Indiana Pacers
After being swept by the Miami Heat in the first round of this year’s playoffs, the Pacers need to hope the injury bug doesn’t bite them again and put a strong team around soon-to-be-free agent Victor Oladipo.
A trade based around Jeremy Lamb, Doug McDermott, and Indiana’s own 2021 first-round pick for Schroder would work well for both teams in my eyes.
The Pacers get a change-of-pace backup guard who after his time in OKC, could play alongside Victor, Malcolm Brogdon, or even both if they want to try their own three-guard lineups.
Schroder’s contract expires at the end of next season, the same as Victor, and if the latter decides to play elsewhere, the Pacers can extend the German or move on and play with the cap space.
It says to their star in Oladipo that they’re willing to give up pieces to build a better team and also gives them a less injury-prone rotation player.
OKC does it because if they intend on pulling it all down and aren’t going to resign him anyway, they’re essentially burning future cap space (Lamb and McDermott) for the first-round pick in the 20s. Not a bad price.