If you’re a Pacers fan looking for Domantas Sabonis to stay in Indiana, you might want to skip his latest soundbite.
It was reported Friday that the Pacers were engaged in active trade talks for the 23-year-old big man, which comes at the heels of the two sides’ lack of progress on a rookie contract extension. Now, Sabonis is sharing some interesting thoughts on the situation.
“There’s not really much to talk about,” Sabonis said, per The Athletic’s Scott Agness. “I know exactly how the Pacers feel about me now, they know how I feel about that, and there’s not much more to say. Let my agents do the rest of it and we’ll see what happens.”
Well, that makes things seem rather messy if you ask us.
Sabonis currently sits in the same negotiation scenario as Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown. The two players were lottery picks in the 2016 NBA Draft and are entering the final years of their respective rookie deals. Of course, it seems the Celtics and Brown are working with one another a bit more than Indiana and Sabonis, but time will tell if either pair gets a deal done before Monday night’s deadline.
Rookie contract extensions need to be agreed upon by Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. ET. If the deadline passes without an agreement, the player under said deal will hit restricted free agency next summer.
As of Friday, Indiana’s asking price in a trade for Sabonis was too high, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
