The Indiana Pacers made a very small deal ahead of the NBA trade deadline, acquiring Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin from the Houston Rockets. In addition to the two players, Indiana received a second-round pick. News quickly broke that the two players would be waived by the Pacers immediately.
Kevin Pritchard added a second-round pick for nothing and his major addition seems likely to come from the buyout market.
According to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Pacers are expected to sign veteran shooting guard Wesley Matthews after he agrees to a buyout from the New York Knicks. This move will fill a major void that was left by Victor Oladipo's season-ending injury.
Wesley Matthews will agree to a contract buyout with the New York Knicks, and the Indiana Pacers are frontrunners to sign Matthews, league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 7, 2019
Matthews will be a solid addition for the Pacers, assuming he does end up signing. He could very well slide into the starting lineup at the shooting guard position, which would allow Tyreke Evans to head back to his bench role.
In the 46 games that he has played this season split between the Dallas Mavericks and Knicks, Matthews has averaged 12.8 points per game to go along with 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists. He shot 41.4 percent from the floor with the Mavericks, along with a 38.0 percentage from three-point range.
Indiana needed to bring in another wing to replace Oladipo. The Pacers have played rookie point guard Aaron Holiday in a much bigger role since the injury. Edmond Sumner has also received a good amount of playing time since Oladipo went down.
All of that being said, the Pacers should be very excited about getting a player with the kind of talent that Matthews brings to the table.
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