Why the pacers have a great future

by pacers4life on Aug 4, 2009 10:57 PM EDT

Ok first of all I see a lot of people mad at larry bird and david morway for their horrible moves so far this summer. I think it's nothing to worry about. Yes, we are no match to contend for the big guys in the 2010 free agent class, but I think there is nothing to worry about, because in some ways the free agent class of 2011 is a lot better. The economy has a lot to do with it. Some players you thought would be in the 2010 free agent will stay another year for money reasons and of course the economy. I did some research and decided who will be free agents for sure in 2011 and who will most likely be free agents if they are smart enough. Check it out:

Top for sure free agents of 2011 who's contracts expire:(if they don't sign extensions)

Lemarcus Aldridge

Caron Butler

Tashaun Prince

Andre Kirilenko

Top guys who will most likely be free agents in 2011 if they don't sign extensions(and gives reason):

Kevin Durant - in summer of 2011 if he gets a bigger offer, he is a restricted free agent, and you know he will, he was the 6th leading scorer in the league in just his 2nd year! come on!

Dirk Nowitski - Has a player option for 2010-2011 to earn over 21 million, how can you opt out of that? if he doesn't opt out he will be a free agent in 2011!

Chris Bosh - Has a player option to earn over 17 million in 2010-2011, I don't think he'll pass that up! especially in this economy, and after he earns that he will become a free agent in 2011!

Paul Pierce - Has a player option to earn over 21 million in 2010-2011, he will take it definitely, he can't get more than that anywhere else. After he does that he will be a free agent in 2011.

Kobe Bryant(don't think he'll leave, but he will be free agent) - Has a player option to earn over 20+ million in 2010-2011, he won't pass that up. After that he'll be a free agent in 2011, but he'll most likely stay with L.A.

Greg Oden - Greg will earn 8.7 million in 2011-2012 unless he gets a better offer from another team, then he can become a restricted agent. I think it's a possibility he will get a bigger offer. He may be a bust to some, but he has potential, he's so strong and athletic. I mean he averaged 8 points 7 rebounds in his rookie season. So he's just starting. Andrew bynum makes 15 million a season for 10 points 7 rebounds? I think greg can get a nice contract like that as well then

There's so much more than this, it's just the tip of the ice berg, there will be a lot more talent in the summer of 2011, and I think that will be our key year to fully rebuild our team. If we can get one or two of these guys, then we can have a star to go along with granger. Over 40 million goes off of cap space that year, so we will have so much money to spend. We might have enough left over to pick up a few good bench players as well and have a fully functioning playoff team!

Here's the top 5 free agents in 2011 position by position(You might not agree with me about who's the best, but its just my opinion). I made an extension on the SG and SF because there was the most talent in those positions.

pg:
1.Tony Parker
2.Mike Conley
3.Rodney Stuckey
4.Jamal Crawford
5.Mario Chalmers

Sg
1.Kobe Bryant
2.Brandon Roy
3.Paul pierce
4.Micheal Redd
5.Caron Butler
6.J.R. Smith
7.Jason Richardson
8. Josh Howard
9.Wilson Chandler

Sf:
1.Kevin Durant
2.Richard Jefferson
3.Al Thornton
4.Tashaun Prince
5.Thaddeus Young
6.Andre Kirilenko

Pf
1.Dirk Nowitski
2.Chris Bosh
3.Kenyon Martin
4.Carl Landry
5.Deandre Jordan

C
1.Greg Oden
2.Al Horford
3.Samuel Dalembert
4.Marc Gasol
5.Kendrick Perkins

*Note that some of these players may sign extensions, so even if their contract does expire in 2011, they can still sign for that team for more time. But there are so many players that have the chance to be free agents in the summer of 2011, I like our chances :) Lets go pacers!

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well done as well…

~SHaFF!~
The Little Sports Blog That Could:
http://www.thelittlesportsblog.blogspot.com/

by SHaFF87 on Aug 5, 2009 1:32 AM EDT reply actions

You forget one thing...

NO ONE WANT TO PLAY IN INDY!!! lol but good work.

by captain flitzy on Aug 5, 2009 10:50 AM EDT reply actions

Aw man, I know people say that...but seriously, I don't think Indy as a city is that bad...

Granted, I don’t live there, but I always enjoy visiting when I do go and I have friends who live there who enjoy it. It’s not LA or NY, but how many cities are? The one thing I find funny are that the people who don’t like Indy are the ones who are from there and the ones who like it are the ones who aren’t from there….it’s a generalization, sure, but that’s the vibe I get.

Anytime I venture down there is when I cruise 465 to get to Bloomington, but those trips to B-town are few and far between nowadays…sigh Sorry…I need a moment.

by Gwen on Aug 5, 2009 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions

It's not about the city

It’s about the market. And trust me, from a “regular guy’s” perspective, Indianapolis is an absolutely wonderful place to live. The job market is still relatively good, there’s plenty of stuff to do, housing is cheap. But it falls into the stereotypical “small market” category that gets bandied around by sports pundits all the time; and they’re right. Indy is a small market. It’s why the Colts fans will disappear after Manning retires and they suck again. There’s just not enough of us to hold off the overwhelming jump ship from bandwagon fans.

