Changes?

[revvolutions]

Ya'll need a point guard in the worst way, a coach that can make changes down the stretch and a big off the bench.

Until then you guys will underachieve and play to the other teams strengths down the stretch. Steve Nash, Jerry Sloan and Amir Johnson. Discuss.

[pacers70]

Steve Nash will not come to Indiana.

Vogel led the Pacers to the 5th best record in the league and the 2nd round of the playoffs in his FIRST full season as the head coach. He will continue to improve.

Amir Johnson is only 6'9" 210 lbs. The Pacers need someone bigger. I'm thinking Festus Ezeli.

[Miller4ever]

Scorer off the bench instead of switching out Vogel. One on the perimeter, and a legitimate C. Point guard would be the fastest way to improve passing.

A lot of Vogel's inflexibilities might go back to not having enough preparation time before the season. I we had a full offseason and full preseason, we might've had more things to go to. Coach did great this season, and was 3rd in COY voting.

[Scoot McGroot]

We need an improvement at the backup bigs (Tyler is a good 4th big man, and Lou a good 5th big man....Fesenko could be a 6th big man if you want a developmental guy), and an improvement at PG wouldn't hurt, or an improvement at the backup wing positions. We're flexible enough at the 1-3 that any improvement over Dahntay Jones or either of Hill or Collison would improve the other positions as well.

[Nuntius]

We certainly need a good PG.

Vogel just ended his first full season. I'll let him have his first training camp before I think about giving him the boot. He made some bad decisions in the Heat series but he has been better than expected thus far.

I'd like to see us bringing up Fesenko and using him more. He has the right size. I'd prefer a Koufos or a Kanter of course but Kyrylo seems like a good option.

[DWCP2]

I expect them to re-sign Hill and Hibbert and keep them as starters.

The two issues that remain are the one's that remained at the start of last season and they band-aided them at the trade deadline. A 6th man scoring wing and a solid reserve center.

The 6th man wing could come one of 3 ways:

Via the draft: There are several young guards that will be available with the 26th pick easily as this is a deep draft at several positions.

Lance Stephenson: Think this guy worked hard last summer and lockout amid distractions and I think he has a chance, albeit a less then solid, slim one, that he could take that role from Jones.

Via Free Agency: Gordon could be a prime target, but so can Courtney Lee, who is RFA as well, but Houston may not retain or use him in a sign and trade for an upgrade at their big positions.

Reserve Center you could look at one or two ways:

Greg Oden: It's said that he may be rehabbing for much of 2012-2013, but later recanted that he could be back on the court by December/January. Would take a heavy ladened one year contract to sign him.

Via the draft:

Two names come to mind: Fab Melo and Festus Ezeli, but that could change a lot as bigs tend to fly off the board fast.

[revvolutions]

hibbert is an allstar. granger's 29. west is 31. you have cap space. it's go time. this was your learning season, no more mistakes, now you gotta stock up on vets at the 4 5 and 1 and be an unforgiving, brutally efficient executing team.

i hope byrd stays, he's the biggest star attraction for the pacers.

[Boneman2]

First, I'd offer George Hill (s&t) + capspace (2-3m) for Milsap. Utah is absolutely stacked up front, and they need to find a replacement for Harris beyond this season.

Next, I'd offer Hansbrough or our 1st for Bledsoe, maybe both.

After mulling it over I think I'd put Granger and Collison on the block, just to see what's out there. Some potential returns for the above package:
*Tyreke & Fredette ( he fell out of favor to the other rookie guard)& some partial cap filler.
*Gordon & Aminu
*Maybe Rondo
*JSmith & Teague
*Minnesota has multiple possibilities

I love Granger, but now is the time to strike. Remember, just a couple seasons ago Granger's value plummeted because of injuries, now we're lucky he is considered a top 4 sf again, and thus we need to act accordingly.

Of course you start the summer by offering both Dwight and Dwill a max offer. I understand that we have no chance of actually signing one of them, but atleast we're in a position to act like a player on the open market.

Finally, in regards to Hibbert, we act like we've found a rare gem, when the fact is guys like Bogut, McGee, and Nene can be had for the right price. Bogut, who is twice the center Hibbert is when he is healthy, only cost Golden State Monta Ellis. **Edit- we must be careful not to overpay him.

We have a ton of work to do.

[FreeRon]

I have different opinions on the value of almost all of our players. First, I'm not sure I'd trade Hill for Millsap. I can understand why you think I'm crazy. Even though he's undersized, he puts up stats. I honestly just don't think that he's so much better than Hansbrough that we should send away a guard who's willing to come off the bench if need be and eat up cap space. I assume you would only do this if your second deal went through as it gets rid of our logjam at the 4 and gives us another guard.

