May 15, 2014; Washington, DC, USA; Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert (55) and Pacers forward David West (21) stand on the court against the Washington Wizards in game six of the second round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs at Verizon Center. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

With the Indiana Pacers being for from competitive, trading away pieces of core only makes sense for their future.

The Indiana Pacers were expected to struggle coming into this season. When you lose your best player (Paul George) to a season-ending injury and your second-best player and main ball-handler (Lance Stephenson) to free agency, it can be hard to keep up. Even in the East, there was no way the Pacers would return to what they were before, competing to represent their conference in the NBA Finals and all. At 15-27 and 11th in the East, building for the future only makes sense.

Indiana isn’t only 12 games under .500 for the first time since 2009-10, they are perhaps at their lowest point since Frank Vogel took the reigns back in 2011. They started off their current four-game losing streak with a one-point loss to the tanking Philadelphia 76ers (currently 8-32), only to follow that up with an embarrassing 110-101 defeat at the hands of the now 7-32 Minnesota Timberwolves on their home court. Oh, Mo Williams also dropped a career-high 52 points to help snap Minnesota’s 15-game losing streak. It can’t get worse, can it?

It can.

After an acceptable two-point loss to the surging Detroit Pistons, the Pacers traveled to Charlotte to face Stephenson and the Hornets. Charlotte has played better as of late like the Pistons, but on this night, they were without Al Jefferson and Kemba Walker–their two best players. Indiana walked into Time Warner Cable Arena knowing they had to win that game in order to get back on track, and they knew they could. With Jefferson and Walker out, they had no excuse. And still, Indiana fell 80-71 in overtime (yes, that was an overtime score in an NBA game).

To make matters worst, Indiana has a tough stretch coming up where they will travel to play the Rockets, Hawks, Heat, and Magic before returning home to host the Raptors.

While Indiana is a much better team with George Hill healthy and playing, his return to the court–whenever that will be–might not be enough to salvage this season. The Pacers are now fighting with emerging teams in Detroit and Charlotte for the bottom two playoff seeds, and that’s only if the Nets and Heat fall apart and lose their spots. For the Pistons and Hornets, the play of Brandon Jennings and Kemba Walker has made them tough teams to beat after being laughable to begin the season.

We are still a month away from the trade deadline, and while it’s probably unlikely with Larry Bird’s history as a GM, making trades to move on from this core just might be necessary for the sake of Indiana’s future. With their recent play, there really is no reason not to start making moves.

The Pacers don’t have to tear apart their whole team, but trading away the frontcourt is the most attractive move at the moment. Here’s why.

David West

West isn’t what he used to be, but for a contender needing depth at power forward or just an upgrade overall, he is a very good option. West might not be worth his $12 million contract anymore, but his experience and will to win makes him hard to pass up if available.

For the Pacers, they haven’t had athleticism in their frontcourt in quite a while and dealing West gives them the opportunity to fix that problem, as well as clear his contract off the books for the summer.

Roy Hibbert

Hibbert has been in trade rumors for what seems forever, and now is the time to end those rumors and actually make a move. For teams looking to upgrade at center, Hibbert–even with his huge contract at about $15 million–is a great rim protector and has shown more willingness to be an offensive presence this season, and has been especially good in January. Hibbert may not be what he used to be, but he is certainly an upgrade at center for any team looking.

For the Pacers, similar to West, it’s just time to get more athletic at center and wipe his contract off the books. As said in the past, a fresh start could be the best thing for both parties.

As far as other pieces, the Pacers could trade Luis Scola as he adds the same veteran leadership and experience as West, but they really don’t need to move anyone else. Adding a ball-handling facilitator wouldn’t hurt and is probably necessary after losing Stephenson, but they don’t have to lose George Hill in that. He did play at shooting guard in the past, and moving him there could help him focus on scoring rather than distributing.

In making the moves suggested above, Indiana has the opportunity to build a team around Paul George that would more fit his development, and with a better Paul George, the whole team in turn is better. To make George better, as mentioned in the paragraph above, trading for/signing a ball-handler in the summer makes the most sense. Indiana did show interest in Goran Dragic last summer, and as perfect a move that would be for the Pacers, Phoenix might not be interested after adding frontcourt help in Brandan Wright. If Indiana is still interested but can’t get him in a trade, he is set to be a free agent this summer (if he opts-out, which he has said he will).

Unless Indiana is planning on going “all in” with this core one last time next season, retaining it makes no sense. Hibbert and West both have player options this summer, and seeing they would get less money anywhere else they went, they should probably take the option. Indiana could deal them next year, but that would leave them a year behind in a small rebuilding process. They surely don’t want to lose them for nothing.

As I said above, this would only be small rebuilding process. There is no guarantee with draft picks, but the Pacers could grab one of the many good big man in the lottery and from there, all they would have to do is add the ball-handler. And for all we know, that happens in a trade. Boom, rebuild over.

However, Larry Bird wants to win. Even though his team is clearly losing, he probably won’t make any trades–if he does at all–until the trade deadline. Still, Indiana would be well on their way to a rebuilding process that won’t even set them back too far.

And hey, in the East, even a rebuilding project can turn into a playoff seed.