Spurs trade forward to Pacers

The Pacers will acquire Doug McDermott from the Spurs, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

San Antonio will receive Marcus Morris, two second-round picks and cash in return, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). One of the picks is in 2029, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Morris, who Indiana is acquiring from Philadelphia in the Buddy Hield trade, is expected to be a buyout candidate in San Antonio, Charania adds (Twitter link). If Morris is bought out, he would be ineligible to return to the Pacers or join the seven teams operating above the first or second tax apron: the Celtics, Nuggets, Warriors, Clippers, Heat, Bucks and Suns. Morris would be able to return to the Sixers if the trades involving Hield and McDermott are separate, rather than one three-team transaction.

The Pacers will create a $3.4M trade exception in the deal, according to Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (Twitter link). They also get a useful shooter after sending Hield to Philadelphia, while adding some draft assets.

McDermott returns to Indiana, where he spent three seasons before leaving for San Antonio in a sign-and-trade deal in 2021. The 32-year-old forward has seen his playing time reduced this season, but he’s a career 41.2% career shooter from long distance and is connecting at 43.9% through 46 games this season.

Although Morris is unlikely to join the Spurs, it’s something of a reunion for him as well. Gozlan notes that he was close to signing with San Antonio five years ago before changing his mind.