The Indiana Pacers already made quite the shake-up in acquiring Darren Collison from the New Orleans Hornets last week, but neither Larry Bird nor Danny Granger seem to be ready to accept the roster as-is. From Chris Tomasson of FanHouse:
Asked by FanHouse on Friday in Springfield, Mass., where Bird was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame along with members of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, the Pacers president said the team needs to make another trade before the start of the regular season. Asked by FanHouse about Bird’s comments, Granger said management has told him to expect a move, and he figures they will look to acquire a big man.
“We’re not done yet,” Granger said after scoring 22 points for Team USA in a scrimmage Saturday against China at Madison Square Garden. “I talked to management, and we’re not done yet. What will happen, I don’t know yet. We’re still mulling over it. But we got a few things still up our sleeve.”
..."We’re going to have to go after another big, I’m sure,” said the 6-foot-8 Granger. “Losing Troy, he was great. I can play the (power forward) but I’m not a true (power forward). So we’re definitely going to have to add another big, and I think that will be our main focus.”
In response, I’d like to offer the following: No doy. Indiana may have a pretty hip, Collison-infused backcourt after last week’s trade, but the frontcourt was startlingly thin before the deal, and stands to be even worse without Troy Murphy. Right now, you’re looking at Roy Hibbert, Jeff Foster, Tyler Hansbrough, Solomon Jones, Josh McRoberts, and Magnum Rolle as the cast of bigs. Seems to fall a bit short of inspiring.
Indiana does have a number of expiring contracts and young players to bait their trade line, though, and could find some power forward help if they’re willing to part with an asset or two. Which power forwards are available is a different issue entirely, though for now Indiana doesn’t even need a highly-productive player. Instead, the Pacers should shoot for a 4 who can grow with the current core, but has shown enough promise already to warrant a trade. Good, young bigs aren’t exactly growing on trees, but Indiana will look to supplement their current core with an intriguing big man before the season begins.
