It’s been a pretty good season for the Indiana Pacers. They’re currently second in the Central Division and in a slug fest with Atlanta and Philadelphia for fourth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The signing of David West and improved play of Roy Hibbert and Paul George have all contributed to Indiana’s improved play this season. One person who hasn’t stepped his game up this season is forward Danny Granger. Granger hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t been great. He also makes a ton of money. Meanwhile, the Pacers have lost four straight and could use a go to scorer. Because of all these factors, Granger is the guy most commonly mentioned in trade rumors. For his part, Granger told Chris Tomansson of Fox Sports Florida he isn’t sure what his future in Indiana holds.
“Possibly,” Granger said before scoring 19 points in Saturday’s 93-91 overtime loss to Miami at AmericanAirlines Arena about whether he believes he could dealt by Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. “You don’t know with the NBA. Trades can always happen. Sometimes they’re expected, sometimes they’re not expected. So you just got to play on.”
That was code for “I don’t know what the hell is going on, don’t ask me”. Two things about Granger. I’m pretty sure the Pacers have tried to trade him. I’m also pretty sure he’s one of the hardest guys in the league to trade and get equal value in return. Granger gets paid like a top 20 player in the NBA and isn’t. Having said that, he’s still pretty good. He’s having a down year, but he’s still averaging 18 points a game. So basically you can’t get Paul Pierce for him, but you also don’t want to dump him for something like Antawn Jamison’s expiring contract. Plus Indiana is currently $14 million under the cap, so they can make a move without having to ship out Granger’s contract.
Also, Granger is building a batcave under his New Mexico home. You don’t trade a guy who is doing something that awesome.
