Pacers Acquire Obi Toppin in Trade with Knicks

All of you forward-desperate Pacers fans rejoice. Toppin is a 6'9'' Power Forward with a 7'2'' wingspan. A fantastic athlete, he excels in transition and playing above the rim. It's not hard to imagine the highlights he'll produce catching touchdown passes from franchise QB Tyrese Haliburton. In fact, the newly minted $260 million dollar man is already salivating over the idea.

While the fit in transition is tantalizing, Toppin will need to show growth to truly find a home in Indiana. After all, there's a reason the 8th pick in the 2020 draft was traded for two future seconds while other members of his class are receiving mind-boggling rookie extensions.

The first question mark is his shooting. Though he's far from a non-shooter – he connected on a serviceable 35% from three last year – I don't need to remind you of the importance of floor spacing in Carlisle's offense. The Pacers already have a collection of young bigs relegated to backup center minutes to do an inability to make threes (and they possibly added another with the 7th pick in the draft). If Obi wants to get more minutes than he did in New York, proving himself as a consistent threat from outside will go a long way.

Questions about his defense and rebounding are also reason for trepidation. Part of why he's on the move is that he didn't meet Tom Thibodeau's exacting defensive standards. The snapshot of his defensive metrics below is not for the faint of heart.

Having said that, his size, mobility and athleticism give him an advantage over the incumbents on the roster. If he can commit to defense, he has a chance to be better than the alternative – which last year was a guard trying his darndest against much bigger players.

Finally, Toppin is a Restricted Free Agent next summer. With the Pacers drafting the Power Forward of the future (hopefully) less that two weeks ago, Toppin only has a year to convince the team that he's starter material. I suppose this season is an audition for the rest of the league as well. However, if Walker looks to be ahead of the curve, the team may decide to prioritize the rookie's development and Toppin could find himself right back on the bench.

But enough with the worst case scenarios. Toppin projects to a fun player who fits a team need. More importantly, he is the latest conquest in Kevin Pritchard's never ending quest to collect every player from the 2020 Draft.

First Round Picks Sign Rookie Deals

A mere formality but newsworthy nonetheless. Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard are officially signed and members of the Pacers roster.

Sheppard's agent seems to have leaked the details of his deal, whereas I haven't seen a report about what Jarace ended up with. Even so, it's fair to assume that Jarace signed for the max allowable and will make somewhere in the neighborhood of $27.3 million over the course of his rookie deal.

Ronald Nored Leaves for Atlanta

This move came as a bit of a surprise, to me at least. Nored, the former Butler University star, was one of the most influential coaches on the staff last year. During games he rarely sat down, constantly shouting instructions at his team. I thought he would be a natural successor to Carlisle when the time comes. I suppose he still may be, though now he will be an outside hire.

Jenny Boucek will deservedly take his place. She is another coach who can often be heard shouting instructions throughout the game. Not to mention, her work fixing TJ McConnell's outside shot is the stuff of legend. I expect her to continue to rise up the coaching ranks.

A familiar face in Jim Boylen will replace Boucek behind the bench. Boylen is a defensive specialist who served under Frank Vogel during the peak years of our battles with the Heat. After leaving the Pacers and winning a championship as an Assistant with the Spurs, he was hired as the Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls. He served in the role for two seasons before being let go.

Tagged in:

Trades News FA