Over the weekend in the NBA, the Indiana Pacers began their “re-tooling” process by sending Caris LeVert and a 2022 second-round pick from the Heat to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Ricky Rubio, a lottery-protected 2022 first-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick from the Rockets via Indiana and a 2027 second-round pick from the Jazz via Indiana, first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The lottery-protected first-round pick the Pacers receive is Cleveland’s 2022 first-round pick and with the Cavaliers currently the 4-seed in the Eastern Conference, this pick will more than likely convey over to the Pacers and end up in the second-half of the first-round of this upcoming year’s draft.
Earlier in the season, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Indiana Pacers were on the verge of a “rebuild” and that they were going to be engaging in trade talks surrounding Myles Turner, Caris LeVert and Domantas Sabonis.
While ownership shot down the talk of them looking to “rebuild”, the Pacers still ended up dealing LeVert over the weekend and now they dealt Domantas Sabonis to the Kings on Tuesday.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Cavaliers Trade For Pacers’ Caris LeVert Amid Backcourt Injuries
Currently 19-36 and seven games back from the 10-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference, the Pacers are not going to be in the playoffs this season, which is why they looked to make moves to set themselves up for future success.
Ricky Rubio is out for the season with a torn left ACL, but his contract is set to expire after this season, instantly freeing up a ton of cap space for the Pacers to play around with as they look to “re-tool” around Malcolm Brogdon and their young talents.
In Cleveland, the young Cavaliers have faced a ton of adversity with both Collin Sexton and Ricky Rubio suffering season-ending injuries, but they have never stopped fighting and find themselves on the verge of making the playoffs for the first-time without LeBron James since 1998.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Cavaliers Trade For Pacers’ Caris LeVert Amid Backcourt Injuries
Adding another high-level scorer on the wing was essential for the Cavaliers to lock-up their playoff spot this season and now, with the addition of Caris LeVert, Cleveland has everything they need to be a dark-horse in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Caris LeVert was expected to be dealt ahead of the trade deadline this season and now he will be a member of a young and hungry Cleveland Cavaliers squad.
