[OhCanada-Participant]

 Both players have showed glimpses of being good big men for the Indiana Pacers and being able to share the court. They will likely be competing for minutes but have played together in the preseason.  Who do you think will have the better seaason/career for the Indiana Pacers. Is there upside here?

[he_gets_bucketsParticipant]

 I dont think Leaf is ready to play meaningful NBA minutes, he doesnt have the body for it yet. I don’t see him contributing much till year 3. Sabonis should get double figure points 

[cohenbc1Participant]

I read that both of these guys have beaten out Al Jefferson in the rotation, which amazes me. He’s a dinosaur, but just the season before last he was still a beast on offense in the paint. What happened to him? 

I also read that only a small portion of Jefferson’s contract in 2018-19 is guaranteed, so I wonder if the Pacers could trade him for something useful. I think they could really use a veteran big man, someone like Tyson Chandler. 

  

[HitsterParticipant]

I’d figure they will pair Sabonis and Turner together this season and if they get any development and output from Leaf it will be a bonus as he is a work in progress.

The Pacers will likely be below 0.500 this year but with so many teams in rebuild out East they could well be in 7th to 10th area in that conference.

The team has rebuilt before and have always tended to draft well in late lottery/mid first round. The only really bad move they made in recent years was trading the rights tom Kawhi. Him and PG13 in tandem would have been a top 3 Eastern team with right support IMO.

Nate McMillan will drum defence and work ethic into his young roster and in Kevin Pritchard the Front Office have an active trade maker.

With only a small part of Al Jefferson’s deal next year being guaranteed, it will be a nice trade chip for a team looking to reduce wages or create cap space, so I’d think the Pacers could turn that into a first rounder or a decent young piece if they took on guaranteed deals in exchange.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Sabonis will have the better year hes just already a man in the paint and polished.  Sabonis is true throwback bruiser who can also stretch the floor.  His touch is so soft near the rim hes almost automatic i actually expect him to break out towards the all star break.  Reminds me of a role playing version of Zach Randolph.

 

I think Leaf has the higher ceiling he reminds me of Ryan Anderson.  May be pigeon holed into a role of off the bench gunner if hes not careful.

 

 

[festar35Participant]

Looks like they will be playing 2nd unit minutes together with Sabonis at C and Leaf at PF.
I think Sabonis will give you close to a double-double on a nightly basis when given consistent minutes and Leaf will be a bit more of a scorer in a kind of more athletic version of Kelly Olynyk.

I really like the stability That Young bring but if we struggle by the half way point I can see Mate McMillan ing to a solid 3 big rotation of Turner, Sabonis & Leaf with spot minutes for Anigbogu with Young potentially moving to a contender who could use his services.

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