Once the trade to send Pau Gasol to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Andrew Bynum fell apart, the Cavs immediately made a deal with the Chicago Bulls. Cleveland received Luol Deng for Bynum while the Bulls chose to simply waive the one-time All-Star center in an effort to save money.
Earlier this week, Bynum cleared waivers with plenty of teams expressing interest in the veteran center. Although it remains uncertain what Bynum can bring to a new team, the former lottery pick is drawing interest from contending teams including the Indiana Pacers according to ESPN’s Marc Stein via Twitter:
Andrew Bynum latest: Hear Clips leaning away from idea of signing Bynum for now AND that Indy is among teams to express exploratory interest
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) January 12, 2014
Along with the Pacers getting into the Bynum sweepstakes, the Los Angeles Clippers have seemingly taken a step back from pursuing the veteran center. The Clippers going after Bynum makes sense for a few different reasons, but he might not be the player that head coach Doc Rivers is willing to deal with.
As for the Pacers, Indiana would arguably have one of the best frontcourts in the league with the addition of Bynum. Center Roy Hibbert is already among the best in the game and adding Bynum into the mix would only make a legitimate title contender that much deeper at a crucial position.
Ironically enough, Hibbert sent out a tweet recently talking about Bynum being interested in signing with Los Angeles or Miami. No one thought the Pacers would express interest, but depending the amount it would take to bring him to Indiana, it doesn’t appear to be a bad move for the Pacers.
One of the major advantages the Pacers have had over the two-time defending NBA champion Miami Heat has been in the frontcourt. The two-headed monster of Hibbert and Bynum may ultimately be too much to deal with for LeBron James and company in the playoffs making this signing a potential game-changer for Indiana.
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