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The Indiana Pacers attracted the love and devotion of Central Indiana once again with their impressive run through the NBA playoffs.While the team is in great shape moving forward, the franchise as a whole is feeling far better these days from a financial view.
Herb Simon spoke about the situation with Mike Wells and indicated things are improving at the Fieldhouse, at least in the context of a small-market NBA team.
"The revenue sharing will help somewhat, but a market size like ours is a struggle," Simon said. "We have to continue to have a top team, a winning team, because we don't have some of the income as some of the larger markets, but we're going to do everything we can to be competitive."
Simon underplays the impact of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, as the revenue sharing should give a big boost to the Pacers combined with the stiff luxury tax penalties which will either help keep the talent spread around the league or lead to more revenue sharing. Either way, the Pacers should have the means to max out the cap each year to remain competitive in the future.
Speaking of the future, Simon commented on Larry Bird's potential return to the team which, as it has the past three years, remains up in the air.
"We know Larry," Simon said. "Larry will make a decision shortly and let us know. I'm sure he's checking out his options. That's the deal Donnie and I made with him. He can step away and if he wants to come back, Donnie and I will figure out a way to make it work it out."
Check out the links:
Bird Returning? Walsh Doesn't Know | THE OFFICIAL SITE OF THE INDIANA PACERS
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NBA Finals 2013: LeBron James at ease - SBNation.com
5 stats to know: Struggles of Wade & Bosh - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
Dwyane Wade sounds alarm for Heat, declares Game 2 a 'must-win' - Yahoo! Sports
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