MIAMI, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 27: Bennedict Mathurin #00 of the Indiana Pacers reacts during the third quarter of the game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on December 27, 2025 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Tomas Diniz Santos/Getty Images)
Getty Images
INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers are 11-36 and the NBA trade deadline is less than two weeks away. Such a poor win to loss ratio would typically lead to thinking that a team should sell off superfluous parts in trades and search for younger players or draft assets in return. But the Pacers aren’t in a typical spot.
Instead, they are just months removed from a trip to the NBA Finals. They were one win from an NBA title when star guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles. He’s out for the season, and his injury (along with several others) is a major factor in Indiana’s struggles. They could, and hope to, be a contender again next season. So selling off talent doesn’t make a ton of sense.
And that leaves the Pacers in the middle. Literally – they have a big need for a starting center. They might have a crowded rotation next season. But depth in the current NBA is more important than ever, and Indiana’s bench has been a vital part of their success in recent years. The Pacers could be buyers and look for their center of the future now, or they could dangle some of their less-needed pieces for value. There is no right or wrong answer for their trade deadline path so long as they consider one thing: value.
Finding value that makes more long-term sense for the franchise should be their goal in the coming days. The only mistake the Pacers could make would be angling for short-term pieces in a season that is nearly certain to not end in postseason play.
What does long-term value look like for the Pacers?
For most teams with a losing record, the attention turns to players on expiring contracts. Should they be dealt before hitting free agency and possibly leave for nothing in return? Even when the Pacers were winning and reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024, they dealt away Buddy Hield, a rotation player, at the trade deadline.
For the Pacers, the only player that has a standard contract certain to expire after this season is young guard Bennedict Mathurin. Micah Potter (team option) could be a free agent in the coming summer, but he isn’t eligible to be traded this season. Young guard Kam Jones’ contract isn’t fully guaranteed next year, but the Pacers would have to waive him – and Quenton Jackson’s contract also expires, but he’s on a two-way deal and doesn’t factor much into the trade landscape.
That leaves just Mathurin, who will be a free agent this summer. Crucially, though, the Pacers can control his future to some extent. Unlike Hield, Mathurin could be a restricted free agent in the offseason if Indiana sends him a qualifying offer. Should that happen, the blue and gold can match a contract offer Mathurin signs with another team, making it far less likely he’d bolt for nothing in return.
Still, his contract expires at the end of the season, and he’ll be in need of a raise in 2026-27. Are the Pacers, and their shrinking distance from the luxury tax, willing to pay Mathurin what he will command in free agency? His role next season projects to be a bench role, pending a strong close to the season. What is that player worth to the Pacers?
If the front office determines that paying Mathurin in the summer maximizes their championship odds during their current window, they shouldn’t trade him. If they aren’t sure, perhaps moving him for long-term value in the form of young players or draft picks would make sense. Using his value as a way to upgrade the center spot makes some sense, too.
Mathurin’s role next season leads to another question for the blue and gold. What do they believe their rotation will be in 2026-27 when Haliburton returns? Presuming their core of Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, T.J. McConnell, and Obi Toppin are all back again, that leaves few openings for minutes.
Some of those rotation slots will be filled by centers, who may or may not be on Indiana’s roster right now. That leaves just a spot or two for the likes of Mathurin, an upcoming high draft pick, Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker, Johnny Furphy, and Jones. If some of those players don’t project to be in Indiana’s rotation next season, would the front office be willing to move them for long-term assets that provide value in the future?
CLEVELAND, OHIO – NOVEMBER 21: Pascal Siakam #43 of the Indiana Pacers celebrates with teammate Jarace Walker #5 during the first quarter at Rocket Arena on November 21, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Most of those players are young, developing, and on a cheaper contract. That makes them tempting pieces to hang on to. But the Pacers have a championship window with Haliburton and Siakam on the roster. Maximizing that might force them to think about the future role of their younger players.
What might the Pacers look at elsewhere?
Beyond their own roster, the Pacers can study the past as they look to the future. Two recent teams – the 2018-19 Cleveland Cavaliers and 2019-20 Golden State Warriors – were in somewhat similar situations in that they played in the NBA Finals during the prior season, then had a losing record the following campaign.
For those two teams and the Pacers, the absence of a talented player(s) from the year prior led to their struggles. That forced them to adjust. The Cavaliers, who lost LeBron James and weren’t going to get him back, traded away Kyle Korver, George Hill, Rodney Hood, and Alec Burks in exchange for draft capital and some younger players. They were heading into a rebuild.
The Warriors, meanwhile, lost Kevin Durant in free agency. But Steph Curry (played five games) and Klay Thompson missed that season due to injury, so Golden State expected to bounce back. They won a title just a few years later. During their post-Finals down year, they also sent away veterans for draft picks – Glenn Robinson III, Alec Burks, D’Angelo Russell, and Willie Cauley-Stein were dealt elsewhere.
None of the players the Warriors and Cavaliers traded away were bad. But they weren’t tied-down pieces, and those two teams preferred flexibility and assets during a losing season.
Could the Pacers do the same? They have fewer veteran players who feel expendable – they are relatively young for a team that just reached the NBA Finals. But with so many pieces potentially on the outside of the rotation next season, studying history may behoove the blue and gold.
And the Pacers need to consider something the Cavaliers and Warriors couldn’t – trading for a contributor. They needed a starting center, and they should hope to acquire one before the start of next season. That’s when Haliburton will be back and the team’s goal will be contending.
Many reports, dating back as far as early December, have indicated the Pacers are looking for their center of the future. They could look to acquire that player now or in the offseason, but the urgency to make such a move only goes up as time passes. If the right deal for a starting-level center is there for the Pacers right now, will the Pacers actually be buyers despite having the worst record in the NBA? That’s something they’ll have to mull over in the coming days.
Regardless of what moves the Pacers make at this deadline, it will assuredly be about long-term value more than short-term gain. They aren’t in position to think about the present and instead must get either a center who can start for the next few years or assets that will help them acquire that player, and other pieces of value, later.