by The GM on April 15 at 11:21AM
Now that the NBA season is officially over for the Indiana Pacers, they must look forward to the off season with a direct approach. Larry Bird will talk about their plans today at 1PM EST and you can watch it live by following that link.
To put a lot of stock into what Bird says this afternoon would be foolish, as he has proven he rarely shows his hand before the cards need to be played. So why the conference today discussing the future? Maybe it is to appease the fans, most importantly the season ticket holders. Maybe it is to give the city of Indianapolis a glimpse of what the Pacers want to do in order to help keep the team from moving. Whatever the reason, why hold the presser the day after the last game?
As far as speculation goes, there have been plenty of talks and rumors that some of the players will be traded this Summer. Will that happen? Who knows until it really does. With Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones, Josh McRoberts, and TJ Ford all on the last year of their current contracts, player movement should be expected. The Pacers' front office should be working as hard as possible to get something in return for these expiring deals.This is supposed to be the big year for free agent signings, but the Pacers have said they are waiting for their turn in 2011. We will all have to wait to see what riches that will bring in though.
In the meantime, Indiana has to get ready for the draft in June. With their "success" late in the season, the Pacers effectively went from a Top 5 (maybe Top 3) pick to possibly picking as late as the 13th pick now. Where the Pacers lay their focus this draft? The last two drafts have brought in Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, and AJ Price. With the scarcity of point guards in this draft, it would be hard to imagine the Pacers drafting one with their first pick. With big men being more available, my thought is that guys like Greg Monroe, Ekpe Udoh, and Patrick Patterson would be the way to go. The only issue with picking a big man is the traffic jam at the 4 and the 5 spots.
With the amount of bigs on the team and the likelihood of the Pacers taking a big in the draft, something tells me that one or two of the Pacers current front court should be on the move. Who will that be? When will it be? What will the Blue-and-Gold get in return? These are all questions that Larry Bird will hopefully answer in the Summer of Loathe.
To put a lot of stock into what Bird says this afternoon would be foolish, as he has proven he rarely shows his hand before the cards need to be played. So why the conference today discussing the future? Maybe it is to appease the fans, most importantly the season ticket holders. Maybe it is to give the city of Indianapolis a glimpse of what the Pacers want to do in order to help keep the team from moving. Whatever the reason, why hold the presser the day after the last game?
As far as speculation goes, there have been plenty of talks and rumors that some of the players will be traded this Summer. Will that happen? Who knows until it really does. With Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones, Josh McRoberts, and TJ Ford all on the last year of their current contracts, player movement should be expected. The Pacers' front office should be working as hard as possible to get something in return for these expiring deals.This is supposed to be the big year for free agent signings, but the Pacers have said they are waiting for their turn in 2011. We will all have to wait to see what riches that will bring in though.
In the meantime, Indiana has to get ready for the draft in June. With their "success" late in the season, the Pacers effectively went from a Top 5 (maybe Top 3) pick to possibly picking as late as the 13th pick now. Where the Pacers lay their focus this draft? The last two drafts have brought in Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, and AJ Price. With the scarcity of point guards in this draft, it would be hard to imagine the Pacers drafting one with their first pick. With big men being more available, my thought is that guys like Greg Monroe, Ekpe Udoh, and Patrick Patterson would be the way to go. The only issue with picking a big man is the traffic jam at the 4 and the 5 spots.
With the amount of bigs on the team and the likelihood of the Pacers taking a big in the draft, something tells me that one or two of the Pacers current front court should be on the move. Who will that be? When will it be? What will the Blue-and-Gold get in return? These are all questions that Larry Bird will hopefully answer in the Summer of Loathe.
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