The Indiana Pacers have been one of the top teams in the NBA this season and on Friday they will get an added boost to the roster, as Danny Granger will be making his long-awaited return to the regular season and he will continue to be a prime trade candidate if he plays well and teams like the Chicago Bulls, NY Knicks, Timberwolves or Cavaliers could be interested at the deadline.
Omer Asik and Danny Granger have been looked at as two of the most likely players to get traded this season and with Granger coming back and coming into the last year of his deal, that could be a potential move for Indiana to make. The team has strengths at nearly every position and they are deep with talent with names like Paul George, Roy Hibbert, Lance Stephenson and David West and adding Granger to that mix should only make the team better. Despite that, according to Pro Basketball Talk, Larry Bird has said that he will not be afraid to make a move for the team if it can make the roster better and right now it looks like Granger would be that move.
Pro Basketball Talk reports that Granger is coming back on Friday against the Houston Rockets and if he plays well in his return and after that, it could make him a potential target for teams. The Knicks need to do something, the Chicago Bulls need scoring and teams like the Timberwolves and Cavaliers are looking to deal, with Cleveland shopping Dion Waiters after the former top 10 pick has had issues with Kyrie Irving. There was talk of a deal involving Granger over the summer, but that never moved into the deep stages of talks.
Granger is an All-Star and a very good player, but he could only play in five games last season and the Pacers were able to take the Heat to seven games without him in the lineup. On top of that, Lance Stephenson established himself as a legitimate player in his absence and now Granger coming back could mean fewer minutes for him and even for Paul George and that may not be how Bird and Frank Vogel want to do things. All this could lead to a trade for Granger and as the deadline gets closer and he remains healthy, teams will be calling the Pacers about him.