The problem is, I don't thing Hansbrough and our 1st gets Bledsoe. If I remember correctly, he was the one player that LAC refused to include in the Chris Paul deal. Not saying he's worth the fuss, but it's probably like all of the people that want to trade for PG. We don't want to trade him because of what he might become.

The Granger/Collison trade is interesting. I'm not high on Tyreke or Jimmer, so I would rather not make either of those deals. Gordon and Aminu would be great, but I'm not sure the Hornets could do that with the new CBA even if they wanted to. We're not getting Rondo right now for that package. Smith and Teague I'd take in a heartbeat if ATL would, and I'm not sure there's anyone on MIN that's not an injury-prone PG or a tweener.

Granger's value will drop pretty low again. I don't think anyone was impressed with his all-talk no-show playoff series. Not saying that he shouldn't have said what he did, just that he should have backed it up on the court.

I'm confused about what you're suggesting with Hibbert. Bogut is making about exactly what Hibbert's max deal would look like to sit out 25-75% of the season, McGee is a backup with attitude issues that will probably demand at least half of what Hibbert is making, and Nene put up comparable numbers while making what I figure Hibbert would make. I'm not saying Hibbert is a rare gem, but I'd rather re-sign him (even for the max) then trade assets for a comparable player making a comparable amount. Bogut has a year left on his contract. If he comes back and plays at a Hibbert level, he'll want a Hibbert contract. If not, we wasted whatever we traded for him plus $14+M. I may be misreading what you suggest here...

[Boneman2]

What if we give Hibbert a max deal and he always wilts under pressure? We're ****ed.

Besides, some very unique circumstances had to arise for him to be an all-starthis year, namely injuries to Horford, Lopez, and Bogut. And just because he was an all-star doesn't mean he is elite, see Brad Miller.

I'm not downgrading him, he did that himself in games 4,5, & 6. He is the one who raised the questions with his less than enthusiastic effort. Anthony and Turiaf shut him down for Pete's sake.

If we do invest in him, we need to give him more protection, which is why I like the Milsap scenario. He is a rock like West. DavisBros.II. Maybe Roy needs more security to fully blossom, due to a lack of mental toughness.

You're probably right about Bledsoe, although, after he returned from injury he was like the 5th option this season. And let's face it, with CP3 there, you know he wants to leave. Before the trade, he was their future, along with Gordon, Jordan, and Griffin.

[Wizop]

Hill apparently turned down something around 7. I'd go a little higher but not much. I certainly do not want to pay Hibbert type money to get Gordon. signing Hibbert and Hill could cost 20. ouch.

I still have hopes for Stevenson who could easily be better than Bledsoe in the long run. besides if wing is the problem there are several to be had in the draft.

I want to wait until after the draft before targeting non-starters. we could be taking the BPA from a list that includes Melo, Nicholson, Ezeli, Crowder, Green, Miller, two Taylors, and Johnson. that's a long list of interesting names looking to be available at 26.

I don't expect us to resign Barbosa unless its for a near minimum contract. Fesenko doesn't seem to be in our plans but I think that's a mistake unless we draft a center. I don't know what to do about Lou. I'd be tempted to let him expire particularly if we draft a 4 or 5 but trading PyschoT and letting Lou play the second unit 4 makes sense too. I'd offer West an extension before the season starts. D Jones could be allowed to expire next summer but I'd be happy to shop his expiring contract this summer to teams willing to shed salary.

I thought the CBA changed something on sign and trades but I can't find it online so maybe I'm having a senior moment. it certainly changed the salary matching rules for trades reducing the need to throw in extra players.

[Wizop]

would you consider a Granger for Gasol deal? would signing Gordon make you more willing to deal The Captain?

[PR07]

I don't know if it's a foregone conclusion that Nash wouldn't sign in Indy. For one, we give him the best opportunity to both and contend and get paid fairly. Also, when you look at that all of the other contending teams except for Miami and Los Angeles have all-star caliber point guards (Westbrook, Parker, Rose, Rondo), it's not like an abundance of bidders exists.

[FreeRon]

Definitely agree that signing Hibbert to a huge contract is a risk. Unfortunately, if someone else offers it I think that there's a bigger risk in not matching. I would hope that we wouldn't do max years max dollars. I think he can be talked out of one or the other. While I agree that there are much safer options out there, sometimes you have to take a risk. A guy that gets you 10ppg by scoring 10 points every game is not always more valuable than a guy that gets you 9.5ppg by scoring 19 one game and 0 the next. It's all about having the right mixture.

[ZA ZA ZA]

Joe Johnson for West and George anybody?