Host Danny Leroux (@DannyLeroux), Nate Duncan of the Dunc’d On Basketball Podcast (@NateDuncanNBA) and Dan Feldman (@DanFeldmanNBA) break down the NBA’s Central Division.

They discuss how the Bucks, Bulls, Cavs, Pacers and Pistons fared in the off-season and predict the season to come, including projected finish, breakout players and rookies they are most excited to see.

Sponsored by Athletic Greens (athleticgreens.com/REALGM)

Subscribe to RealGM Radio on Apple Podcasts or via the RSS feed. 

The German National Team will take a break from EuroBasket preparation to play in World Cup qualifying this week. Unfortunately, Germany will be without two of their stars in the qualifying process.

Dennis Schroder will miss the World Cup qualifying due to an ankle injury Schroder will remain in Germany to receive treatment in hopes he'll be ready to play in EuroBasket.

Daniel Theis will also miss the qualifying. Theis is also expected to miss EuroBasket, but no final decision has been made on Theis' availability for that tournament.

Schroder is a free agent, after his contract expired with the Houston Rockets. Theis is now a member of the Indiana Pacers, after he was traded from the Boston Celtics this summer.

When Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton hears himself called "the face of the franchise" he still chuckles. But for the Pacers, that's how they see their young floor leader.

“We're gonna build our team around him,” Pacers GM Chad Buchanan told Basketball News. “We see him as hopefully being the next Reggie Miller. We had a Reggie Miller mural painted on a building in downtown Indianapolis, and I think our dream is that one day Tyrese will have (his own) up somewhere in downtown Indianapolis.”

Haliburton said he cried for nearly an hour when he was told about the trade sending him to Indiana from the Sacramento Kings. Then he connected with Pacers leadership who told him they planned to build the team around him, which helped him start to move forward.

Haliburton also said hearing from his peers around the NBA that they think the Kings made a mistake helped him move on from being traded. Haliburton added that he now feels at home, as he's a "Midwest kid", and the Pacers say their new star is “meshing together perfectly" with the Indiana community.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers have engaged in "on and off again" trade talks. Those talks have centered around guard Buddy Hield and big man Myles Turner. That continues to be part of the search for shooting and size for Los Angeles.

The Lakers have long-coveted Hield, including almost dealing for him prior to last season. Hield is a former Rob Pelinka client, and the Lakers GM has pursued him since taking over the LA front office.

Turner was a target of the Lakers earlier in the offseason, when the team was looking for frontcourt depth around Anthony Davis. Turner is entering the final season of his deal with Indiana. The Pacers are known to be open to dealing the stretch big, as they rebuild their roster around younger players.

The holdups towards a deal seem to be that Los Angeles would need to send Russell Westbrook and his expiring $47.1 million contract to Indiana. Also, at this point, the Lakers are unwilling to include both of their tradable future first round picks in 2027 and 2029 in a trade for Hield and Turner.

Alize Johnson has agreed to sign a one-year, $2 million deal with the San Antonio Spurs.

Johnson appeared in 23 games last season across the Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards.

Johnson was a second round pick in 2018 out of Missouri State by the Indiana Pacers.

The Indiana Pacers have agreed to a one-year deal with Deividas Sirvydis. It's expected that Sirvydis will go to camp with a chance to compete for a roster spot.

Sirvydis spent parts of the last two seasons with the Detroit Pistons. The 6-foot-8 wing has appeared in 23 NBA games over the last two seasons.