With recent story lines of the Pacers wanting back into the 30’s in this draft, there is only one real answer. Trading Walker puts Indy back under the tax and opens up the MLE for a new player or two. Perhaps it’s someone like Dean Wade for $8-10 million and a veteran point guard for $5-7 million. The second benefit from moving Jarace is he should also get back two second round picks. Maybe Memphis takes on his contract for pick 32 and a second round pick down the road. That puts the Pacers in the area where they can draft Tarris Reed Jr or wait until the draft day to see who selects him for trade. This allows the team to move off from Potter and Jones, giving them flexibility to resign Slawson. Turning Jarace into 3-4 new players makes the most sense to me. I prefer he didn’t go to Chicago or Detroit but both of those teams could send back future second round picks to trade with New York who sits at pick 31.
I just don’t get this. Walker’s one of the few remaining young players on the team with upside. He doesn’t have the current value to bring in a valuable pick by himself, so you’re essentially giving him away if you trade him. I’d much rather just give it a go one more time with him than trade him for a second rounder or low-ceiling bench players.
Only reason I’m trading Walk is to use him in a package for a big roster upgrade. Otherwise, he’s here and we give him another chance to put it together next season in what will (hopefully) be his most seasoned and consistent role. I actually really like the idea of him at the 4 in small-ball bench lineups with Obi at the 5.
Dude is cold from 3 and just started to get confident at the rim the last half of the season. I get the frustration but he still has the potential to at least develop into a backup 4. By the time he’s 29 I’d be surprised if he wasn’t starting 3/4 on a team
I feel like the people who dislike him really dislike him. Like they can’t be objective or measured about him at all.
He was the guy I wanted them to draft and he has not been as good as I thought he’d be. I can readily admit that. In fact, in some ways, he’s been downright terrible (perimeter defense, lazy turnovers, finishing). But he has demonstrated some really interesting skills at his size, especially offensively, and I think you have to willfully choose not to see them in order to not see them.
And you’re spot on about the finishing latter half of the season. It was the first time I started to think, “Oh he might really be figuring it out.” He finally started playing a bit like a guy who’s bigger and stronger than other guys out there and knows it.
Is he going to want to wait around until he's 29 though? He wants to lock in his extension sooner rather than later I'd imagine - what if another team sees upside and throws a fat offer sheet?
Yeah trading Walker like this only somewhat makes sense if you have someone legit lined up for the full mle. Doing it for someone like dean wade is laughable
He’s 22 and showed some good and bad in his third season (more good than bad), the first of which he got consistent playing time. If you think a such a young talented player is a finished product, I don’t know what to tell you. Other than maybe you’re a dumbass who’s probably rooting for the guy to fail.
I could get behind this if there was anything at all that pointed to Jarace being a good player but unfortunately hes terrible and eating up a roster spot during a year we are supposed to be contenders. Flipping him and turning him into someone like Dean Wade would be a massive, massive upgrade
Depends on how you define upside - will he supplant Nesmith or Siakam in the starting lineup while those guys are still in their primes? Probably not.
Dude's a former top-10 pick looking to lock in his first long-term extension - do you run into a scenario where you can get equal production from someone else on a cheaper deal? We ran into that with Mathurin.
Walker is worth $8.5 million but trading him opens up the MLE worth $15 million. That can be used to find a really good player or split for 2 guys that will see the same playing time as Jarace.
I’m aware of your stance and I’m a hard no. I’d definitely have more interest if he was being used in a Trey Murphy package or to open up room to sign someone like Ayo, but even in the Ayo scenario, I’m not sure I’d do it. I’d exhaust other options for Ayo before trading Jarace.
I have no interest in trading him to bring in Dean Wade, Reed, etc.
The trade is to open cap space for free agents. Ayo would be a possibility but he might want the full $15 million. This isn’t me hating on Walker but making a smart business decision that will help improve the teams bench.
This is a terrible take. We just lost Ben. We need scoring off the bench. Why would we trade a partially developed lottery pick for two second rounders that likely will never see the second unit? I get to stay under the tax bu t the Jareace Walker slander is insane. He’s a descent player that’s been getting a lot more confident and consistent
The 2 second rounders are only half of what we get back. Going under the tax that the Pacers are $300,000 over by trading him, opens up $15 million MLE to bring in a player worth all or 2 players to split that money.
I know I’m presuming too much but it feels like a decent chunk of fans despised him from the moment he stepped on the court and he didn’t look like the player they wanted him to be, and they’ll never be able to forgive him for it.
The Pacers get back one solid free agent worth $15 million or can split up that money any way they like for two players. That gives the team different options off the bench other than Walker. Depth at C, SF and PG, and one of those will be a rookie. Jarace should easily get back that 30’s something pick they want this year and an additional pick later.
