Losing Paul George has apparently clouded the Indiana Pacers’ sense of logical and illogical.
According Detroit Sports 105.1’s Matt Dery, the Pacers are still shopping Roy Hibbert and have their sights sets on the Detroit Pistons’ Greg Monroe:
Lots of chatter about Greg Monroe today. Pacers shopping Hibbert and a source tells me they have called the Pistons about him. All I know.
— Matt Dery (@dery1051) August 10, 2014
This is—one of my favorite, most frequently used words incoming—weird. Some people might even call it stupid, and part of me agrees. Not Dery’s report, to be sure, but the entire situation.
It’s not difficult to imagine the Pacers shopping Hibbert, who laid one massive, Hibbert-sized egg towards the tail end of last season and for much of the NBA playoffs. He has two years valued at more than $30 million left on his contract, and unloading him may be one of the smartest things they could do if they’re looking to rebuild in the wake of George’s incredibly tragic injury.
But Monroe? And the Pistons?
To bilk the words of some over-dramatic socialite who just found out Starbucks is out of blueberry scones: Is this real life?
Pulling the trigger on a deal built around these parameters would make no sense. Talking about this deal makes no sense. Not for the Pistons, not for the Pacers.
The Pistons already have Andre Drummond. Think they have a floor-spacing issue now with Drummond, Monroe and Josh Smith playing together? Wait until you replace Monroe with the pretty much range-less Hibbert. Their offense would be a disaster.
Good luck scoring at the rim on Hibbert and Drummond, sure. But the stupidity of this trade outweighs whatever benefits it may culminate in.
As for the Pacers, well, what the hell are they thinking? That they hate defense? And perhaps David West?
Monroe can play center, but he’s not the rim protector Hibbert is. Locking him down for the next four years also commits them to a slightly different version of the same roster, the one that wasn’t good enough to avoid a ridiculous late-season collapse last year.
Who's a taker for that? RT @warriorsworld: @AminESPN Trade West/Hibbert boom
— Amin Elhassan (@AminESPN) August 6, 2014
The more yours truly thinks about it, this trade wouldn’t be the worst trade in the world for Indiana, so color me converted. The Pacers need offense; Monroe would give them offense. Next year, during the 2015-16 campaign, when George is presumably healthy, they would have enough defense to cover up Monroe’s perceived deficiencies. And, equally important, they would have replaced Lance Stephenson’s point totals and then some. Realistically, Monroe could score as much as Stephenson and Hibbert combined.
That brings us back to the Pistons, and this trade, and the confusion of this trade, and all the sense it doesn’t make.
Does Stan Van Gundy even take this call? Do the Pacers even make it? Seems overly ballsy on Indy’s part to me. No way, no how, could Larry Bird think this offer, or some version of it, gets the deal done. Hibbert isn’t even enough to get the ball rolling on Smoove. He’s that much of a bad fit in Detroit.
Join me in assuming this is just the Pacers kicking around any and all tires. Or playing a strange joke. Or suffering from a short-term case of “Hibbert actually holding any trade value.” Or something along those lines.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
