Pacers Odds and Ends

[boomershadow]

Turner, even though I defend him constantly, is still probably the odd man out. Trade him for a legit power forward and pick or something. That solves two problems at once, the Turbonis situation and it leaves room for Goga to get minutes at backup 5 which won't happen if we still stagger Turner and Sabonis at center.

I'm high on Goga, but he needs legit rotation minutes if we ever wanna see what he really is. Aaron Holiday didn't get enough minutes early on, and now we don't really know what he is and are looking to sell when his value is at an all time low.

I've heard Pritchard say he wants a locker room vet with leadership skills, so I would kick the tires on Kyle O'Quinn. When he was here the first time, he was probably too good to be a third stringer, but that's been a few years and probably isnt the case anymore.

[jk31]

Turner, even though I defend him constantly, is still probably the odd man out. Trade him for a legit power forward and pick or something. That solves two problems at once, the Turbonis situation and it leaves room for Goga to get minutes at backup 5 which won't happen if we still stagger Turner and Sabonis at center.

I'm high on Goga, but he needs legit rotation minutes if we ever wanna see what he really is. Aaron Holiday didn't get enough minutes early on, and now we don't really know what he is and are looking to sell when his value is at an all time low.

I've heard Pritchard say he wants a locker room vet with leadership skills, so I would kick the tires on Kyle O'Quinn. When he was here the first time, he was probably too good to be a third stringer, but that's been a few years and probably isnt the case anymore.

i still keep my hope up that we keep Turner and try to trade Sabonis for a Big wing that is able to Play the 4 and the 3....

[Tom White]

That solves two problems at once, the Turbonis situation............

Most of what we post here is directed at trading Turner to solve our "problem". But how many have considered going the other route? I'm sure some of you have ('cause we are all smart basketball people, right? ). If we were to trade Sabonis instead, for possibly a mobile PF and a pick, what would that look like? It would make sense to me that, in this case, we would also need an upgrade at PG to a more conventional, quicker, better passing type player. Truthfully, I think that is a needed upgrade anyway.

I keep reading that Sabonis might give us a better return, but read very little in the way of ideas about just what that return might be. Is it likely the team might be better off trying this? I'd really like to read some ideas.

[Tom White]

So, here was Turner's reaction to not being voted to the All Defensive teams, let alone DPOY, from his twitter:

"S/o To The Ones That Showed Love... the hell with the rest!"

Yeah, that's going to win him a lot of votes. Think maybe he should have just stopped after thanking those who voted for him. The rest is just juvenile. Seems he thinks it is all about the blocks?

[Topofthekey]

To me, that's not the area on the roster that's a problem, the problem is in the back court

A starting backcourt of Brogdon and LeVert is, without mincing words, just plain bad on defense

I totally disagree. I like our backcourt and think our problem was depth at 4 compounded by playing a second unit player at the 3. I attribute the bad defense to Bjorkgren for reasons that have been oft discussed already. I keep Brogdon, LeVert, and Sumner, and try to resign TJ. I'd try to trade Aaron into someone's cap room\ if the draft gives us a guard. Justin, Lamb and Martin provide depth on the wing. We'll probably give Stanley another year on a 2-way hoping he turns his athletic ability into basketball ability.

Oh, sure, the lack of a good backup 4 was an obvious problem with the bench for most of the season, I was talking about the starters

I mean, I don't completely disagree with keeping Brogdon and LeVert, but my reasons are probably completely different than yours

I'm OK with keeping Brogdon because, in a vacuum, he's actually a pretty good player. It's just that specifically in the situation the Pacers are currently in, Brogdon's issues are being magnified and made worse, and LeVert is connected to a huge part of it

For example, Brogdon's primary weakness on defense, the inability to keep up with smaller and quicker guards, gets compounded because LeVert isn't much help there either. And if Pacers do end up trading Myles and he isn't around to help out anymore, that's not going to help the situation any

Offensively, it doesn't look like Brogdon makes a good full time PG. It's fine if he shares the court with someone like Oladipo, as Oladipo is more than capable of taking over a huge chunk of the ball handling duties. But when LeVert is the one sharing the back court with Brogdon, it becomes an issue, because LeVert can be quite an inefficient shooter sometimes

For these reasons, even though I am OK with keeping Brogdon because he's a pretty good player, pairing him with LeVert just doesn't seem to be a recipe for success

As for LeVert, I am also OK with keeping him, but purely because I view him as a sell high candidate, and I think there's a lot of room for his trade value to grow still

So it's a bit of a conundrum. Even though I think the Brogdon-LeVert pairing is problem, but for various reasons I am OK with keeping them

The dream is that someone likes Brogdon or LeVert enough to offer an attractive package for them, but I don't see that happening

[Wizop]

Interesting podcast with jmichael. he says the lockerroom was selfish and Sabonis was the most selfish. repeats the story that Nate never criticized Sabonis nor Brogdon. on trading he says Sabonis out would be better but thinks Turner would bring more back.

https://open.spotify.com/show/77fZ7GLLkZuGtk1J8PQ7GG

[pacers33granger]

Domas played selfishly, but I'm kinda hesitant to go as far as to call it fully selfish really. I think some of it was pressing to get that extra money for the all star spot (in hindsight a terrible incentive for his situation for the tram) and some of it was learning to lead.

Just seems like he's the wrong scapegoat here and a lot of it was scheme or lack of scheme.

We certainly need to get some players whose first instinct isn't scoring. If TJ walks, everyone is looking to score if they have the ball and that's an issue.

Sent from my SM-A716U using RealGM mobile app

[Scoot McGroot]

Domas played selfishly, but I'm kinda hesitant to go as far as to call it fully selfish really. I think some of it was pressing to get that extra money for the all star spot (in hindsight a terrible incentive for his situation for the tram) and some of it was learning to lead.

Just seems like he's the wrong scapegoat here and a lot of it was scheme or lack of scheme.

We certainly need to get some players whose first instinct isn't scoring. If TJ walks, everyone is looking to score if they have the ball and that's an issue.

Sent from my SM-A716U using RealGM mobile app

I’m listening to the podcast now, and JMichael referred to the selfishness as late in the year, definitely post All-Star break. The All star spot probably wouldn’t have been a cause.

[pacers33granger]

Domas played selfishly, but I'm kinda hesitant to go as far as to call it fully selfish really. I think some of it was pressing to get that extra money for the all star spot (in hindsight a terrible incentive for his situation for the tram) and some of it was learning to lead.

Just seems like he's the wrong scapegoat here and a lot of it was scheme or lack of scheme.

We certainly need to get some players whose first instinct isn't scoring. If TJ walks, everyone is looking to score if they have the ball and that's an issue.

Sent from my SM-A716U using RealGM mobile app

I’m listening to the podcast now, and JMichael referred to the selfishness as late in the year, definitely post All-Star break. The All star spot probably wouldn’t have been a cause.

Interesting. Maybe he, and others, were just done with the coaching and system. Doesn't make it ok, but clearly even Goga had become fed up and he's way lower on the totem pole.


I do wonder if part of this is perception due to on court attitude. Domas' attitude was probably the worst of the roster when things were going rough. I didn't listen though clearly so pure speculation on my part.

Sent from my SM-A716U using RealGM mobile app

[Wizop]

Domas' attitude was probably the worst of the roster when things were going rough. I didn't listen though clearly so pure speculation on my part.

That's what the podcast says.

There is also a story that players were unhappy because bjorkgren didn't criticize Domas and Brogdon like he did everyone else.

[Tom White]

Doesn't make it ok, but clearly even Goga had become fed up and he's way lower on the totem pole.


I do wonder if part of this is perception due to on court attitude. Domas' attitude was probably the worst of the roster when things were going rough. I didn't listen though clearly so pure speculation on my part.

On the TV broadcast of the game you mentioned, while Goga and the assistant (Foster) were still yapping at each other during a time out, you can see Domas (and barely hear him on the TV) mouthing the words "I'm out of here". Heat of the moment? Maybe.

[pacers33granger]

Doesn't make it ok, but clearly even Goga had become fed up and he's way lower on the totem pole.


I do wonder if part of this is perception due to on court attitude. Domas' attitude was probably the worst of the roster when things were going rough. I didn't listen though clearly so pure speculation on my part.

