It was a lackluster NBA trade deadline by any reasonable standard, and once 3 p.m. Eastern had come and gone, there was nothing of note that went down that would improve any of the contending teams significantly.
It wasn’t until more than 30 minutes after the deadline had passed that we found out about the biggest deal of the day.
The Pacers have traded Danny Granger to the Sixers in exchange for Evan Turner and Lavoy Allen, a deal first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Zach Lowe of Grantland added that the Sixers also received a future second round pick in the deal.
We knew about Philadelphia’s willingness to part with Turner, just as they had done with Spencer Hawes earlier on deadline day. It wasn’t even believed that it would take all that much to acquire him either, based on his status as a restricted free agent next summer at the relatively high price of a qualifying offer just short of $9 million.
What came as a surprise was Indiana’s decision to trade its former franchise player.
Granger was back as part of Indiana’s regular rotation after missing close to a season and a half due to various injuries. He was essentially a shell of the former All-Star level talent he had proven to be in 2009, when he was a dominant primary scorer who effortlessly averaged 25.8 points per game.
This season, Granger has been reduced to a bench role, and has posted averages of 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds, while shooting just 35.9 percent from the field in 22.5 minutes per contest. He is in the final year of a huge contract, and Indiana wasn’t expected to sign him as an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Turner, however, is a completely different story. He’s a talent on the wing that will immediately add to the Pacers’ depth, and with Indiana going all in on its pursuit of a championship this season, his averages of 17.4 points, six rebounds and 3.7 assists will be an instant boost to those title chances.
If Turner wasn’t to work out in Indiana for some reason, there’s really no risk here. Granger was gone at the end of the season anyway, and if the Pacers don’t want to overpay for Turner’s skill set by matching any offer he receives on the open market, they can simply let him walk in free agency, essentially having given up nothing for the chance to upgrade the roster in advance of the playoffs.
Turner started all 54 games that he appeared in for the Sixers this season, and averaged 34.9 minutes per contest. He’ll likely see a reduced role in Indiana, especially as they’re getting him acclimated to their system. But the Pacers’ hope is that he’ll be able to play at that same level in shorter bursts, making things even tougher on opponents when trying to match up with an Indiana team that currently sits at the top of the Eastern Conference standings.