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Dec 29, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) dunks the ball while Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) and guard Tyrese Haliburton (0) look on during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Two Unexpected Pacers Emerge as Top Trade Candidates This Season

Originally posted on Indianapolis Pacers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated Aug 16, 2025 12:00 PM ET

A pair of critical rotation Indiana Pacers could become the team's top trade candidates this year.

Indiana finds itself at something of a crossroads heading into the 2025-26 NBA season. Two-time All-NBA Third Team point guard Tyrese Haliburton has already been ruled out for the entire year as he recuperates from an Achilles tendon tear.

Heartbreakingly, Indiana's best player suffered the ailment in the first quarter of the Pacers' Game 7 NBA Finals clash against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Longtime starting center Myles Turner ditched Indiana for a four-season, $108.9 million contract with the team's Central Division rivals, the Milwaukee Bucks. Indiana has vanquished injury-plagued Milwaukee squads in the first round of each of the past two playoffs.

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Now, Indiana heads into a year of uncertainty, with two of the team's Finals starters down for the count.

Former starting shooting guard Andrew Nembhard will be shifted down a slot to take over Haliburton's starting point guard role this season. Sixth man shooting guard/small forward Bennedict Mathurin will replace him at the two spot. No starting center replacement for Turner has been decided yet.

Re-signed backup bigs Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman will compete with new trade acquisition Jay Huff for the opportunity, although it seems possible head coach Rick Carlisle will replace Turner piecemeal and give each player significant run.

In a new breakdown of all 30 NBA teams' most trade-eligible players, Sam Amico of HoopsWire revealed the top two Pacers players worth keeping tabs on in the trade market.

ICYMI. At least one trade candidate from all 30 teams. https://t.co/3BBpiX9PwG
— Hoops Wire (@WireHoops) August 15, 2025

Could Indiana offload two of the team's top eight playoff players from its charmed runs over the past two seasons, to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2024 and the NBA Finals in '25, during a retooling "gap year" season?

'A New Day in Indiana' Post-Finals

"It’s a new day in Indiana without Tyrese Haliburton (injured) and Myles Turner (with the Bucks)," Amico writes. "So it’s hard to envision the Pacers unloading any remaining members of their core. But depending on how things go, Obi Toppin and Bennedict Mathurin could be names to watch."

Mathurin is already eligible for an extension on his rookie-scale salary this year. He could hit restricted free agency next summer if Indiana and the 6-foot-6 wing don't agree to a deal before the 2026 offseason.

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Toppin, a springy big man, could become expendable if two of Jackson, Wiseman and Huff pop. Like Toppin, Jackson can be toggled between both the power forward and center spots, while Huff can spread the floor and thus theoretically could play alongside a rim-rolling big like Wiseman.

Rounding into his prime at age 27, Toppin is embarking on just the second season of a slightly generous four-year, $58 million deal he inked with Indiana last summer. If Indiana wanted to add a little draft equity or perhaps bring in some point guard insurance, ditching Toppin or Mathurin might make some sense.