DHJ Quick Take: Indiana Pacers Showing Strong Interest in Kelly Oubre Jr.
Dallas Hoops Journal has learned the Indiana Pacers have strong interest in Kelly Oubre Jr., with rumblings that a deal could come together in the range of two years and $16.5 million.
- What is the interest level? Indiana has strong interest in Oubre, though no agreement is in place yet.
- What could the terms look like? A potential deal is being floated in the range of two years and $16.5 million.
- How would it fit the Pacers’ books? A contract at that number would likely run through the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and push Indiana into the luxury tax for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
- What’s next? Watch whether the talks firm up as the market moves, with Gary Trent Jr. and Josh Okogie also among the wings Indiana has considered.
The Indiana Pacers have a significant interest in Kelly Oubre Jr. as free agency looms, and there are rumblings the two sides could get a deal done in the range of two years and $16.5 million, Dallas Hoops Journal has learned.
Oubre, a 6-foot-8 wing with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, has spent the past three seasons in Philadelphia carving out a role as a connector who defends, slashes, and rebounds without needing the ball. That profile lines up cleanly with what Indiana has spent the offseason saying it wants to add.
Why the Indiana Pacers Want Kelly Oubre Jr.
General manager Chad Buchanan has been candid about the roster’s biggest gap. After the team shipped Bennedict Mathurin to the Los Angeles Clippers in February as part of the package for center Ivica Zubac, the Pacers lost their most reliable source of bench scoring, and replacing that punch on the wing has sat near the top of their to-do list.
The need only sharpened over the spring. Johnny Furphy, one of Indiana’s young wings, is working back from a torn ACL and is not expected to be ready when the season tips off. Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard offer defense and energy off the bench but have yet to prove they can carry a scoring load. Oubre would step in as the kind of proven, two-way contributor the second unit has lacked.
The Money Behind a Potential Kelly Oubre Jr. Deal
A contract in the $16.5 million range over two years would pay Oubre roughly $8.25 million per season, a number that carries real weight for Indiana. The Pacers enter free agency sitting right at the luxury tax line and roughly $9 million below the first apron, so a deal at that figure would push them into the tax and hard-cap them at the first apron for the rest of the league year.
That matters because Indiana has not paid the luxury tax since the 2004-05 season. A willingness to cross that line, even modestly, would signal that the front office views this roster as a genuine contender rather than a team biding its time. The most realistic mechanism for a deal this size is the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which gives the Pacers enough room to outbid teams limited to the veteran’s minimum.
The terms would also come in well under the three-year, $40.5 million projection ESPN’s Bobby Marks attached to Oubre in May, reflecting both Indiana’s cap sensitivity and a free-agent market that has not lined up to reward him at that level.
How Kelly Oubre Jr. Fits Next to Tyrese Haliburton
Indiana is built around the return of Tyrese Haliburton, who missed all of the 2025-26 season after tearing his Achilles in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. With Haliburton back alongside Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, and Zubac, the starting five is largely set, which frames Oubre as either a high-end sixth man or a candidate to push for minutes at small forward.
His game travels well in that role. Oubre put up 14.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists across 50 games for the Philadelphia 76ers last season, shooting 46.7% from the floor and a career-best 36% from three. He started 41 of those games and all 11 of Philadelphia’s playoff contests, and his length lets him guard multiple positions, an asset for a Pacers defense that leaned on versatility during back-to-back deep postseason runs.
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