Looking through the remainder of options that might be available via trade (without even beginning to dream about Chris Paul), here are Indiana’s best opportunities ranked in order of plausibility:
Jose Calderon, Raptors
Changes have come with the Raptors and Jarrett Jack has become the de facto leader in the locker room. It remains to be seen if Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano are comfortable handing over the starting job to Jack full-time, but it’s believed that Calderon could be had for the right price.
Calderon isn’t an elite scorer, but Indiana has plenty of offensive weapons when healthy. He’d be a much-needed steadying influence on the court, but he may come too expensive for Indiana’s liking. He has roughly $30 million left over three years on his contract and the Pacers don’t have the long-term contracts to match up with that. However, if the Raptors are interested in Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy (I doubt they want Ford back) they can make a move and clear an additional $10 million or so in cap space for next summer.
Changes have come with the Raptors and Jarrett Jack has become the de facto leader in the locker room. It remains to be seen if Bryan Colangelo and Jay Triano are comfortable handing over the starting job to Jack full-time, but it’s believed that Calderon could be had for the right price.
Calderon isn’t an elite scorer, but Indiana has plenty of offensive weapons when healthy. He’d be a much-needed steadying influence on the court, but he may come too expensive for Indiana’s liking. He has roughly $30 million left over three years on his contract and the Pacers don’t have the long-term contracts to match up with that. However, if the Raptors are interested in Troy Murphy or Mike Dunleavy (I doubt they want Ford back) they can make a move and clear an additional $10 million or so in cap space for next summer.
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