A number of teams were expected to be active on the trade market ahead of and during Thursday night’s NBA Draft, and after a relatively quite day leading up to the official 7:30 p.m. start time, the Suns and Pacers got the action going in Brooklyn.
The Suns found a suitor for forward T.J. Warren, sending him to Indiana along with the 32nd overall pick for cash considerations in an effort to move off his salary and create cap space for this summer. The Pacers will use some of their cap space to take on his $10.8 million for the upcoming season (with three total years remaining on his deal).
Suns will send the No. 32 pick to Pacers too, source tells ESPN. Pacers are taking Warren into salary cap space. https://t.co/NN0gxs4e8L
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2019
Pacers will send cash to Suns in deal, league source tells ESPN. Suns wanted to unload the three years, $35M on Warren’s deal to create space.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 20, 2019
Warren will provide the Pacers with additional floor spacing and another scoring option on the wing next to Victor Oladipo. Warren averaged 18 points per game in the 43 games he played this season in Phoenix, hitting north of 42 percent of his three-point attempts, which is likely what intrigued Indiana the most about him. He has liabilities on defense, but Indiana needs scoring help and with as much space as they have this summer, this was a gamble they were comfortable taking.
The Suns seem to be planning on something rather major this summer as they look to open up space, but it remains to be seen who they will target (and who they can get) to join their young squad this offseason.
