OKC Thunder trade deadline primer: Pacers bevy of expiring contracts features desirable target

The OKC Thunder trade deadline series T.I. looks at the Indiana Pacers who feature a bevy of expiring contracts and need to fill the gap left via Victor Oladipo.

It was a tough night for OKC Thunder fans witnessing Victor Oladipo go down and ending his season. Regardless of when players move on to other teams, no one wants to see someone injured and especially players who were beloved while with the Thunder.

This injury hits the Pacers hard as Oladipo was the one “star” on the Pacers. If you question that consider the fact it was a sixth-place Brooklyn Nets player (D’Angelo Russell) who replaces Oladipo in the All-Star Game, not another Pacers player.

On the day of Dipo’s injury, the Pacers sat firmly in the third seed and were consistently ranked as one of the top three defensive squads. Since that date at one point both the 76ers and Celtics surpassed them dropping Indiana to fifth. A win by the Pacers and loss by the 76ers has them entering the day in fourth – but given the big Philly trade, it’s a tenuous fourth.

Moving into the deadline the Pacers need to decide what they plan to do with this season as well as next year. Indiana is one of the teams who have copious players on expiring contracts which will no doubt affect their decisions.

On one hand, Indy could elect to ship out solid support players who can add depth to other squads and decide to plan for the future. Conversely, there may be options for GM Chad Buchanan to package some of his expiring quality role players to land a star right now.

Although there hasn’t been much heat surrounding Mike Conley it does beg the question wouldn’t he be able to do the same or more as Oladipo with this Pacers squad. And, wouldn’t he be a perfect backcourt partner for Dipo when he returns?

With that let’s dive into the Pacers situation as they enter the trade deadline day.