The Indiana Pacers acquired Forward Rakeem Christmas from the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier Thursday morning. They wasted no time getting a deal in place as later that evening, Christmas agreed to a four year deal with Indiana that will pay him $4.5M. Following from Chris Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Rakeem Christmas, Pacers reached agreement on four-year, $4.5 million deal, league sources tell @clevelanddotcom. Two years guaranteed.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 23, 2015
Christmas was a second round pick inthe NBA draft last month as he was taken 36th overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves but was traded that night to the Cavaliers. The first two years of the contract are fully guaranteed, which shows Indiana has a good amount of confidence in the abilities of the young big man. We all know Christmas has talent, and he showed us during his four year tenure at Syracuse University. Just last year Christmas dropped an eye opening average of 17.5 points per game to go along with 9.1 rebounds.
The Pacers made a brilliant decision by bringing in Christmas, whose potential is through the roof. They selected Myles Turner in the first round, someone they could start at center immediately after the departure of Roy Hibbert. They also needed help at power forward obviously as David West and Luis Scola both also left in free agency. Christmas may not start right away at the 4, but him and Turner could become a more than formidable front court combination in the latter parts of next season and beyond.
