Domantas Sabonis rumors: Indiana Pacers shopping promising young big man (report)

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2019/10/domantas-sabonis-rumors-indiana-pacers-shopping-promising-young-big-man-report.html



Domantas Sabonis rumors: Indiana Pacers shopping promising young big man (report)




Today 8:03 PM





Boston Celtics' Jaylen Brown (7) is fouled by Indiana Pacers' Domantas Sabonis (11) during the second half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Friday, April 19, 2019, in Indianapolis. Boston won 104-96. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)




By John Karalis | JKaralis@masslive.com




The Indiana Pacers are reportedly in “active trade talks” for their promising young big man Domantas Sabonis, according to The Athletic.

The 23-year-old Sabonis was part of the Paul George trade that also netted Victor Oladipo for the Pacers. Sabonis is coming off a very good year that saw his efficiency numbers skyrocket, making him one of the more potent offensive centers in the league. He was part of a frontcourt that had Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens raving last season.


“Sabonis is a really good player,” Stevens said during their first round series against Indiana. “They’ve got a really good frontline and they challenge you because they play big most of the time."

Indiana’s big lineups don’t seem to be working quite like they’d hoped, which is part of why they’re in a quandary with Sabonis. There has always been a question of whether he would work playing alongside center Myles Turner. Both are high-quality big men with some different skills. Playing them together requires one to play a bit out of position, thus neutralizing some of those skills.

According to the Athletic, several teams are interested in Sabonis. Specific teams were not mentioned, but Boston finds themselves in a similar situation as Indiana, but with wings instead of bigs. In fact, Jaylen Brown could be the Boston wing version of Sabonis: An extension-eligible (soon-to-be) 23-year-old with tons of promise faced with a logjam at his position and questions about whether he’s worth a maximum offer.


(Side note: It’s important to note that max offers for rookie contract guys like Sabonis and Brown is 25 percent of the cap, as opposed to 30 percent allowed for players with 7-9 years experience and 35 percent allowed for 10 year vets.)

The Celtics and Pacers can practically trade these players just for one another (Indiana would only have to add a minimum salary to the deal to match). Both players would seem to fit better on the other team, so there is some level of sense to a direct swap.

However, contractual conundrums remain for both teams in such a deal. Both would have to decide if their new player is worth what they’re asking for. Both have questions about how good they can really be. Sabonis has shown himself to be very good offensively but flawed defensively. Both he and Brown could find that new roles with more opportunity could sufficiently answer those questions for their new bosses.

Boston would also find itself with a sudden glut of bigs. Daniel Theis is the current projected starter, but trading for Sabonis would likely mean he slides into the starting role. Enes Kanter would probably keep his current role off the bench, but then Theis, Vincent Poirier, and Robert Williams would be battling for the scraps after that.


Sabonis never got the big minutes he wanted in Indiana and the advanced numbers show that more opportunity could mean big numbers for him. His per-36 stats last season were impressive at 20.4 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 4.2 assists per game. He didn’t shoot many 3-pointers last season, but he did earlier in his career. He could be an All-Star if he managed anywhere close to this kind of production as a starter somewhere.

The competition will be fierce. If Boston is interested at all, then Brown would most likely be part of the deal. If Boston is unwilling to part with him, then it’s hard to imagine they’d have any real chance at landing Saboinis.



bob


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Fuhggettiabout it!!!

I swear I had no insider info

Pure speculation. Maybe we could wait for the season to actually start first? Probably not even a consideration.

That being said, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Boston would have the young big they desperately need, and only sacrifice one of several wings.

But... not going to happen.

I would love Sabonis here, but I would be loath to part with Jaylen for him.

Would be nice if we could steal him by giving them Williams and Theis and picks or some other combination of some of our 7-12 guys and first round picks. Would that even technically work? I am by far not the best at knowing which trades would work ...

And I do not see how Indiana would go for such a trade either though.

Comedy

That is what this is...pure comedy

I am reminded about last year's playoffs.  You remember what happened?  We got the snot beat out of us by the Bucks but not before that we beat the snot out of the Pacers.

Sabonas was not close to being good.

https://www.espn.com/nba/player/gamelog/_/id/3155942/domantas-sabonis

And now because the numbers could work some think that Brown for Sabonis is an equitable trade.  But Sabonis is not a good defender so that eliminates him as an option.

If the Celtics are going to make a trade with Indiana and it includes Jaylen Brown, Miles Turner better be walking through the door.  But that does not work because of salary matches.  Besides, Indiana has added wings and guards so they really do not need Brown.  

Every year when one of our young guys is coming up on a contract decision. the rumor mill starts to turn.  

It would really be nice to get the season started and see how our guys play and then Danny can evaluate his roster and determine what he needs to do to improve the team.  

There are still to many unknowns at this point.  For instance is GH going to break out and play at a level (consistency) that he did in Utah?  Can he actually be effective playing the 4?  Is he really a one position player (SF) that is already slotted for JT.  Can JT play the 4 night in and night out where the physicality of the position is more demanding?  

Who starts at center.  I know one thing for certain and that is that Daniel Theis is not an everyday starting center because he is too small.  Do not be blinded into thinking he is our best option at 5 after watching 4 preseason games.

Will Kanter become a much better defender in the middle?  I really did not see a lot of effort to get the ball to him in the post on offense.

Does Grant Williams solve our long term need at PF or is he just a rotation guy?

Can coach Stevens find a way to get RW minutes and still give VP a chance to play?

There are so many important questions yet to be answered.

I proposed earlier this off-season offering Langford as the bait for Sabonis.

of course we would need to offer more than that, so maybe Langford and one of the Williams would make it work for the Pacers?

either way we need another NBA starting grade big man and IF Sabonis is on the table for a deal the Celtics should kick the tires.

I think the Pacers WOULD be happy to take Brown from Sabonis, but that deal alone is a bad one for the Celtics IMO. Ainge would need at least another first round pick coming back our way.

kdp59 wrote:

I think the Pacers WOULD be happy to take Brown from Sabonis, but that deal alone is a bad one for the Celtics IMO. Ainge would need at least another first round pick coming back our way.

I also think the Pacers would be more than happy to trade Jaylen for Sabonis straight up, no question in our mind at least, it is not an even trade.

I was thinking whether Danny can offer them some package around the guys outside of our top 7 that they would find attractive and I thought it unlikely.

kdp59 wrote:I proposed earlier this off-season offering Langford as the bait for Sabonis.

of course we would need to offer more than that, so maybe Langford and one of the Williams would make it work for the Pacers?

either way we need another NBA starting grade big man and IF Sabonis is on the table for a deal the Celtics should kick the tires.

I think the Pacers WOULD be happy to take Brown from Sabonis, but that deal alone is a bad one for the Celtics IMO. Ainge would need at least another first round pick coming back our way.

So you are ready to part with Langford already because you think Sabonis would be a good fit?

Sabonis is not a good fit for the Celtics just as he is not a good fit in Indiana.  That is why he is just a rotation guy who has averaged 23.1 MPG in 3 seasons.  He is not a good defender.  He is not a starting level big man.  

The Celtics need an athletic PF that can shoot from the outside, rebound and defend and get up and down the court in transition.

dboss wrote:

kdp59 wrote:I proposed earlier this off-season offering Langford as the bait for Sabonis.

of course we would need to offer more than that, so maybe Langford and one of the Williams would make it work for the Pacers?

either way we need another NBA starting grade big man and IF Sabonis is on the table for a deal the Celtics should kick the tires.

I think the Pacers WOULD be happy to take Brown from Sabonis, but that deal alone is a bad one for the Celtics IMO. Ainge would need at least another first round pick coming back our way.

So you are ready to part with Langford already because you think Sabonis would be a good fit?

Sabonis is not a good fit for the Celtics just as he is not a good fit in Indiana.  That is why he is just a rotation guy who has averaged 23.1 MPG in 3 seasons.  He is not a good defender.  He is not a starting level big man.  

The Celtics need an athletic PF that can shoot from the outside, rebound and defend and get up and down the court in transition.

in my opinion Sabonis is better than any other big man on our roster right now.
notice the first three words there..

I also said this off season, that I would trade Brown and the Grizzlies pick for Jared Jackson Jr...and I WOULD in a minute,

both of those guys are better than any of the bigs Ainge has on the roster this year...again..IMO.

Enes Kanter is just as good of a scorer and is a better rebounder than Sabonis in my opinion.  

Neither player is known for their defensive abilities.

Therefore Sabonis is NOT better than all the bigs on the Celtics.

I would not trade Brown and the Memphis pick for Jackson.  

I think too many Celtics fans do not appreciate how good Jaylen Brown is right now and how good he will become.

