While waiting on the preseason opener tomorrow night, here are a few items of interest:

• Slick Leonard is all set to coach the Pacers during the first quarter of the game tomorrow night at Pepsi Coliseum where he had tons of success coaching the ABA Pacers. There were a couple of great interviews with Slick on local radio this afternoon. Here's an audio link to the interview on 1070 The Fan. BS doesn't have JMV's interview up yet, but they had a hilarious discussion about the clothes worn in the ABA era and Slick remarked that he used to call Larry Brown, Little Lord Fauntleroy for the puffy shirts he'd wear.
• Jim O'Brien initiated the idea to have Slick coach the team for the first quarter. JOB will call the action with Mark Boyle on the radio broadcast.
• Speaking of Boyle, it's time to update your iPod podcast subscriptions my friends. Mark will be recording podcasts with interviews, and hopefully some personal diatribes opinion, for Pacers.com. Beautiful! His initial interview with Mel Daniels is ready for your listening pleasure.
• Kevin Lee has a nice report from Pacers practice including audio from Jim O'Brien and Jeff Foster. JOB plans to start TJ Ford, Marquis Daniels, Danny Granger, Austin Croshere and Rasho Nesterovic. Kevin added that in the limited time he's watched practice, he's yet to see Croshere miss a shot. Obviously, something positive is brewing with Cro but man, that makes the roster situation crazy.
• Foster's reaction to Slick coaching tomorrow is priceless. He initially thought everyone was joking about Slick coaching, but absolutely lit up when he realized it was true and that "Uncle Slick" would indeed be calling the shots in the first quarter.
• Unfortunately I'm going to miss the preseason opener tomorrow as I'm flying out to Seattle for a few days. I will be scrambling to try to catch some of the game.  If anyone is on hand to watch the game and festivities, please share your thoughts in a FanPost.

While waiting for all those league sources (aside from anyone in Denver) to be proven correct and a Tinsley trade to be announced, here are a few items of interest from the Pacers camp:

• Bruno focues on Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert and the impact they may have on this team. The rooks are critical to a exceptional season this year, but Jim O'Brien won't be handing out rebuilding minutes to either. Sounds like they'll have to earn their way into the playing rotation.
• Mike Wells digs into JOB's recent praise of Marquis Daniels and finds a healthy Quisy ready for his utility role at both ends of the court. Also, as offensive plays are put in, Rasho Nesterovic is proving worthy of having his number called, plus he's showing some leadership from the post. Nice. Maceo Baston discusses his happiness about returning to Indy.
• Pacers Insider offers a Wellsian review of the first week of camp and his brief impressions from watching part of a scrimmage.
• Playing time appears to be there for the taking for Ike Diogu in Portland and he plans to take advantage. Good luck, Ike!
• Tear off the wrapper, smell the freshnes and enjoy. The first preseason box scores of the year are available for your perusal.

Bruno's latest Caught in the Web reports on the arrival of Rasho Nesterovic at the Fieldhouse on Monday morning. The report even includes actual video proof with Rasho answering question from the locker room, including the reason he was off the radar in Europe all summer.

"I go back home, see some friends, see some family, just relax and try to get ready for a new season," he said. "(The trade) had nothing with it. It was just the timing. I was with the national team getting ready for a qualifying tournament in Greece so there was no chance I would be able to come here for a few days for the press conference and the presentations (of the new players). So nothing's true that I'm not happy, not satisfied."

A couple of items from this report stuck out for me. First, the fact that Rasho's teams have made the playoffs in all nine of his seasons. Yeah he played with San Antonio, but he also ran with Minnesota and Toronto so maybe he will be the good luck charm the Pacers need to return to the playoffs.

More importantly, the other item is the impact of Rasho's expiring contract. Selfishly, I've been looking at the expiring deal from an asset perspective. It could be an enticing part of a trade before or during the year or free up cap room after the year. I haven't even considered the fact that Rasho will have strong motivation to play well this year so he can earn another NBA contract whether it be with the Pacers or some other team. The guy has a game that should fit well with what  Jim O'Brien expects. Combine that  with the additional internal motivation and Rasho may produce in a bigger role than I ever considered.

