Most top tier teams in the NBA have had their fair share of excellence in drafting great players and others have lost their luck in trading great ones. For the case of the Indiana Pacers, they have fallen short of this a couple of times and also signed great players in return. During the 2016/17 NBA season, they were able to make it to the playoffs but they did not make it past the Cavaliers in the first round. Below is a look at the top best players in the NBA that the Pacers have traded in history:
Paul George
He was probably the biggest star in the NBA that the Pacers had to trade. Furthermore, George was not happy in his former team and after being eliminated by the Cavs in the 2017 playoffs, his stay was doubtful. Later, the Pacers would trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder where he joins the 2016-17 MVP winner Russell Westbrook.
Adrian Dantley
It was another bad deal for the Pacers when they decided to trade Dantley. The now retired 6-time NBA All-Star and a Hall of Famer was traded to the Lakers together with Dave Robisch. At the time of trading him, Dantley was averaging 26.5 points in just 23 games which was impressive. Get the latest basketball predictions and tips for the upcoming basketball matches. Catch all the match previews by experts and reliable tipsters to improve your odds of winning.
Jalen Rose
In the 1999-2000 NBA season he propelled his team to the playoffs and later to the NBA finals the same year. During that time, he averaged 20.5 points throughout the entire season and managed to impressively average 18.5 points in the season 2001-2002. However, the Pacers felt the need to trade him to Chicago Bulls. It turned out to be a bad deal as Brad Miller, who he was brought in after the trade only played for the Pacers one season.
Alex English
Before they traded him, he was averaging 15.6 points for 135 games, he played for the Pacers. After trading him to the Denver Nuggets, his stats were impressive. In the 11 seasons he played, he was able to average 26.1 points and made it to the NBA All-Star team 8 times. On top of that, he was inducted into the 1997 NBA Hall of Fame.
Kawhi Leonard
This is a strange trade that the Pacers did. Back in 2001, the Pacers drafted Leonard as a 15th pick in the first round. However, Gregg Popovich, coach for the San Antonio Spurs, had another thing in mind for the youngster. He chose to trade his point guard, George Hill, for a draft pick, to the Pacers. This would turn out to be a good thing for the Spurs manager and a bad one for the Pacers. Kawhi Leonard is now the best two-way basketball player in the league.