This is the latest installment of PBT’s series of “What your team should do when the lockout ends.” Up next is the Indiana Pacers. You can also check out our thoughts on other NBA teams here as we work our way through all 30 squads.
Last season: What a start! Oh, things fell apart. Oh, but they’re better! Oh, but they fell apart again. Oh, but we fired our coach! Oh, hey, things were pretty good. Oh, no, we’re against the Bulls! Oh, hey, we actually held our own despite losing in five games.
So it went for the Pacers.
Such an up and down season, but there was no way to walk away from 2010-2011 and not feel a little hopeful about the future. They finally started building around a young core, with the veterans helping instead of holding promising players back. Roy Hibbert came out like a man on fire and then was promptly extinguished, languishing in “Will he ever become the franchise center?” land again. Darren Collison was awful quiet for most of the year and then bam, turned into a beast in the playoffs. While everyone was gushing about Derrick Rose, Collison was blowing by Rose on subsequent possessions before the Chicago defense could get set, until Thibs put the handcuffs on him with help defense.
Paul George looks like a great all-around contributor, defensively and from the perimter. Tyler Hansbrough continues to impress as a starting-caliber forward, and Brandon Rush is still nowhere to be found.
There’s hope for the future, but things have to go right for Indiana when the lockout ends, or they’re going to stumble backwards like Philadelphia, or your drunk uncle on the treadmill.
Since last we saw the Pacers: The biggest news was the Pacers trading their draft pick (Kawhi Leonard who inexplicably dropped to 15) to San Antonio for George Hill. Hill gives the Pacers a competent combo guard and someone who can decently play the 2 for the first time in six years. Leonard would have been redundant with George and Granger both combo forwards, and Hill’s playoff success and upside make the deal a solid win for Indiana.
The Pacers also brought on Frank Vogel as their head coach, finally, after making him sweat a while. Vogel’s not locked in as the guy with just a three-year deal, but he’s getting his chance, which he earned in the second half of the season and in the Bulls series.
The Pacers will look different when the lockout’s over. Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Foster, Jamal Tinsley, T.J. Ford, all are off the books. Even if some return, the Pacers will have quite a bit of money for free agency and extensions of their young players.
When the lockout ends, the Pacers need to... not rush into anything. There’s a lot of talk about the Pacers pursuing either David West or Nene in free agency, to capitalize on the momentum they had going in. Adding a veteran sub-star with a massive free agency contract in a comparatively weak year is not the smartest way to go about it. The Pacers have star potential in several spots and a valuable, tradeable star in Danny Granger if they want to get hyper-aggressive. Gunning for the moon now is only going to trap them in purgatory. Good enough to make the playoffs as a six seed, not good enough to keep all the young talent or improve. Compare that with 2012 when the agents after the max stars (who will either stay home or go to bigger markets) will be value gets because of the money spent on the top guys. 2012 is when the Pacers should swing for the fences. 2011 needs to be about developing chemistry, seeing just how good their guys can be, and filling in with role players. The veterans they’re losing didn’t play a big enough part last season to need replacement with a high-profile signing, and they still managed to impress.
Patience is a virtue, and one the Pacers need to exercise when the lockout ends.
