The Indiana Pacers have already made one notable move in NBA free agency, agreeing to terms on a two-year deal with veteran wing Kelly Oubre Jr. worth around $17 million. The deal has reportedly been agreed upon, though the team has not officially announced Oubre’s signing yet. For now, it sounds like only the final details are left to sort out, and Oubre is expected to end up with Indiana soon.
Even with that move on the board, Pacers fans are still looking for more. One name that has surfaced is DeMar DeRozan, who became available after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Sacramento Kings. The question now is whether Indiana should seriously explore adding the veteran scorer.
Sports Illustrated’s Alex Golden weighed in on that possibility and saw enough there to understand the appeal, even if he doesn’t expect it to happen. He pointed to Indiana’s win-now mindset and DeRozan’s ability to still put points on the board.
"Why would the Pacers have interest in adding a 37-year-old wing? Well, they want to win-now and he is still a capable player. He is an elite scorer, despite not being a great three-point shooter, and adds more scoring to the bench than anyone else they have on the roster," Golden wrote.
Golden still stopped short of projecting a match, though. He said he does not see DeRozan landing in Indiana, even if the path would be straightforward if the veteran is open to the minimum.
"I don't see DeRozan joining the Pacers in the offseason, but it would be easy to make happen if he is willing to sign the veterans minimum. Indiana offers DeRozan a well-balanced team, a reunion with his former teammate, Pascal Siakam, and the chance to play for a championship after spending the back half of his career playing for lesser talented teams."
DeRozan’s 2025-26 season with Sacramento gave a clear picture of what he still brings. He appeared in 77 games and averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and a steal per game while shooting 49.7 percent from the field and 32 percent from three-point range.
In Other News...
Pacers May Have Found A Summer League Big They Can't Ignore
Indianas summer league run has already given the front office a useful look at a roster spot worth watching, and Rienk Mast has been at the center of it. The 6-foot-10 forward, who arrived on an Exhibit-10 contract, helped steady the group through a pair of games that included an overtime loss to the Sixers and a win over the Cavaliers, while bringing a blend of size and skill that has stood out in a setting where every possession is a tryout.
Masts path has been a winding one, from a professional background in Europe to college stops at Bradley and Nebraska, and now he is trying to turn this week into something more permanent. Indiana does not need to decide everything right away, but performances like this can make a two-way opening or a G-League spot harder to ignore, especially when a big man is producing enough to keep showing up on the staffs radar. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Suddenly Face An Eastern Threat They Were Hoping To Avoid
The Pacers are heading into next season with a familiar look, and that continuity is part of the appeal in Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam remain the headliners, and the core around them still gives the Pacers a legitimate chance to stay in the mix after their run to the Finals. Even with the roster mostly intact, though, the path back to June is starting to look less forgiving as the Eastern Conference keeps adding more proven talent.
Philadelphias latest move only sharpens that reality. The 76ers have already reshaped their roster with the Jaylen Brown trade, and the idea of that group getting even stronger would make life considerably harder for the Pacers if they are trying to get through the East again. For Indiana, the equation is simple enough: the roster is good, the window is open, but the margin for error is shrinking, and Haliburtons health will loom over everything. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Just Made Another Tough Depth Call After Nance Move
The Pacers have kept making the kind of roster decisions that come with living close to the margins, and Micah Potter became the latest casualty of that math. After Indiana added Larry Nance Jr. to bring in more positional flexibility, Potter was the odd man out, even though he had just finished the best statistical season of his NBA career and gave the Pacers a useful scoring punch in a limited role.
Potters season in Indiana offered a reminder of why he can stick around the league as a depth center: the offense plays, the rebounds are there, and he has enough experience now to fill minutes without needing the ball. But with the Pacers trying to trim salary and stay in range of the first apron, the defensive questions around his game made him more expendable than essential, which is the kind of call contenders and near-contenders keep having to make. [Read more 🡒]