Pacers And Suns Strike A Deal

The Indiana Pacers are trading Torrey Craig to the Phoenix Suns for Jalen Smith and a future second-round pick.

Craig certainly is a familiar face to the Suns, as he just played for them during last season's trip to the NBA Finals. Now, he will once again be a part of the franchise and try to help them get a title this go-around. When seeing as how the Suns sport a 44-10 record and are first in the Western Conference, they seem to have a good chance of doing just that.

In 51 games this season with the Pacers, Craig has averaged 6.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.1 assists. With the Suns, he will likely be utilized as a role player, which certainly isn't a bad thing. It's always important to have depth during the playoffs, and he will provide them with just that. Furthermore, with the Pacers rebuilding, it makes sense for them to move the 31-year-old veteran.

Smith was selected by the Suns with the 10th overall pick of the 2020 NBA draft. Therefore, there is reason to believe that the 21-year-old could improve from here with the Pacers. As a member of the Suns, he only played 56 games total games over two seasons, where he averaged 4.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists. With a weaker Indiana team, it will be intriguing to see if he gets more chances to play.

Nevertheless, we have another trade on this deadline day. Let's wait and see what happens next.