NBA Trade Rumors: 1 Expendable difference-maker on every team ahead of trade deadline

Indiana Pacers

Expendable difference-maker: Buddy Hield

The Indiana Pacers have been one of the bigger surprises in the NBA this season. Largely due to their prolific offense, which ranks No. 1 in the NBA, the Pacers have taken the Eastern Conference by storm. At the very least, this is a team that's going to be a headache for a contender if they can find their way into the postseason. However, they do have some overlapping of talent on their roster that they could thin out if they want at the NBA Trade Deadline.

One player that very much fits that role is Buddy Hield. As a player in the final year of his contract, I find it hard to believe that he's going to play a big part in the team's future. Especially considering they're developing Bennedict Mathurin, who might already be ready for a bigger role, and the fact that they invested big in Bruce Brown during the offseason.

It would likely be in the best interest of the Pacers to trade Hield at the NBA Trade Deadline as he's become more of an expendable difference-maker for the Pacers. They lose production but perhaps this is the right moment to take training wheels off of Mathurin.