It is impossible to read the news that Chauncey Billups has opted out to become an unrestricted free agent and not ponder the thought of "Mr. Big Shot" wearing the blue and gold. It requires suspending logic and the thought only lasts a couple of moments, but, mmm, those are nice moments. Even the news of Fabricio Oberto's restricted free agency forces a mental image of the scraggly-haired Argentine hustling around Conseco Fieldhouse.

Unfortunately, the day dreams leads to the question, how. How could the Pacers sign one of these guys? They can't. The answer is like a blaring alarm clock waking you up to reality, since there is no cap room to even consider, let alone sign, a high priced free agent. A sign and trade, you say? That leads to the more painful questions of, why. Why would a free agent want to join the Pacers right now, let alone do so in a sign and trade that would take players away from the Pacers? If anyone has a good reason please let me know in the comments. I'm about as positive a Pacers fan as you'll find, but taking the perspective of a player considering his options I can't come up with a reason why Billups or a player of his caliber would want to join the Pacers.  Even if the cap room and competitive offer were in play, the current view of the Pacers from the outside looking in is just plain ugly.

The reality of today doesn't rule out hope for the future, though. The Pacers are at the worst point in the post-brawlcolyptic nuclear winter, so once the draft is over and off-season moves complete, the direction will be set and every day from that point forward will be a better day (see, I told you I was positive). With the news of the day that a a trade involving J.O. almost happened (AGAIN),the Pacers current situation is unsettled to say the least. Once it is settled, O'B can begin working his plan. A big part of O'B's mission is to change the outsider's view of the Pacers, first by changing the culture around the team and improving team chemistry. Then, building on an improved environment, O'B plans on improving the style of play and finally, bring more success on the court.

This isn't going to happen in a couple of months. It will require patience, which I realize is not found in fan DNA. If all goes well, hopefully within a couple of years the Pacers will function like a model NBA franchise, again. Then, maybe reality won't spoil day dreams of adding top free agents.