Bruno's latest Caught in the Web reveals comments from Pacers Prez, Larry Bird on a few open issues concerning the Pacers that have lead to some late summer speculation. Kind of like this, this and this. (Hey, I'm bored, sue me.)

Okay, let's take 'em one at a time in order of importance which in this case begins with Danny Granger's contract status. Granger emerging as a star in the League is critical to the Pacers' future plans for success, but it seems like they're dragging their feet in extending his contract to lock him up for that bright future. Bird disagrees and in fact wouldn't mind waiting until next summer to seal him up.

"Why not wait? That's my question," Bird said. "If you go in (now) and things don't get done, there could be some animosity there. Danny's very valuable to us and we want him to be a part of this for a long time and hopefully we can get something done.

"He's a young player that's improved every year and done everything to improve his game so he's very important to us."

First of all, animosity? Granger wants to be here and the Pacers want him here. They should be in lock step on working out an equitable deal. It would take a complete diplomatic disaster to make this thing messy.

Bruno goes on to explain that if the Pacers did wait until next summer it would allow them to use any available cap space for a free agent (this is really happening, living breathing cap space ready to use next summer) and then go over the cap to sign Granger. If he's signed now that cap space won't be there.

That's a significant point which appears on the surface like it would be a stroke of genius to hold off extending Danny until the cap space is used appropriately. Granger's cap hold would be counted which DraftExpress speculates would be around $9.8 million. To be conservative that would save the Pacers $2-3 million for next summer. Then Larry Bird can make use of Granger's Larry Bird rights and exceed the cap if need be.

But there are risks.

Continue reading this post »

This past Sunday marked the 60th day since the trades with the Portland Trail Blazers and Toronto Raptors were made official on July 9th. According to the NBA CBA, any players involved in those trades are now elegible to be traded again in a package deal.

Jamaal Tinsley is likely headed out of town in a package deal, so let the games begin in earnest. Despite the front office denials, Rasho Nesterovic remains a logical candidate to combine with Tins to offer a team in need a point guard and a nice expiring contract.  I have no interest in speculating or trade machining this situation to death. I just think we'll know something before September ends.

All signs are positive for a peaceful resolution to the Tinsley Era. First of all, the Euro Exodus has been a bit overhyped this summer, but at this point the situation has really helped out the Pacers' situation. It appears that the NBA will survive, but with Euroleagues skimming off the L's guard depth, there are more teams in need of NBA caliber handles.

Earl Boykins, Jannero Pargo, Carlos Arroyo, Gordon Giricek, Carlos Delfino, Juan Carlos Navarro all took a pay raise in Euros and opened up a roster spot in the States. No, none of those guys would be considered the missing piece of a championship puzzle, but all we're interested in are missing pieces. The Pacers have an extra piece that needs to be moved, so the more available slots the better the options.

Combine those options with the overt signs from the front office and I'd say an announced deal is just a matter of time. Whether it be outright saying Tinsley won't be around or literally removing the nameplate from his locker, the Pacers have given every indication that they have something in place to dispose of the Tin Man. I mean, removing the nameplate? Larry Bird or David Morway aren't doing that in the locker room. A locker room employee had to ask and receive permission to open up Tinsley's locker. With the loaded roster I'm sure space was an issue. I hope Jamaal didn't forget any shoes or socks.

The only remaining questions can be answered by a trade announcement. The rumors are starting to pick up so I imagine the phones are getting warm at the Fieldhouse. Hopefully we'll have those answers soon.

