According to many sources, Jalen Smith has agreed to a three-year, $27 million contract with the Chicago Bulls. Stix will stay in the central division and take Andre Drummond’s role as the backup center for the Bulls. This may be a huge chance for the now-former Indiana Pacers center, Nikola Vucevic, since there are whispers that the Bulls want to move on from him as well.
According to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype, Indiana Pacers big Jalen Smith is turning down his $5.4 million player option for the next campaign in favor of signing as an unrestricted free agency this summer.
According to Scott Agness, the report hasn’t been finished yet, which is another claim that somewhat contradicts the previous one. It’s possible that Smith and his agent haven’t formally informed the team or submitted the necessary papers. We have to decide before tomorrow.
Stix enjoyed the greatest year of his career with outstanding efficiency during his third season with the Pacers. Stix made an astounding 70.1% of his shots overall in the first few months of the season, including 62.9% of his 3-pointers (22 of 35) in the first 18 games. Despite not being able to maintain such unattainable pace for the whole season, he still finished with career highs, making 59.2% of his shots overall and 42.4% of his long-range shots.
As the backup center, Smith averaged 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 17 minutes per game. He started 14 games, including a stretch in late December when the Pacers began to transform their defense from truly terrible to bearable mediocre. Smith was an important member of the league’s best bench unit.
After a fantastic season, Stix was likely dissatisfied with how the playoffs went for him individually, even though the club had a lot of postseason success. He had a difficult first game against the Bucks, as the club was outscored by 13 points in his 13 minutes on the court. After that, he seldom played in the postseason. When the Pacers decided to use a backup center again, Rick Carlisle selected Isaiah Jackson over Smith. Jackson performed well and never gave up the spot throughout the entire playoff run into the conference finals. The Pacers then opted to go small against the Bucks bench, starting Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin as the 4/5 pairing for the next few games.
It seems sense, therefore, that Smith could be eager to capitalize on his productive season by signing a new deal and taking advantage of a chance where he can play consistently more minutes. The Pacers would likely not mind if Stix declined the option and looked elsewhere because they will be trying to re-sign Obi Toppin and would like to avoid paying the luxury tax. That $5.4 million allows the front office some breathing room to match Toppin’s prospective offers.
The Pacers are likely willing to provide Jackson, a former first-round choice, his first reliable rotation job since joining the team after his postseason performance. Next summer, when he begins his fourth season, the dynamic, lob threat will be a restricted free agency. Even if they are not included in the rotation in the event that Smith does formally reject his option, the team may still try to increase competition at the center position with a veteran on a minimum deal.
His time with the Pacers will be remembered for when he originally joined the organization at the trade deadline for Torrey Craig and then couldn’t miss from three, much like the beginning of this season, if this does turn out to be the end of his stint with the franchise. The Pacers’ options for him in free agency are restricted since the Suns rejected his third-year option. Therefore, Pacers Reddit and Pacers Twitter took matters into their own hands and began posting fictitious, disparaging tales about him beneath each tweet that made reference to him.
