The NBA offseason is almost upon us and the Indiana Pacers are going to be an extremely interesting team to keep an eye on.

Kevin Pritchard and the front office have been very vocal about having an aggressive mindset entering the offseason. Unfortunately, they don't have a first-round pick and they have little financial flexibility.

In order to be aggressive, the Pacers are going to need to get creative.

More than likely, the best pathway to improvement will be via the trade market. A few suggestions have already been made for players Indiana should consider. One of those players was Los Angeles Lakers guard Dalton Knecht.

Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star was the one to suggest Knecht as a potential target for the Pacers.

“He’s (Knecht) on a cheap contract, he has a club option for 2027-28 and he might benefit from playing in the Pacers’ wide open system,” Dopirak wrote.

“On the flip side, the Lakers might be able to use Ben Sheppard’s defense off the bench.” 

His trade suggestion would be Ben Sheppard shipped to the Lakers in exchange for Knecht. On the outside looking in, the move would make a ton of sense for Indiana.

What is the biggest need for the Pacers entering this offseason? Quite simply, they badly need more bench scoring. Knecht would be a huge upgrade over Sheppard in that department.

Bennedict Mathurin has been Indiana's primary bench scorer in recent years. Of course, he was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers as part of the Ivica Zubac deal. Knecht could help replace Mathurin.

Knect has played in 132 games and made 17 starts across his first two NBA seasons. He has averaged 7.1 points per game to go along with 2.2 rebounds and 0.7 assists, while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 36.8 percent from three-point range.

Simply looking at the surface numbers, Knecht's scoring talent is clear.

During his final college season with the Tennessee Volunteers, Knecht averaged 21.7 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 45.8 percent overall and 39.7 percent from distance.

Indiana would not be asking Knecht to come in and be a starter. All the Pacers would need from him is to average between 10 to 12 points off of the bench. That is a role the young wing could thrive in.

Granted, there is no guarantee that Los Angeles would be willing to move him for Sheppard. But, it's an option the Pacers should at least look into.