On the TV broadcast of the game you mentioned, while Goga and the assistant (Foster) were still yapping at each other during a time out, you can see Domas (and barely hear him on the TV) mouthing the words "I'm out of here". Heat of the moment? Maybe.

I kinda recall thinking it was "get him out of here" referring to Foster.

Sent from my SM-A716U using RealGM mobile app

[Tom White]

I kinda recall thinking it was "get him out of here" referring to Foster.

You may well be right. As I said, it was barely audible and I am just going by what I thought I heard. Because of the difference in implications, I really hope you are correct.

[Scoot McGroot]

I kinda recall thinking it was "get him out of here" referring to Foster.

You may well be right. As I said, it was barely audible and I am just going by what I thought I heard. Because of the difference in implications, I really hope you are correct.

I thought it was the “get him out of here”, too, but I can’t be sure. Either way, Sabonis pretty much circled up with his teammates and rallied around them at that point.

[Scoot McGroot]

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/263012/Kevin-Pritchard-Assured-Hell-Remain-As-GM-Of-Pacers

From the Wiretap:

The Indiana Pacers had a disappointing 20-21 season in which they fired Nate Bjorkgren as head coach after one season, but Kevin Pritchard will remain in his role running the front office.

"Let me say a few things about Indiana," said Brian Windhorst. "One, I know Kevin Pritchard, their general manager, came out and gave a press conference and made it sound like his future was in some sort of doubt there. That is no longer the case. He has been assured he will be there. I don't think he was ever really in danger. Herb Simon, who is the owner of the team, is extremely close to him. They have an extremely close relationship. It doesn't mean they couldn't make a change. Without going too far, I will say Kevin Pritchard has been assured he's going to be there."

The Pacers are not planning on hiring a first time head coach during this cycle and have now been linked with possibly hiring Rick Carlisle.

"I don't know how much longer Kevin Pritchard wants to be in that job," added Windhorst.

Regarding that last bonded sentence:
I had heard a rumor that Pritchard was looking for another job in a bigger city, but it wasn’t 100% sure. Apparently, Buchanan has really made almost all the roster moves for the last year or two as Simon has pulled Pritchard more up to the President job and more corporate related stuff, and he misses being so in tune to the players and personnel stuff. Though, this year could have changed that setup, as Pritchard started sitting on the floor with the team and even been in the locker room a bunch pre/post game.

[Pacers Forever]

I think Pritchard should have people working under him reporting to him to take care of community relations, legal contract writing, scouts, player development etc. I think Pritchard should be heavily involved with monitoring the coaching staff, scouting, and player procurement. I could understand if he wanted more hands on with player issues and less hands on in other aspects.

[Wizop]

I think Pritchard should have people working under him reporting to him to take care of community relations, legal contract writing, scouts, player development etc. I think Pritchard should be heavily involved with monitoring the coaching staff, scouting, and player procurement. I could understand if he wanted more hands on with player issues and less hands on in other aspects.

Those staff positions have existed for years. Pritchard has even been moved a step higher in the organization with Chad Buchanan now being GM.

Sent from my phone.

[Pacers Forever]

Then if Pritchard per article is wanting to be more involved in his old role then he needs to help Buchanan find a job elsewhere unless Pritchard wants a new challenge with a bigger market team.

[Scoot McGroot]

Would you be willing to move Brogdon for a Philly package that included Thybulle and Maxey, with expirings like George Hill/Tolliver? Though, I think Hill would have to be routed elsewhere (his salary would have to be guaranteed to match legally).

Or would you only consider dealing Brogdon in a package for an “upgrade”?

[Tom White]

Would you be willing to move Brogdon for a Philly package that included Thybulle and Maxey, with expirings like George Hill/Tolliver? Though, I think Hill would have to be routed elsewhere (his salary would have to be guaranteed to match legally).

Or would you only consider dealing Brogdon in a package for an “upgrade”?

I think Maxey is going to be really good. Matter of fact, he already is quite good. I have to wonder why Philly would do that trade? Seems to me they would be getting the short end of the deal. Also, not interested in Hill at all.