Barring a massive and lopsided trade, the 2010-2011 Pacers are going to be pretty bad. Paul George has serious NBA potential, but he’s not exactly ready to be a franchise-changing player in his rookie season. Other than that, Indy is set to let go of a few low-profile players (Earl Watson, Luther Head) while working the trading block and doing what they can with the mid-level exception. Woe is the existence of a middling team too good to win the lottery but too inept to make the playoffs.
What’s worse, the Pacers don’t have any cap space whatsoever to play with this summer. However, looking forward to next year, the Pacers are set to have all kinds of salary flexibility. If Larry Bird and David Morway elect to let their expiring contracts actually expire, the Pacers will have just over $25 million in committed salary in 2011 (not including the salary for their draft picks next season) with which to assemble their new team.
Alternatively, Bird could attempt to flip those expiring contracts during the 2010-2011 season to get a jump-start on a true rebuild. That process actually starts right now, as Indiana will look to assemble a few relatively low-cost assets with the exceptions they have.
If the draft day rumors linking the Pacers to the Nets’ Devin Harris didn’t tip you off, they’re clearly looking to begin their reboot at point guard. According to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, the Pacers will pursue unrestricted Laker free agent Jordan Farmar and restricted Rocket free agent Kyle Lowry to fill the void (yes, that’s what I call a position manned by T.J. Ford) at the 1. Both are sound candidates, though whether or not they’re viable starting PGs has yet to be determined.
Farmar could really thrive in an offensive system like Indiana’s, as his talent has been stifled somewhat by the triangle offense. His shooting and passing would really be better served in a more flexible, fast-paced offense. Lowry has often seemed better served to be a back-up PG, but he’s also never been given full freedom to run an offense of his own. If Lowry does end up signing with the Pacers, he’d have to compete with T.J. Ford for the immediate reins of the offense, but in the long-term? He could be unleashed as the bull of a point guard to run Indy into the future.