Pacers acquire Jordan Nwora, George Hill; waive Goga Bitadze, Terry Taylor

The Pacers acquired forward Jordan Nwora and two second-round picks as part of the four-way mega trade that sent Kevin Durant from Brooklyn to Phoenix, MIkal Bridges and Cam Johnson from Phoenix to Brooklyn and forward Jae Crowder from Phoenix to Brooklyn to Milwaukee, according to a report from Shams Charania from The Athletic as well as an official post from the Nets confirming their portion of the deal.

Charania also reported that the Pacers are acquiring center Serge Ibaka as part of the deal. It was later reported by Charania that Ibaka would be waived by Indiana.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that the Pacers also acquired former Pacer, IUPUI and Broad Ripple High School star George Hill and a second-round pick from the Bucks as well.

According to the Nets' release, the Pacers sent Brooklyn the draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet, an Argentinian wing whose rights they acquired from Brooklyn in Oct. 2021 for wing Edmond Sumner. Vaulet was drafted by the Hornets in 2015 as a 19-year-old but has never played in the NBA and has spent the past two years playing professionally in Spain.

The Pacers are waiving center Goga Bitadze according to Charania's report and forward Terry Taylor according to a report from Yahoo's Jake Fischer. They may have to release another player to make room for their three acquisitions even though they plan to waive Ibaka. A league source told IndyStar the Pacers would not be involved in any other trades.

More:What to know about Pacers trade acquisitions George Hill and Serge Ibaka

More:What to know about Pacers trade acquisition Jordan Nwora

Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said before the deadline he expected to be "opportunistic" but also suggested they would be cautious and didn't expect to make massive moves at the deadline. There were several players they were reportedly interested in, including several other power forwards, but ultimately nothing else materialized.

Nwora, 6-8, 225-pound forward, gives the Pacers a desperately needed bigger wing. The former Louisville star wasn't getting much time with Milwaukee. He appeared in 38 games with the Bucks this season, starting three and averaging 15.1 minutes per game. He averaged 6.0 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

Nwora was selected by the Bucks in the second round of the 2020 draft with the 45th overall pick after averaging 18.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game as a junior at Louisville, where he was a two-time All-ACC pick. Nwora appeared in 30 games as a rookie on the 2020-21 Bucks team that won the NBA title, averaging just 9.1 minutes per game. Last season, he averaged 7.9 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 19.1 minutes per game. He has been productive in limited action, averaging 15.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per 36 minutes in his career, shooting 40.8% from the field and 37.6% from 3-point range. Nwora is under contract through next season and will cost $3.2 million against the cap in 2023-24.

The Pacers were in desperate need of help at the power forward position, and Nwora appears to have at least the size to play the position. The Pacers have been starting third-year wing Aaron Nesmith there and though they have been thrilled with his defense and energy, he's just 6-5, and using small lineups has hurt the Pacers on the glass. They rank 28th in defensive rebounding percentage, 26th in overall rebounding percentage and 23rd in rebounds per game.

Hill and Ibaka are much longer-tenured veterans and their roles with the Pacers is less immediately evident. The 36-year-old HIll is in his 15th year in the league with career averages of 10.5 points and 3.1 assists per game. He has appeared in just 35 games this season, however, averaging 5.0 points and 2.5 assists in 19.1 minutes per game. The 6-10, 235-pound Ibaka is in his 14th season and is a three-time NBA All-Defensive Team pick. He led the league in blocks twice and won an NBA title with the Raptors in 2019, but he has played just 16 games this season and has been away from the Bucks for "personal reasons." He's averaging 4.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in limited action. Both Ibaka and Hill are on contracts set to expire at the end of this season. Moving Norwa, Hill and Ibaka allowed the Bucks to add Crowder under the salary cap.

There is no word yet on what, if anything, the Pacers traded to the Bucks or Nets as part of the deal. To make the move official, the Pacers have to cut at least one more player beyond Bitadze and Taylor.

Bitadze appeared in just 21 games this season, averaging 9.6 minutes. Bitadze, the No. 18 overall pick in the 2019 draft, was stuck behind a log jam at center with Myles Turner starting and Daniel Theis, Jalen Smith and Isaiah Jackson splitting up backup minutes. Bitadze has played in just seven games since November, largely in mop-up action. Taylor, signed to an undrafted free agent contract in 2021 was converted from a two-way to a full-time NBA contract in April. He started two games this season and appeared in 26, averaging 8.8 minutes and 2.7 points in his appearances.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Pacers get Jordan Nwora, George Hill at NBA trade deadline