Pacers Set Sights On Another Guard

by spstevenson on Sep 16, 2009 2:54 PM EDT in Indiana Pacers News

Indianapolis Star reporter Mike Wells used his Twitter page today to reveal some new information regarding the Indiana Pacers final roster spot for the 2009-10 season.

According to Wells, a source has confirmed that the Pacers are attempting to sign 6-foot-3 guard Luther Head. Wells reports that the Pacers are "very close" to finishing the deal and adding Head to the team's roster.

The Pacers have had rumored interest in signing the guard since mid-July. But team president Larry Bird stated that the blue and gold planned to carry only 14 players on its roster as it headed into training camp next week. Second-round draft pick A.J. Price became the 14th player under contract for the next season. NBA teams are allowed to carry 15 players on its roster.

Head, who is a Chicago native, split the 08-09 season between Houston and Miami. The Rockets drafted him with the 24th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, and he stayed in Houston before being waived on Feb. 28 this year. He immediately signed with the Heat and received an increase in minutes. But a broken bone in his right hand effectively ended his season in late-March. He was not required to have surgery.

Head, who is 26 years old, averaged 8.6 points per game and 2.3 assists per game during his first four seasons in the league. His most productive year, however, was during his sophomore campaign. He played 27.6 minutes per game, while averaging 10.9 ppg, 2.4 apg and also shot a career-high 43.7 percent from the field.

If the deal is completed, Head will become the seventh guard on the team's roster (and that's not even counting Mike Dunleavy and Danny Granger, who are both listed as a forward/guard). He would join T.J. Ford, Travis Diener, Price, Earl Watson, Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush in the Pacers backcourt.

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this is a bad idea, i don’t understand it. We already have signed dahntey jones who is a SG and we also have mike dunleavy and brandon rush, that is 3 shooting guards. Why add another one? Why can’t we add a decent backup for danny granger??? Luther head is just another great shooter who doesn’t play defense, we need a long athletic guy who can bring some energy off the bench. Bad move in my opinion, we don’t have anyone to back up granger, but whatever. Like all the other moves the pacers make i’ll still hope for the best!

by pacers4life on Sep 16, 2009 3:02 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting

I bet Price goes to the D-League which will be good for him. It is a little odd to sign another guard, guess the Pacers are gonna play some more small ball!

by jantz101 on Sep 16, 2009 4:48 PM EDT reply actions

Plenty of questions remain

Here’s a few: How much money? How much, if any guaranteed? Is there an as of yet unknown injury among the wing players? Is the increased work slowing down Mike Dunleavy’s return?

Indy Cornrows

by Tom Lewis on Sep 16, 2009 8:57 PM EDT reply actions

Yay

More smallball [/sarcasm]

by IndyPacers on Sep 17, 2009 2:28 AM EDT reply actions

My friend emailed me this morning – he just wrote “the Pacers are trying to get Head – what do you think of that?”

My first thought was of another scandal involving players… Then I remembered the recent article about O’Brien fighting homelessness but thought the organisation may be taking this initiative a bit too far…

Seriously though Head can be good, I think the Rockets and Heat were happy with the Head they got. Gives the team some good depth and the team may find they need to go deep… Above all players also tend to shoot better in the O’Brien offense – it’s the rhythm.

I bet there’s people really looking forward to enjoying some good, rhythmic Head…

by Sammy-11 on Sep 17, 2009 5:02 AM EDT reply actions

Word from a Rockets fan was in the beginning everyone loved the Head they were getting but by the end of his tenure no-one cared whether they were getting Head or not.

I’m really hoping we can get the best Head yet…

by Sammy-11 on Sep 17, 2009 6:00 AM EDT reply actions

Price to the D-League

Makes absolute sense if we sign Head. We’ll have 15 on the roster, but we’ll only be “carrying” 14.

What I want to know is why are we signing another player looking to prove he’s still got it. Watson is enough because he’ll actually get reps. I don’t see where Head gets playing time unless there are some deals in the work. That’s all I can think. In a good spot, Head has the ability to be a solid player for us, but he’s pretty injury prone.

I’m interested to see how often some of these new vets get time. Hopefully it doesn’t cause any kind of “playing time” rift in the locker room. We’ll see.

by Nathan S. on Sep 17, 2009 8:15 AM EDT reply actions