Rumors in late May and early July indicated the Indiana Pacers might be exploring the trade market for center Roy Hibbert, and on Sunday a few more rumors trickled out about what president Larry Bird might be asking for in exchange.
Pacers may be shopping Roy Hibbert
There are a few good reasons Roy Hibbert could be on the block, but don’t expect Indiana to have an easy time finding trade partners.
Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana apparently called the Phoenix Suns and was willing to put Hibbert, Chris Copeland and cash considerations in a trade for guard Goran Dragic, reports Slovenian website Ekipa24.si and a translation by Bright Side of the Sun. And according to Detroit Sports 105.1 radio's Matt Dery, the Pacers also made a call to Detroit, a team dealing with Greg Monroe's free agency negotiations.
Dragic confirmed to Ekipa24 that the Suns aren’t considering trading him to Indiana, while Dery’s note came across skeptically. The two reports indicate the Pacers aren’t getting far in any talks, but it does combine with the earlier reports to confirm Indiana is still making phone calls about moving their starting center.
Why would the Pacers trade Hibbert?
The timing is right. As ESPN’s Marc Stein reported in May, a change of scenery might be good for both Hibbert and the Pacers. Hibbert’s spiral in the second half of the 2013-14 season didn’t suddenly end when the playoffs came, and with that Indiana limped through a weak Eastern Conference field. Playing 81 games may have worn the 7’2 center, but whatever it was, the issue came with confidence issues. Hibbert’s offense took a nose-dive and his usual defensive impact that goes beyond the raw box score numbers wasn’t there.
The plus-minus statistics painted the picture of his season, writes Indy Cornrows’ C. Cooper:
Once a plus +18.5 in the month of November, the Pacers’ All-Star center recorded a plus/minus of +9.5 in January, -5.0 in March, and he eventually bottomed-out at a woeful -9.5 over the team’s final six games in April. After scoring 103.0 points per 100 possessions and allowing just 89.0 points per 100 possessions in November, Roy’s defense suffered along with his offense in the latter portion of the season. Most notably once again in April, when he recorded an ORtg of 65 matched with an equally poor DRtg of 111.
Indiana would be wise to move Hibbert now with the thought that his poor end to last season was only a fluke. If Hibbert’s struggles continue to begin 2014-15, he might lose any remaining trade value.
Why wouldn’t the Pacers trade Hibbert?
Indiana is already reeling from Stephenson's spurning and the devastating leg injury to Paul George while he was playing with the national team. Moving Hibbert would all but assure the Pacers' championship window with this group is closed. He's still the rim-protecting, leg-clogging tower in the middle of Frank Vogel's defense and perhaps a summer off will benefit — if not motivate — him.
All that assumes the Pacers can even move Hibbert, who will be paid $14.9 million this season before having a $15.5 million player option next season. Other teams understand signing Hibbert is a risk for all the reasons Indiana would be willing to trade him, and a lumbering big man might not fit well into every system — say, like the run-and-gun Suns. Plus, Indiana would have to perhaps look for a third team to sweeten their package if they want to get a bit of value in return.
The likelihood of a trade
There’s no indication any of Indiana’s exploration has dug up much interest for Hibbert, so give this a skeptical 2 out of 10 chance of going down at this point. The bubbling up of a few rumors does feed the fire that Hibbert’s status with the Pacers isn’t what it was last season. His disappointing end of the year combined with the loss of George could have Indiana thinking about the future more than ever, and finding a trade partner interested in Hibbert might be the right thing to do.
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