NBA Rumors: Dallas Mavericks Emerge As Favorites For Pacers’ Myles Turner

As the NBA trade deadline of February 10 draws ever closer, trade rumors are set to take centerstage and trades for Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner are quickly gaining steam--this time to the Dallas Mavericks.

In a piece put out by Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus, the Mavericks are now the frontrunners to acquire the shot-blocking big man ahead of the trade deadline due to his relatively team-friendly contract worth around $36 million until the conclusion of the 2022-23 season.

The Mavericks have the pieces to put together a competitive trade offer for Turner as they could send back-up center Dwight Powell and either of Dorian Finney-Smith or Jalen Brunson to the Pacers, as proposed by Pincus.

Using the ESPN Trade Machine to verify these trade packages, the Mavericks’ package of Powell and Finney-Smith works financially, while the Powell and Brunson bundle requires Dallas to include a third player (like Sterling Brown and Frank Ntilikina) in order to match salaries.

Any of these two potential trade offers will work because both sides are in desperate need of an upgrade, more so the Pacers because it is very hard to see them contending for a playoff seed this season and are better off preparing for next season at this point.

The Pacers are currently sitting at the 13th spot in the East and are about eight games away from the 10th-seeded Boston Celtics who are in the thick of play-in contention.

Rick Carlisle’s team has barely been competitive this season as their core has rarely stayed together on the court due to starting forward T. J. Warren consistently battling injury and Turner dealing with a lingering foot injury.

For as much as Turner is a menace for other teams to deal with on defense, it does not mean much if he could not stay on the court for more than 70 games a year, which he last did in the 2018-19 season.

Moving on from him and kickstarting a soft rebuild with Domantas Sabonis and Brogdon as the two main guys make sense for the Pacers moving forward.

Powell is a respectable big man in the league who plays around 23 to 26 minutes a game, and while he is not on the same level as Turner defensively, he effectively uses his length to deter opponents from trying to score on him in the paint.

Brunson would be a massive get for the Pacers if they can convince the Mavericks to give him up, but his stellar play this season could see him leverage his upcoming free agency status into a massive contract with the Pacers.

Rookie Chris Duarte has a bright future ahead of him and the Pacers will surely give him more playing time as the season winds down, while Sabonis looks to be the most untouchable among the core guys.

Regardless of what the Pacers decide to do in the coming days, they will need to determine which of their core can be deemed as expendable in order to help them prepare for the following season.