Pacers begin Summer League practice, trade for reserve center Jay Huff
The Pacers remain busy on this holiday weekend, adding an offensive center to the mix.
The Pacers haven’t exactly put on a fireworks show over the 4th of July holiday weekend, but they have been active with the first two Summer League practices on Thursday and Friday. With an off day for the Summer Pacers on Saturday, the team executed a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire reserve center Jay Huff.
According to Shams Charania, the Grizzlies traded Huff to the Pacers for one second-round pick and one second-round pick swap, sources tell ESPN. Tony East broke down the picks involved:
Pacers are seconding the Trail Blazers 2029 second and a 2031 second-round swap to Memphis, per source.
That 2031 swap was the same one the Pacers did with Miami in the Thomas Bryant trade. So Pacers 2031 second is now worst of MIA/IND/MEM.
Huff just finished his fourth year in the league, playing in 64 games, often in a significant role off the bench for the banged up Grizzlies. He averaged about 7 points and 2 rebounds in just under 12 minutes per game. Three of his five FGAs per game were from behind the arc where he made a tick over 40 percent of his threes.
At 7-1, Huff offers some legit center size, so his addition as a three-point shooting big would appear to mean Thomas Bryant will be moving on, if not Tony Bradley, as well pending the Isaiah Jackson and James Wiseman situations. Huff had a two-way contracted converted last season, so he comes cheap at just $2.35 million for this season with slight raises under the Pacers control for the next two seasons.
Summer League update
As mentioned above, the Pacers had the bulk of their summer squad at the St. V’s Center on Thursday and Friday for practice. The roster below includes Johnny Furphy and Enrique Freeman, as expected. One name that is missing is Kam Jones. The Pacers second round pick will not officially be a Pacers until Sunday when the trade for the pick used to select Jones becomes official.
The team allowed media in after the Friday practice with a chance to interview Summer League head coach Isaac Yacob and second round pick Taelon Peter. While watching the new players go through shooting drills after practice, it took a few minutes to realize there was a gentleman sitting at the other end of the court with a hoodie on and a…walking boot on his right leg. Yep, Tyrese Haliburton was in the house supporting the Summer Pacers and his guy, Coach Yacob.
This was the first media activity for the Pacers since Game 7, but one coach and player were made available. Johnny Furphy was around getting up shots and definitely looking a lot stronger than he appeared at this time last season. While he didn’t shoot great when he had his limited chances with the Pacers, a lot of the other stuff he did, rebounding, finishing strong at the rim and his general willingness to stick his nose in the action and battle were all attributes the Pacers appreciate. He should have at least a couple of games to show his development in Vegas with the Summer Pacers.
Coach Yacob was certainly excited for the opportunity to lead the Summer Pacers, something he said Rick Carlisle mentioned as a possibility last summer. Then after the season ended, Carlisle let Yacob know he was in charge. Considering the season ended less than two weeks ago, Yacob had to get right back to work. But there was now complaining, getting to the Finals is worth any time constraints to begin the 2025-26 season.
As for what he expects from the Summer Pacers, don’t expect them to just play straight up and see what happens. Yacob wants the team to play with the Pacers identity of extreme effort.
“I want to play our brand of basketball, Pacers basketball which is fast, compete, pick up full court for 40 minutes (length of summer league games) ,” Yacob explained.
Sounds good, sign me up!
One of the players on that roster who can get out and run is second round pick Taelon Peter. Peter was an exceptional shooter in his one season at Liberty and referred to himself as sneaky athletic. Well, sneaky if you don’t know anything about the man.
Peter won a state title as a junior in high school in Arkansas with a 6’10 high jump effort. He was unable to go for the 7’1 state record as a senior because COVID-19 wiped out his senior track season. It also altered his plans to high jump in college, instead leaving him to focus on basketball where he started at Tennessee Tech.
His route to the NBA was certainly unconventional as he returned to Arkansas to play Division II ball and dealt with an injured wrist before finishing his career at Liberty. So while he had hopes of hearing his name in the NBA draft, the moment was still a surprise and something special which he shared with a group of family and friends at his grandmas house. The celebration of hearing his name lead to Peter and fam to jump up from the cramped living room and run out to jump in the pool in their clothes.
Peter was quite comfortable in the interview situation and is an easy story to root for as he begins his pro career. With his scoring and athletic ability, you have to wonder how he wasn’t more well known heading into the draft. There have to be deficits in his game and Peter admitted the areas he needs to improve are his ball handling and focus on defensive habits.
Peter played mostly the two and three in college to being able to handle the ball will be critical to his pro development. No doubt, he landed in the right situation to improve his defensive disposition considering he has the athletic tools to do so. Being immersed in the Pacers effort atmosphere with Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard and TJ McConnell to learn from, should help the young understand what he has to do to develop on the defensive end.