According to Donnie Walsh, "Anthony Randolph is to be traded within a week."

Are the Pacers actually one of the final 3 in contention to send a draft pick for his services?  To quote the great Bobby "too hotty" Brown, "My mind is telling me no, but my body..." You know the rest.

Randolph has a ton of potential, but something tells me he's not much of an upgrade over what we currently have at power forward.  Knowing J'OB, Randolph would have to earn a starting spot.  This means he has to first, learn the offense.  Second, he must be willing to come off the bench.  Third, he must ride the roller coaster of playing time O'Bie puts each player through.  Our supposed 'untouchable', Roy Hibbert, can't even get consistent minutes right now.

The smart move would be to hold onto the draft pick, let all the expiring players go after the end of this season, use all the cap room to sign another superstar to pair with Granger, then fill the remaining spots on the roster with role players.  Three potential stud free agents that could make immediate impacts on our roster next season are David West, Nene, and Jamal Crawford.

West would be my #1 choice (as he's only making $8 million this season and has a player option for $7 million next season).  The Pacers could nearly double his salary if West went into free agency.  Nene is a perfect partner to play along side Hibbert.  He's got game on both offense and defense.  Although, if Nene opts out of his contract, he'll most likely want to join a championship caliber team, which doesn't describe the Pacers.  He'd be a long shot, but well worth a high price.  Crawford is a lights-out scorer that would help ease the attention Granger gets on a nightly basis.  Although he provides next to nothing in all other statistical categories, he definitely brings the killer closing instincts this team lacks.  He's not afraid to shoot from anywhere and also does well attacking the rim.

If anything, the Pacers have a ton of options.  I'm just not sure if Anthony Randolph is the cure for what the Pacers need at power forward.

So, what should the Pacers do?