Two names to watch leading up to the NBA trade deadline were Indiana Pacers big men Roy Hibbert and David West. That may no longer be the case, however, with Basketball Insiders' Steve Kyler reporting Indiana plans to hold off making any big trades before superstar Paul George returns.
When George went down in the summer with a seemingly season-ending broken leg, Indiana's season looked finished. Naturally some of the offseason conversation turned to whether Indiana would have a fire sale and trade Hibbert and West, with rumors flip-flopping throughout the season between yes and no. Now, in light of George possibly in March, the Pacers' front office reportedly won't trade away any major roster pieces this season.
"I asked (some Pacers staff) about trading David West or Roy and the answer then was we need to have a competitive team when Paul George comes back, we owe that to him," Kyler wrote Monday. "So knowing what I know and seeing what I see ... I am sure the Pacers would love to add, every team does but I don't get the sense they will move anything that matters if they can keep winning games."
Indiana (20-32) is still very much alive in the Eastern Conference playoff race. They're only two games out from the eighth seed, which could become easy ground to cover with the recent return of point guard George Hill. Adding George, even if he were less than 100 percent healthy, would make the Pacers a radically different team.
George alluded last week on Twitter to a possible return in March. Even if he were to resume practicing in March and playing in April, that would be plenty of time for the Pacers to make a last-minute push in the water-down Eastern Conference for a playoff berth.
