Pacers trade for former IU basketball star Thomas Bryant

This story has been updated to include more information.

INDIANAPOLIS — To address their urgent need for a backup center, the Indiana Pacers will acquire former IU star Thomas Bryant from the Heat on Sunday in a second-round pick swap if the big man is eligible for a trade, sources confirmed from the league opposite the Indy star Friday. ESPN’s Shams Charania first reported the news.

The two teams will swap second-round picks in the 2031 draft. Bryant cannot be traded until Sunday because he signed a contract with the Heat this offseason.

The Pacers have been looking for help at the 5 since backup centers James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson each suffered torn Achilles tendons in the first 10 days of the season. They signed Moses Brown to a non-guaranteed contract on November 20, but he saw limited opportunities and was released on Monday, freeing up a spot on the roster for another acquisition. The Pacers requested disabled player exemptions for both Jackson and Wiseman, which would allow them to add players as replacements without counting against their salary cap. They were granted a $2.2 million exemption for Jackson and a $1.2 million exemption for Wiseman. Bryant has a one-year contract worth $2.087 million, so he could fall under the Jackson exception, but the Pacers can remain under the luxury tax even if they don’t apply it to him. They don’t have a lot of room – about $126,000, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks – but they still have room.

The move is helpful in freeing up space for the Heat. The trade puts them $3.7 million below the second tax threshold.

Bryant has started 138 NBA games in his career, averaging 9.3 points and 5.4 rebounds. He won an NBA championship ring with the Nuggets in 2022-23. However, he has only appeared in 10 games for the Heat this season and is averaging just 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 11.5 minutes per appearance.

Bryant, a native of Rochester, N.Y., played high school ball at Huntington Prep in West Virginia and was the No. 22 player in the 2015 recruiting class according to 247Sports. As a freshman at Indiana, he helped lead the Hoosiers to the Big Ten title regular season and a Sweet 16 run, averaging 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while shooting 68.3% from the floor. He averaged 12.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game as a sophomore and entered the draft after that season.

Bryant was selected by the Jazz with the No. 42 overall pick in the second round of the 2017 draft and then sent to the Lakers in a draft-day deal. After one season with the Lakers, he was released and spent four seasons with the Wizards, where he did his most extensive work, averaging 11.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game during that period. He signed a free agent contract with the Lakers and played 25 games in Los Angeles in 2022-23, where he was on the floor when LeBron James broke the all-time NBA scoring record. In February 2023, he was traded to the Nuggets as part of a four-way deal that sent Bones Hyland to the Clippers. He signed free agent contracts with the Heat the last two seasons, but he started just four games there and played in just 48 games in two seasons behind starter Bam Adebayo and others.

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Pacers trade for former IU basketball star Thomas Bryant

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