Here are some items of interest to ponder on this, the best sports weekend of the year that doesn't involve basketball:

• Get to know your Pacers, Part 3 is up at Pacers.com. This time around, Chris Denari chats with Jeff Foster, Mike Dunleavy and Stephen Graham. We hear about Foster's immersion in the world of Dora and Diego, Dun giving himself a hair cut as a kid during an NBA game, and Stevie's ping pong prowess.
• No, Rasho Nesterovic was not interviewed and I'm still wondering if he will remain a Pacer, but he has been accounted for. Mike Wells was able to get the Pacers to comment on Rasho and reports he will be in town in mid-September. Wells updated his intial post with a comment about the Pacers store having the jerseys of 13 players available. Rasho's jersey is not available, nor is the jersey for Tinsley (natch) and McRoberts. Wells checked with David Morway again and he planned on having Rasho on the roster. Hmmm.
• Recent rumors of a deal with Golden State that would send Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels to the Warriros for Al Harrington and something else are certainly tantalizing. As strange as it would be to have Al in the blue and gold for a third tour of duty, reuniting the Club Rio Trio in the Bay Area would be spectacular. Chris Mullin would go down as the greatest GM in Pacers' history. One reason to doubt the rumblings is the way the teams kept mum on the last big deal. They surpised everyone. Kornheiser's Cartel nails the take on this issue, though, so I'll leave it to them.
• The Pacers TV schedule is out. This is key since there are no national games scheduled for the Pacers. Three of the seven games without TV are a problem. For one, both games against the New Orleans Hornets and more importantly, Chris Paul, won't be televised. I don't understand that one. Also, one of the games at Toronto against J.O. is not televised. The Toronto miss may be due to the Sunday afternoon start times for the Raptors and a conflict with network broadcasts. Still, that's a game I'll be dying to watch.

Umm...where's Rasho? My apologies for bastardizing The Bard but I enjoy fiddling around with words and since Hicks raised the thought a few weeks ago, the question remains today: Where is Rasho Nesterovic?

We've had tons of welcome-to-the-family features and events revolving around T.J. Ford, Jarrett Jack, Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert and even included Maceo Baston and Josh McRoberts. In fact, I think McRoberts is cleaning the locker room, washing cars and calling every season ticket holder just to say, "Hi."

Rasho? Nothing.

I realize he played for Slovenia this summer and is probably on an extended European stay back home. But phones work over there, right? Some kind of acknowledgement would be nice. Is he as excited to begin the season as the rest of the new guys? Has he been working out and getting ready to play his role? What does he like to do in his off-time?

Wait, I know the last one. Rasho probably likes to take it easy; he's not a guy that likes to go out, more of a home-body. Likes to go to movies. How do I know this answer? Because that's roughly how ALL the new guys have responded to a similar question. I want to know who's handing out the Eddie Haskell script down at the Fieldhouse? Why not just make is crystal clear and have them swear not to hang out after hours with Jamaal Tinsley, Marquis Daniels or Shawne Williams?

So the questions about Rasho remain as we sneak into September on Monday. It would be nice to know his status with the team; otherwise I'm left to begin speculating that his sweet, expiring contract is going to be used as part of another big deal prior to the season. Flipping the roster flexibility Rasho offers so quickly would be a shame, but David Morway and Larry Bird still have rough waters to navigate in their quest to improve the team. First and foremost, moving Jamaal Tinsley. If Rasho is used in an effort to move the team forward then so be it. At this point, I'd rather Rasho play the role of deal sweetener than Jeff Foster.

Rasho Nesterovic won't be on hand Wednesday when the Pacers formally introduce the players brought in via trade a few weeks ago, but he has a great excuse. He's busy leading the Slovenian national team in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Slovenia beat Korea, 88-76 in their first game, led by Rasho's 26 points and 9 rebounds. According to this report, Rasho will retire from the Slovenian team after this Olympic run.

Instead of having Rasho take questions from the media, they can just show some highlihgts of his play this week. Much better intro to the city.

The Pacers' second round draft pick last year, Stanko Barac, is also involved in the FIBA tournament, playing a reserve role for Croatia. Barac scored 2 points and grabbed 2 rebounds in 9 minutes of burn as Croatia beat Cameroon, 93-79. 

The tournament's preliminary round continues tomorrow with Slovenia taking on Canada. Croatia plays again on Wednesday against Puerto Rico.