Well this has certainly turned out to be a sh%*tty offseason for the Indiana Pacers, who apparently had so much promise with their ample “cap space.”
The only good thing that has happened so far is that George Hill has re-signed for 5 years. Roy Hibbert‘s future remains up in the air with that max offer from Portland, meaning if the Pacers want to keep him they’ll have to match, overpaying him and tying the franchise’s hands a little more down the track.
Guys that would have put the Pacers in title contention are just about goooooone, showing just how sucky it is to be a small market franchise in the NBA.
The top free agent this offseason, Deron Williams has re-signed with the Brooklyn Nets, who have also acquired Joe Johnson and Gerald Wallace — and is the place where Dwight Howard wants to go, this year or the next. All I can say is dang, because that’s looking like a dangerous team for the Pacers, who were never even considered in the first place.
The next best thing for the Pacers, Steve Nash, has agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Lakers (for two first round and two second round picks — that’s IT!). Bloody hell. The Lakers? You’ve gotta be kidding me. I’ve had tremendous respect for Nash throughout his entire career, but now I have to force myself to hate him for the next 3 years, or as long as he is in a Laker uniform.
Many have already pointed to that John Hollinger piece which says Nash would have been a PERFECT fit for the Pacers, one of the few teams that had the financial flexibility to sign him. Imagine Nash running the point, getting the ball to where Big Roy likes it in the middle, Granger and George shooting wide open jumpers on the wings, and David West on the pick and roll. Man…
And yet, the Pacers didn’t even get a whiff of the two-time MVP. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Eric Gordon, the Indiana native fans believe is the superstar the team needs to put them over the top, has at least agreed to meet with the Pacers, but has now said his HEART is with Phoenix. WTF? By all means, stay with the Hornets if you want and play with Anthony Davis, but the Suns, especially now without Steve Nash (and they’ve added head case Michael Beasley, by the way)?
So I guess Gordon is gone too.
The Pacers have reportedly spoken to mass murderer lookalike Chris Kaman and they hit it off well. But is he a potential replacement for Roy or is he a potential backup for him? I guess it depends if they re-sign Roy.
Whichever way you look at it, this has been an awful offseason for the Pacers so far. Not only have they failed to sign anyone new, they’re on the verge of losing one of their most important pieces. Other teams are getting better, making moves, signing big names, but the Pacers, even with all their flexibility, can’t do anything.
So who’s left? There’s still OJ Mayo, Jamal Crawford and Brandon Roy, right? Not that it’s likely any of them would give the Pacers a second look. And there’s also Ersan Ilyasova, but if the Pacers go after him they gotta do some reshuffling (which probably includes getting rid of Tyler Hansbrough.
Hopefully I am wrong and the Pacers pull off some magic, but thus far it has been all depressing news.
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