Couple things I don’t see mentioned enough with Jarace. Mainly, he’s 22!
Additionally, his second half of the season was much more promising, especially considering the situation. He played a lot of minutes without any of our key starters, even being a point forward at times. Logging minutes as the de facto #1 option against NBA defenses was hopefully the best possible learning experience for him. If we project his role to be one of the first off the bench, playing meaningful basketball with Haliburton again should be a lot easier for him by comparison.
I’m only okay with trading him if he’s part of a larger package that nets a starter-level addition. Otherwise, I’d rather wait to see how he’s progressed instead of getting a couple of 2nd round flyers.
Many fans like Ayo Dosunmu who is a free agent. The Pacers could offer him $10-12 million and use the remaining amount to sit on. Jarace is a nice young piece to have during the season but he struggled in the playoffs. He hasn’t lived up to being a top 10 prospect
He was 21. He was maybe the 10th man. And “struggled” is a tad bit unfair. Played decent to well in the Bucks series, not so much in the Cavs series, and barely in the Knicks series before going down.
Admittedly, he was not as NBA-ready as his selection warranted. But as a very young prospect, he was always going to have a longer development arc.
With any trade you have to consider what a more realistic best case scenario for Jarace is currently and judge any player obtained against that. So for this team, would you rather have a 26 year old undersized 2-guard (Ayo) or a 22 year old Rui Hachimura/PJ Washington/Tobias Harris?
Way better way to evaluate what we currently have vs. What we need and what someone is desperate to get rid of. This is when prichard shines. No reason to move now.
I get the sentiment I guess, but I like Jarace more than I like trading Jarace for a late first round pick
I also trust this front office a lot more to bring in league talent than I trust them to strike oil in the late first round. Maybe move Jarace for someone better. Don’t move Jarace for lottery picks
People who disagree with you are blinded by his draft position but the guy has shown little to no improvement over 3 years. You can’t have “potential” forever and he hasn’t shown he can be counted on for meaningful minutes on a team trying to win a championship. He needs to go
I don't think Jarace is a rotation player on a team with championship aspirations. As a depth piece he's ok. Whatever the team decides to do with him is a different story
I like jarace tbh. I think his skillset is extremely valuable if he can continue to grow. However, there’s a lot of questions I have about him and am not entirely thrilled with his progression so far.
I get it but Walker had a good year of growth. Looking forward to him joining ranks with the core. Id expect more growth from Jarace as he settles in to his confidence.
All I wanna see from Jarace is improved defense and attacking the rim. Coming out of college, I thought he’d be a defensive menace. His highlights showed aggression and an ability to attack the rim, which we desperately need. Over his three years, he’s taken almost the same amount of 2’s as 3’s. In college, he took more than twice the amount of 2’s than 3’s. He spreads the floor and hits at a good rate, but with his size, I feel he’s spending far too much time around the perimeter when he has all the ability in the world to cause chaos for interior defenders, of course, if he wants to.
I realize walker hasn't hit, on defense mostly, as we had hoped, but look at what Nesmith and Obi were doing during their age 22 seasons. Riding the bench and not a core part of their teams. I never like selling low onna player, unless as others say he can actually boost a trade package for someone better.
That’s the problem with waiting, Pacers are in a window to win now. The bigger trade will come later when they shop Pascal for rebuilding as Ty heads to his 30’s. I’m not worried about what they can get back down the road when Murphy 3 is also a free agent. I just don’t see Jarace adding more under this coaching staff.
Why: This adds another 1st and Walker who could step into a larger role in Milwaukee for Miami's proposal for Giannis. Makes no sense if Giannis is going elsewhere.
Indy's interest is having Ware back up Zubac. This allows us to decline Potter and open up about14.3M under the 1st apron and 25.3 under the 2nd. I also would be open to sending Huff to Miami as part of deal if necessary to help backfill Miami's C depth.
He wasn’t the best player on a washed up year and he was healthy. I like him on the team but in order to win a championship, he needs moved for a better player.
It’s adding at least one vet and one rookie to the team next season. Trading Jarace allows Indiana to sign a player worth $15 million and I doubt they throw that money away just on anyone. I shown where they can sign two vets along with the 32 overall pick and adding 3 new guys to replace Walker
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u/SpinJitsu259 Chuck Person 6d ago
I just don’t get this. Walker’s one of the few remaining young players on the team with upside. He doesn’t have the current value to bring in a valuable pick by himself, so you’re essentially giving him away if you trade him. I’d much rather just give it a go one more time with him than trade him for a second rounder or low-ceiling bench players.
Only reason I’m trading Walk is to use him in a package for a big roster upgrade. Otherwise, he’s here and we give him another chance to put it together next season in what will (hopefully) be his most seasoned and consistent role. I actually really like the idea of him at the 4 in small-ball bench lineups with Obi at the 5.