Is the topic of Jaylen Brown going to go on all season? I hope not. I want to see what we have right now, 1 through 15. Once we realize how good or ? some are, before February, if Danny wants, he can make a move. i do no believe it will happen now.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:Is the topic of Jaylen Brown going to go on all season?  I hope not.  I want to see what we have right now, 1 through 15.  Once we realize how good or ? some are, before February, if Danny wants, he can make a move. i do no believe it will happen now.  

Yes Brown will be discussed in all manner of consequence all year if a deal is not inked by Monday.

what we know by now about the new NBA is that each season a team must re-tool (re-build, re-whatever).

the old ways of building a team and keeping it together year after year no longer seem to apply...whether we like it or not.

so each year a team must build the best team for THAT year they can, becasue anyone could be gone the next season now.

There's a lot to be said about going for broke on an annual basis. As recent NBA results have shown, the movement of super-star players via free ageny or trade have had a huge impact on the league. Even young players with high potential for the future are being offered in trade as teams seek to improve their rosters for the present. Now this years two Los Angeles teams are attemting to duplicate the recent success of recent nba champs by adding super star free agents .

swish

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/domantas-sabonis-trade-rumors-know-210049329.html



Domantas Sabonis on trade rumors: ‘I know exactly how the Pacers feel about me now’



Kurt Helin, NBC Sports

18 hours ago



The Indiana Pacers have started to explore the trade market for Domantas Sabonis. There are logical reasons for this: Sabonis is good (he was second in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season), yet he and the Pacers are nowhere near agreement on a contract extension, and the Pacers already paid big money for Myles Turner to be their center, how much do they want to pay Sabonis, too?

That’s sound logic if you’re in the Pacers’ front office.

If you’re Sabonis, it can feel like a slap in the face to a guy who put in a lot of sweat and passion for the franchise. That’s what Sabonis sounded like in this quote, via Scott Agnes of The Athletic.

Scott Agness

@ScottAgness
Domas on potentially being dealt:

"There’s not really much to talk about. I know exactly how the Pacers feel about me now, they know how I feel about that, and there’s not much more to say. Let my agents do the rest of it and we’ll see what happens.”

He has spoken to his dad.

231
10:20 AM - Oct 19, 2019


The Pacers are not talking about the report, which started with the well connected and reliable Sam Amick at The Athletic.

Nathan Brown

@By_NathanBrown
McMillan when asked about yesterday’s reports about Sabonis possibly being on the trade block and where the team may be on an extension: “I don’t talk about contracts.”

Is that something you have to talk about with Domas?

“I don’t talk about contracts.”

13
10:05 AM - Oct 19, 2019


Pacers’ brass needs to talk about this with Sabonis (and likely already have, behind closed doors). If the Pacers trade him, it’s likely not until after Dec. 15 at the earliest (when most players signed this summer can be included in a deal) and probably closer to the February trade deadline. That’s a lot of season to play out, and Sabonis remains a vital part of the Indiana rotation.

There is likely to be a lot of interest in Sabonis on the market. However, because he’s a center (a position teams are careful not to overspend on in today’s market) and in the last year of his rookie deal — meaning he becomes a restricted free agent next summer and gets more expensive — teams are not going to overpay for him. Right now the Pacers are asking for too much and interested teams are lowballing their offers. The sides will meet in the middle.

That middle could shift if Sabonis has a rough start to the season. Both sides need him to play well and feel comfortable, whatever is going on with the business side of his contract.



bob



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all talk from the Pacers, I guess


Domantas Sabonis and Pacers get extension finalized

Shams Charania: Indiana Pacers center Domantas Sabonis has agreed to a four-year, $79.4M contract extension, league sources tell @The Athletic @Stadium. – via Twitter ShamsCharania
Top Rumors, Salaries, Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers

kdp59 wrote:what we know by now about the new NBA is that each season a team must re-tool (re-build, re-whatever).

the old ways of building a team and keeping it together year after year no longer seem to apply...whether we like it or not.

so each year a team must build the best team for THAT year they can, becasue anyone could be gone the next season now.

I agree with you on this, and the opinion that Sabonis would be superior to centers now on the roster. At least as a better, if not perfect, fit for complimentary skills that the team needs.

Both Brown and Sabonis are now locked up, contractually anyway, so this particular rumor will fade.

I'd venture a guess that Boston could even see a change in what has traditionally been the habit to stand pat with the roster through the season. Late season trades by a team trying to contend have also become a viable strategy. For a team like Boston, trying to keep rivals like Milwaukee and Philadelphia from getting past them, it may not be enough to wait for the off season to re-tool.