One month in, three NBA teams are already rethinking their plans

Indiana: shopping with one hand tied

The Indiana Pacers have begun exploring the trade market for mid-tier improvements, according to a report discussed by James Boyd of The Athletic on the Locked On Pacers podcast. The interesting part is the shape of the help they want: it has to be mid-tier, because the Pacers are currently over the first apron and the luxury tax threshold, and that financial position forces careful salary management in any potential trade. A team over the apron cannot simply add salary and sort it out later. Every deal has to balance, and the balancing is the hard part. m:…9746

The context is injury, not just form. Tyrese Halliburton is expected to be sidelined for at least two more weeks due to a hamstring injury, and Andrew Nembhard has stepped into the gap, averaging more points and assists per game this season compared to last year. The podcast also credits two-way player Jalen Slauson and secondary ball-handler Quentin Jackson with exceeding expectations. This suggests the Pacers' problem is not a lack of effort from the replacements. It is that the roster as built needs its star healthy and needs bench shooting and depth it does not currently have, and the trade market is the only place to find it mid-season. m:…9746

The decision for Indiana is therefore narrow: find a mid-tier upgrade whose salary fits under the apron constraints, or wait for Halliburton to return and hope the replacements hold the line until then. m:…9746

New York: the starting five is the problem

The New York Knicks' starting lineup is currently dysfunctional due to the struggles of Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, argues host Gavin Shaw on Locked On Knicks. The hosts describe Bridges as going through the worst offensive stretch of his career. Deuce McBride and Tyler Kolek, the bench players, have been more consistent performers than the current starters. When the bench is outperforming the starters, the rotation is the story. m:…3003 m:…6162

The on-off split for Bridges is the kind of number that forces a coach's hand. The Knicks' offensive rating with Mikal Bridges on the floor is 100.7, and without him it is 126.3. That gap of more than 25 points per 100 possessions is enormous over any meaningful sample. On the other side of the ledger, Tyler Kolek and Carl Anthony Towns have a plus 15.8 net rating when playing together, which suggests the solutions are already on the roster rather than on the trade market. The hosts argue the fix is to pair Bridges with Kolek and Towns to rebuild his rhythm, and to change who starts. m:…6162

The specific proposal from host XJ is to bench Josh Hart in favor of Landry Shamet or Deuce McBride, on the grounds that it would fix the spacing problem, since opponents are not honoring Hart's shot. The hosts raise the effect on Hart's trade value and team morale, and answer that his value would not be harmed by a bench role because he is on an expiring contract, an argument about asset management as much as basketball. m:…6162

New Orleans: the worst stretch in franchise history

The New Orleans Pelicans' last three losses were by a combined 101 points, marking the worst three-game stretch in franchise history, and they have given up at least 138 points in three consecutive games. Those are not the numbers of a team with one bad week. A team that gives up 138 points three games in a row has a defensive problem that a single adjustment will not fix, and the 101-point combined margin says the games were not close enough for luck to explain. m:…7716

The focus of the criticism is DeJounte Murray. The Pelicans are 1-8 when Murray starts and 3-0 when he does not, and his net rating is minus 13.4 per 100 possessions when he is on the court, compared with minus 2.2 when he is off it. Murray publicly suggested that criticism of his performance was the result of sabotage before deleting the tweet, which host Jake Madison reads as a failure of leadership and accountability. The on-off numbers and the deleted post point in the same direction: the team's most visible problem is also its loudest one. m:…7716

Madison's broader argument is that the Pelicans' troubles go beyond one player. He argues the coaching staff, specifically Mosley, is failing to maximize the personnel by sticking to a system that does not prioritize the team's best players, and notes that Herb Jones has a positive on-court net rating yet is not being prioritized in the rotation. He also argues the front office may be prioritizing being proven right about its roster construction over making the adjustments needed to win, and that the team's two-timeline strategy of chasing both long-term development and immediate winning is creating a conflict that hinders team success. The question for New Orleans is whether the front office agrees, and what it does first: change the rotation, change the system, or change the roster. m:…7716