PACERS PICK UP FORWARD EVANS IN 3-PLAYER SWAP WITH MAVS
The Indiana Pacers acquired combo forward Jeremy Evans, the rights to point-forward Emir Preldzic, and cash from the Dallas Mavericks for the rights to center Stanko Barac.
What does it give the Indiana Pacers
Few teams have overhauled their cores this off-season as much as Indiana, and that continues here with this deal. Evans is an amazing leaper and a great athlete who showed solid signs of improvement last season, so perhaps he can find a rotation role with Indy. Meanwhile Preldzic remains an intriguing talent with some point-forward potential, and he has no current contract in Europe (so it's conceivable he might head to the NBA sometime in the future).
What does it give the Dallas Mavericks
For now the Mavs simply save some money by moving Evans, but it's interesting Barac is the player they get in return here. He is a massive center who had some success in Europe, and he currently has no contract there. That doesn't mean he's likely to sign in the NBA this summer, but the Mavs notably took a chance last season on another veteran European center (Salah Mejri) and it paid off solidly.
Fantasy impact
This summer Dallas acquired big Andrew Bogut to start at center, and he's one of the NBA's best defenders in in the paint. That said, he's also injury-prone and usually has his minutes significantly limited, so if the Mavs decide to lure Barac to the NBA there might be some fringer radar-worthy fantasy value for Barac. That's a big 'if,' however--especially since he would be third on the center depth chart with Dallas. There is no fantasy fallout on the Pacers, since Indy is a deep squad and Evans looks unlikely to see major playing time (if much at all).
