The Indiana Pacers reportedly looked into a Roy Hibbert trade for Greg Monroe with the Detroit Pistons this offseason and this comes as the team is dealing with the injury to Paul George along with reports that the team looked at a deal for Goran Dragic and the Phoenix Suns involving Hibbert and now those deals could be picked up again as the summer pushes into the end of August.
According to Pro Basketball Talk, the Indiana Pacers have shopped Roy Hibbert this summer and the team reportedly called the Pistons about Greg Monroe and the Suns about Goran Dragic in deals involving Hibbert. Earlier in the offseason there was chatter that the Pacers shopped Hibbert following the playoffs and his terrible performance, but there weren't any concrete teams in the mix, although ESPN.com reported that the Pacers were interested in Dragic.
Pro Basketball Talk writes that this deal doesn't make too much sense for the Pistons or the Pacers, but that it could be a mutually beneficial deal to get the teams out of situations with players they don't want to be in. Monroe is a restricted free agent and he hasn't generated much interest on the market this summer and one of the main reasons for that is that the Pistons have said they will match any offers he gets. Eric Bledsoe with the Phoenix Suns has had similar issues with being a restricted free agent and now the Suns may look at a deal before officially signing back Bledsoe, which is reportedly in their plans.
Matt Dery from Detroit radio wrote on Twitter that the Pacers are shopping Hibbert and that they called the Pistons about Monroe, but that was as far as the deal talk went on his end. The Pistons have been looking to break the logjam with Monroe, Josh Smith and Andre Drummond, first trying hard to trade Smith to the Sacramento Kings, but his contract has made things difficult and now it could be Monroe that gets moved.
Pro Basketball Talk and Hoops Hype are also reporting that the Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns may look at a deal involving Hibbert and Goran Dragic. Marc Stein wrote earlier in the offseason the Pacers had a "dream" of a Dragic trade to upgrade over point guard George Hill and now they could be looking at that. The Suns want a veteran big man and Hibbert could be a fit alongside Alex Len in the lineup and the team could afford to trade Dragic after signing Isaiah Thomas in the offseason.
The Suns don't want to trade Dragic necessarily, since he is coming off of a most improved player award and also is on a team friendly contract, but adding Hibbert could turn the team into a playoff contender. The report says that the team spoke about a deal with Hibbert and Chris Copeland for Dragic that also would include some cash, but those talks have not gotten deep between the two teams. The Pacers may not trade Hibbert after the Paul George injury, but the team likely needs to make some moves to get over the hump after losing their best offensive player.
