Why The Indiana Pacers Do The Deal
Look. The Pacers could bring back P.J. Washington in a Turner deal. We’d forgive them.
They might even be more competitive in 2022-23 for doing so. Washington is a nice player. He’s a dual big who can effectively man the 5 in small-ball lines. He spaces the floor, and he can defend multiple positions.
Adding him could help the Pacers win….what, 35 games next year? In other words, just enough to miss the playoffs, and also miss out on top lottery odds. In ordinary circumstances, that might even be justifiable. The Pacers could try to make another incremental improvement ahead of 2023-24 and make a playoff push.
These are not ordinary circumstances. The 2023 draft could be historic. Victor Wembenyama is the headliner, but there are plenty of other potentially franchise-altering talents in the pool.
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With no disrespect intended, there are at least 10 players in this draft who are likely to serve the Pacers better than Washington – so they should prefer securing top-10 odds to landing him.
With that said, the Hornets are closer to the bottom than the top of the Eastern Conference as well. Shouldn’t they use the same logic?