Indiana Pacers: Thad Young Trade Signals Ian Mahinmi’s End

When the Indiana Pacers traded for Brooklyn Nets’ forward Thaddeus Young, they signaled the end of center Ian Mahinmi‘s tenure with the team.

Mahinmi’s four-year contract with the Indiana Pacers has come to end which means he is now an unrestricted free agent. He will be able to listen to or sign any offer from any NBA team after July 1st

After only being a bench player in his first three years with the Pacers, Mahinmi became the Pacers’ starting center last season. He started 71 games and averaged 9.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in the process.

Unfortunately, Mahinmi’s fourth season with the team did not impress the front office very much because team President Larry Bird traded for Thaddeus Young.

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Young is an athletic, high-energy post player. In 73 starts for the Nets last season, he averaged 15.1 points and nine rebounds per game. While he is not the same type of defender as Mahinmi, his offensive skills easily make up for it.

Mahimni and Young are both experienced starters in the NBA. However, the Indiana Pacers only have one starting frontcourt spot available because they have Myles Turner. With Young on contract for two more years while Mahinmi is currently not, the Pacers are positioned well to let Mahinmi walk.

ESPN’s Zach Lowe shares this same line of thinking. Here were his tweets following the news of the Pacers’ trade for Young.

It is not far-fetched to think Myles Turner can transition into a full-time center. He played center at times for the Pacers last season and performed well in that role. Meanwhile, Young will slide into the starting power forward role, which leaves Mahinmi as the obvious odd man out.

Also, with the salary cap exponentially jumping this offseason, Mahimni will be expensive to keep. While the Pacers have cap space, they may not have enough to pay Mahinmi what he wants. Also, how much do the Pacers want to pay Mahinmi if he is only going to be a backup for them?

The Indiana Pacers like Mahinmi, but they do not like him so much that they are going to overpay for his services. He does not provide enough for them offensively, and offense is something Bird desperately wants.

On the flip side, Thaddeus Young gives them the offensive firepower they are looking for, which is why they made the move to get him.

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The Indiana Pacers are moving forward with a new focus on being a fast and offensive team. Unfortunately, this new approach means players like Mahinmi will be let go. He will still be a solid contributor for an NBA team, but he will just not be one for the Pacers in the 2016-17 season.