I’m huge and that’s fine like he’s still huge you know that’s gonna work but I don’t know in in basketball that is helpful uh I’m not saying this as um I would say it’s proba it’s like maybe a 30% chance yeah that I would go a little lower than that but that’s close I’m just thinking like okay if if James wisman can be 50% of what Isaiah Jackson is but he makes 20% of what Isaiah Jackson will make that will be good enough for how tight these books are going to get very true and then you know you if like you still have Obie toin on the roster you still have jerus Walker you still Yak I’m like you can scr together enough you could still go get a a big for the minimum and go get I’m sure biombo will still be out there at that point like it’s go get be some guys who are just always like year to year like yeah this a good backup five sure yep y Daniel Ty will be a free agent finnally enough yes he will so so to finish up with ixs just really quick like worse than Mo Vagner worse than yonis no B those guys got 11 million 10 million whatever um better than Eubanks better than Kevin Love right they got four and five million so he’s somewhere between that and the only two centers in between that would be Drummond and um googa who you said yeah and goa’s a better comp I think because of his AG and Drummond got a player option so um and yeah that seven right now I would say and Jaylen Smith just got no nine million right you know that’s another one so that cter range is what uh what I’d be imagining would be available to him if he and this depends on how he plays this year too so yeah uh I think I think spot baby yeah fun it’s basically I think you said it’s almost a zero percent chance that Isaiah Jackson extends can I’ll just say knowing nothing it’s it’s a z% chance that Isaiah Jackson extends yeah I’ve been surprised before I guess but I I would be pretty stunned just given their financial realities of the future because that would signal that they like are confident they’re losing somebody not that they like expected the like yeah we like no you know I don’t know yeah I mean there’s the and no one like I used to say this all the time and then it’s happened three times since I said it we’re like no one ever extends for less than ML and then n little saying that then pton Pritcher did it and then H someone else did I can’t remember neith oh no yes he did he was close neith did barely um so I used to think that was super rare now it just is a thing apparently so I guess it’s possible but I would yeah I’d put pretty low odds on it I mean I just to be you know we’re on quite a tangent here but if Isaiah Jackson did get extended I imagine that would actually be more of a trade chip than anything uh because I imagine that if he got tra if he got extended it would not be for something that is so C pois makes those so hard to trade well it’s just the average of his extended salary and his current year salary if the difference of that is not going to be significant if he does get extended at like three for 30 then you’re looking at a sevenish million dollar salary to trade and that’s not that big of a deal true so yeah and with the well the problem is with small numbers that Gap matters because the 140% for salary matching is like not adding that much you know huge numbers it’s like oh yeah who cares whatever still but yeah like if if he says I’ll take three for 15 right now I’m like okay yeah here yeah done like sure but that’s not gonna happen no way right so that doesn’t make any sense for him so because now he knows he’s he’s gonna be the backup like he’s gonna play he have a chance to show stuff and again saw he saw googa and Jaylen Smith get eight nine million right he can do that he did he was good in the playoffs like that matters that’s what I’m saying he can go out and get that so so things to keep an eye for the Pacer Center position obviously would’ be the performance of their two likely rotation centers this year but also like a McConnell extension an Mard extension that matters for their Center going forward so because that position is in flux not this year but potentially long term everything they do going forward is going to matter for that and I think it’s such a fascinating position and I’m really interested and how it shakes out I have nothing else to add we’ve covered the grounds here good luck to Jay Smith with the bulls Rett thank you for the time where G people find you and your musings on basketball things and everybody Welcome right back to the Eastern Time Zone because we have messed up communicating podcast start time twice because I am not good at these things I think it’s actually more than twice I think I’ve had to cancel twice and we’ve actually gone through with it despite the messed up times tce one time was was something so Random I can’t I don’t want to say it but that doesn’t count that’s not a time zone thing it kind of is but it’s not my man said today at two in the morning thinking like whatever dude I’m up late I’ve had a really weird week oh oh but no I you can find me on Twitter _ Bower uh basketball musings do happen there for sure they they pop up from time to time uh I’m on X or Twitter at Tony R East and this show is there at lockon Pacers if you want to see the topics before you click on the show the nice bed list there every day when I remember to tweet because I’m really bad at remembering to do that um tomorrow like I said Yosi golin is going to join us my favorite cap guy cap if you are looking for cap information just cap information there’s lots of other sites that have other resources just cap information caps.com that y runs is unbelievably good it’s my favorite one um he’s gonna come to help us talk about the tax next year that is now Beyond The Centers the other interesting plotline of the coming season of roster building for the Pacers and then Friday we’ll preview summer league woohoo I can’t wait I’ll be there officially found that out today to watch the young Pacers in action in Vegas for a few days R thank you for the time everybody thank you for tuning in back very soon till then everybody have a wonderful day

The Indiana Pacers have a quality center rotation in Myles Turner, Isaiah Jackson, and James Wiseman, but 2024-25 will be a huge year for the Pacers at the 5 spot. Why is that? What do the Pacers need to see and consider financially? Host Tony East is joined by Rhett Bauer to break it all down.

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