The Indiana Pacers have pondered the possibility of trading David West and the Toronto Raptors are at the front of the line looking to acquire him, according to Grantland's Zach Lowe. The Pacers are currently "leaning against" trading West at this time, according to ESPN's Marc Stein, but have been putting him on and off the market.
The Raptors want David West, but probably won’t get him
Toronto is one of the top pursuers of Indiana’s David West, but it doesn’t sound like the Pacers are willing to deal him before the trade deadline.
Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
You can bet the Raptors will keep calling to see if the Pacers change their mind. Toronto is in second place in the Eastern Conference and has won nine of its last 11 games. The offense has been superb, scoring nearly 109 points per 100 possessions this year, good for fourth in the league.
On the other hand, Toronto's defense is bad. The team is surrendering 104.3 points per 100 possessions, the 13th worst mark in the NBA. Teams generally need to be in the top 10 in defense to compete for a title and Toronto is far from that. The Raptors have a need for a good veteran and have dangled third-year wing Terrence Ross in trade talks, according to Lowe.
West would be a huge get for Toronto because he’d give them another scorer and help on defense, too. The question is whether Indiana would actually pull the trigger on a West deal.
Why trading West makes sense
Without Paul George, the Pacers have struggled. They're 21-33 and have the fourth-worst offensive rating (99.3) in the league. Even if Indiana gets George back in mid-March as he suggested, it might be too late to snag one of the lower seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs. Even if it's not, what's the end game? Do the Pacers, even with a healthy George, really have a shot at doing anything in the playoffs? George will surely be rusty even if he can play.
West also has a $12.6 million player option for next season. He’s now 34 years old and unlikely to receive any large offers in the offseason. The chances on him exercising that player option are high, so trading him is a way for Indiana to get out of that current contract a year early.
West is not part of the future in Indiana. If the Pacers want to jump-start a rebuild, shipping West out for any asset makes sense. With a little extra cap room, the Pacers could sign someone in the offseason and give a healthy George some help going forward.
SB Nation presents: Awesome NBA trades that SHOULD happen, but never will.
Why trading West doesn’t make sense
The Pacers might be 21-33, but this is the East we're talking about. As of now, the Pacers are just two games back of the eighth-place Miami Heat. The Pacers' offense stinks, but the team plays hard and its defense is still good enough to keep it in games. If George does indeed return in March, that could give Indiana enough time to catch the Heat, Hornets or Nets.
And once you get to the playoffs, who knows? If a healthy Indiana were to face off against a Raptors team that can’t defend, maybe it could pull off a first-round upset.
There's also next year to think about. If the Pacers think that a team led by a healthy Paul George and Roy Hibbert, along with West, can compete for a title next year, then dealing West for a small return this deadline wouldn't make sense. They're better off taking a shot and making some deals next year if things don't work out.
Likelihood: 2/10
This is a juicy rumor, but it doesn’t jive with what we know about Larry Bird and the Pacers. The team could have tanked this year after George went down. Instead the Pacers chose to do all they could to stay afloat and hope for a George return. With that now seemingly a month away, there’s no reason to believe that suddenly Bird and the Pacers will decide to reverse course.
See More:
