Pacers' Ben Sheppard Suggested as Potential Trade Candidate

Heading into the 2026 NBA offseason, the Indiana Pacers will have a lot of decisions to make. Kevin Pritchard has his work cut out for him to improve the roster.

Unfortunately, the NBA Draft will not be part of that equation. The Pacers traded a their pick this year top-four protected to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac deal. They saw that pick slide to No. 5 and lost it to the Clippers.

Without the first-round pick, Indiana will need to improve via free agency or the trade market.

At this point in time, the Pacers do not have a lot of financial flexibility. The trade route is most likely, as Indiana could send out contracts in order to bring in a potential upgrade.

Keeping that in mind, a new trade idea has been suggested that would see Ben Sheppard dealt out of town.

Sports Illustrated's Alex Golden has suggested a potential trade idea with the Toronto Raptors that would swap Sheppard for Gradey Dick.

Golden noted that the Pacers had interest in Dick leading up to the 2023 NBA Draft. He ended up being selected by the Raptors with the No. 13 overall pick in the first round.

"It is worth noting that back in the 2023 pre-draft process, the Pacers had a solo workout and dinner with Gradey Dick, because they were impressed by his 40% shooting at Kansas, which is the alma mater of Pacers President of Basketball Operations, Kevin Pritchard," Golden wrote.

Dick played in 76 games for Toronto last season and made one start. He averaged six points per game to go along with 1.9 rebounds and 0.7 assists.

His best season in the NBA came during the 2024-25 campaign. Dick played in 54 games and made 54 starts, averaging 14.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists, while shooting 41 percent from the floor and 35 percent from the three-point line.

Whether or not swapping Sheppard for Dick would be an upgrade or not remains to be seen. Sheppard is a solid three-point shooter and has proved himself to be a very good defender.

Expect to hear plenty of rumors and a lot of speculation about Indiana as the offseason gets underway. Dick could be one name to keep an eye on.