NBA stars like bright lights, night clubs, marketing opportunities and waterfront mansions. They like national hype and media exposure. That’s what it’s all about when you’re an up-and-coming NBA free agent. Here in Indy I see a Lotus or a Porsche once in a great while and I’m like “damn!” These guys all have at least two Bentleys in their garage.

Occasionally a small market team will sign a star, but usually it’s one who hasn’t yet established himself and they overpay him (like Carlos Boozer in Utah, or Andrea Bargnani in Toronto).

"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"

by LukeNukem on Aug 5, 2009 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

It's unfortunate the NBA is so top heavy....

and I agree with the fairweather fandom in Indy. I hate to admit it, but maybe they’ll surprise me. But, the Bentley’s will eventually disappear from those garages since athletes practically go bankrupt after they retire…

Did Latrelle Sprewell ever sell his boat to feed his family? Or was it repossessed?

by Gwen on Aug 5, 2009 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions

I appreciate all the work, but...

Realistically, how many of these guys will actually be available? There is no way guys like Brandon Roy and Kevin Durant aren’t resigned and locked up – those guys are franchise players. I agree with your overall sentiment and we’ll definitely be in a great position. However, as has been said before on this site, we’re better off trading for someone than getting a FA to decide to come to IN on his own. Looking through these players, here is a list of guys I think we could actually have a chance at and would fit in with our team

A) no SF’s because of our Batman obsessed star player
B) a number of these guys are too good and won’t be let go by their teams (or if they are let go, we won’t have a chance at)
C) PG’s – we all know that we would love to have a PG but these guys aren’t great. We could have a chance at Conley although i don’t know if he’ll ever develop into a legitimate starter. Chalmers is the other candidate and I feel the same way about him
D) SG’s – Redd and Butler are two guys who could be available only because their teams might be miserable and looking to rebuild. Redd would be intriguing cause he’s such a good shooter but I don’t know that he’s done much winning. Butler is also intriguing but he might be out of our league.
E) PF’s – Landry and Jordan are the two guys I consider attainable. Neither is a huge difference maker though
F) C’s – I thin most of these guys could probably be had for the right price. Again though, not sure if any of them are big difference makers, although they’re all pretty solid. Hopefully though Hibbert can be as good as any of them (huge hope there)

"If you don't [draft me], I promise you I'll come back and kick your ass for the next 15 years."

by psvirsky on Aug 5, 2009 10:54 AM EDT reply actions

Spot on

The trouble with going after free agents, once all the stars are whittled away by more desirable teams, is that all that will be left are guys that we’ll have to develop on our own. Just look at history. The Pacers weren’t a legit title contender (in the modern era) until Reggie Miller had been here long enough to establish himself as one of the better clutch outside shooters/playoff performers in the game (maybe in history). But even then, they didn’t build through free agency because, like today, they couldn’t. Draft picks developed (like Dale Davis and Rik Smits), we got lucky with low-profile free agents (like Antonio Davis, though technically drafted by the Pacers, was signed as a free agent out of Europe) and we made trades for good non-stars (like Jalen Rose, Derrick McKey, Brad Miller and Ron Artest).

Then in the Jermaine O’Neal era, of course, we had a legit star (who we had to obtain in a trade and develop ourselves) but still no one wanted to sign here. The best players we had during Jermaine’s tenure were all draft picks or guys we traded for.

So unless we want to wait another two or three years after the 2011-12 season for some relative unknown to develop, we’ll have to go after established stars in trades. These stars will most likely have lengthy contracts, and feeding their teams’ our expiring deals before the Feb 2011 trade deadline will be the best way to get them. Think Andrew Bynum, Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis or Gilbert Arenas (if he ever returns to full health, and he may between now and then). Or even some of the guys that just signed long deals. By then, some of their teams may be sick of them and ready to salary-dump if they haven’t gotten significantly better.

"You're hitting the wrong person. Don't you know you're hitting Ron Artest?"

by LukeNukem on Aug 5, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions

funny enough, Roy signed an extension today

"If you don't [draft me], I promise you I'll come back and kick your ass for the next 15 years."

by psvirsky on Aug 5, 2009 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

So much for that 0.4% chance we had of landing him...

Maybe next year.

Ultimately, I echo a lot of what was said here: we have to build through trades and middle of the road free agency. We couldn’t coax big name free agents when we were a championship level team with one of the most clutch performers in his prime. We had to settle for over the hill vets hungry for a ring instead of getting a name in his prime.

We never would’ve signed the Jermaine O’Neal of 2004 away from another team. Not in a million years. It’ll be the same deal for whoever we look at in free agency in the future. Unless we max out their deal and decimate our cap again, they’re not going to look at Indiana as a realistic option. Ever.

by Nathan S. on Aug 5, 2009 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions