Indiana Pacers: Trading Domantas Sabonis would be a mistake

It would be premature and a big mistake for the Indiana Pacers to trade Domantas Sabonis without seeing this core play together in 2019-20

When news broke over the weekend that the Indiana Pacers were taking calls on a potential Domantas Sabonis trade, it wasn’t exactly the most surprising turn of events. When you considering everything on Indiana’s salary cap plate, it actually makes sense.

The Pacers just paid Malcolm Brogdon ($80 million) in free agency, paid Myles Turner big money last season ($72 million), and will have to extend Victor Oladipo to a max extension in the not-too-distant future. So, especially if he’s looking for a big payday, it’s not unforgiving for the Pacers not jumping at the opportunity to pay Sabonis before he’s set to hit the restricted free agent market.

While you can’t fault the Pacers for not jumping to offer Sabonis a big-money extension before the start of the season, you can throw fault in their direction if they turn around and elect to trade him before even seeing what this team could be.

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For context, this is a team that clearly believes they’re good enough to compete in the Eastern Conference. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have gone all-in on a player like Brogdon in free agency. Why would the team trade a quality player like Sabonis before we even see what this team looks like with a full bill of health?

Victor Oladipo won’t be available to start the season, and it could take some time for this team to really gel. Eating the possibility of losing Sabonis for nothing during the summer is something that the Pacers should be willing to do if they really believe in this team.

Plus, an important thing to remember is that Sabonis is a restricted free agent during the summer. In the end, no matter what Sabonis wants to do, the Pacers still have control over his rights. They will have the right to match any offer sheet he signs, and could even turn around and facilitate a sign-and-trade and attempt to salvage from trade value during the summer.

Let’s also remember, Sabonis has been a productive and really good player for the Pacers over the past two seasons. Specifically, during the 2018-19 season, Sabonis averaged 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists while shooting 59 percent shooting from the field.

Whether he fits perfectly next to Myles Turner is an entire different story, and it would probably save the team money if they had to choose between the two, but to entirely punt on this season, especially after the two big additions that they made during the offseason (TJ Warren, Brogdon) would be a huge mistake.

And it would do a huge disservice to the players on this roster. Not giving the core of Oladipo, Brogdon, Warren, Sabonis, and Turner a fair shot to wreak havoc in the Eastern Conference would go down as one of the biggest crimes in recent Pacers’ history.

This is not a question of whether or not the Pacers should extend Sabonis to a big-money deal. I’ll leave that to the front office to decide. But, at the same time, this organization can’t throw in the towel on what could be an exciting season. No matter what you think about Sabonis long-term, there’s no question that the team would take somewhat of a step back if he’s not on the roster in two weeks.

The Indiana Pacers would be making a huge mistake if they traded Sabonis before we see what this version of the team can be.