RealGM

I think there's a fairly universal opinion about Jim O'Brien on this board. I'll leave it at that.

But what about Bird as GM? There was a lot of hate coming his way in the couple years leading up to this season. But what about nowadays? Some of his recent moves.

Picks:
Brandon Rush at 13 - seems to be gaining support as the SG going forward
Roy Hibbert at 17 - nothing more need be said, the center of the future
Psycho T at 13 - not an all-star, but will be a great bench piece. Plus, in terms of PF, the only notables behind him were Taj Gibson and DeJuan Blair
A.J. Price at 52 - looks to be a solid enough backup when given the time
Paul George - obviously, the jury is still out, but there's some excitement about him once the wing depth clears out a little
Lance Stephenson - jury still out, but considered to be a steal in the second round. And if he doesn't pan out, he's on a fairly cheap 2nd round contract

Notable players who left via free agency:
Jarrett Jack - I preferred him to Ford, but not a franchise-turning loss, plus Ford provides that upcoming cap relief

Notable players given up via trade:
Troy Murphy - between production and injuries, has barely seen the floor since being moved to NJ
Jerryd Bayless - considering we let him go for Rush and McBob, Pacers for the win. His stats might inflate a little in Toronto, but when he's the second or third option, that'll happen. When playing on quality rosters in Portland and New Orleans, nothing much.

Notable players acquired through trades:
Darren Collison - obvious, duh. The PG of the future
James Posey - is a nice veteran presence. Just is often being used incorrectly right now.
Brandon Rush - acquired on draft day in exchange for Bayless along with...
Josh McRoberts - would he be a starter on 29 other teams? Probably not, but has filled the void at 4 better than I thought he would. Considering his improvement, would be an AWESOME first big off the bench.

Expiring contracts/valuable trade chips this coming summer:
Mike Dunleavy - $10.5 million
T.J. Ford - $8.5 million
Jeff Foster - $6.6 million
Jamaal Tinsley - $5.5 million (had to hold in the vomit as I typed that)
Solomon Jones - $1.5 million (^ditto)
McBob - $885k (seems like a high likelihood that he might be re-signed, which I'm fine with.)

Starting roster going forward:
Point guard - set with DC2
Shooting guard - solid. Great defender in Rush, plus George is still back there too
Small forward - all-star-caliber player in Danny
Power forward - likely the main focus of the offseason, but a temporary sigh of relief due to the play of McBob (usually), Solo (whatever) and Tyler (when given the opportunity)
Center - ROY!

Between Danny, Roy, Darren, and Rush, we're talking an average age of under 25 at the end of the year.

Obviously, the coaching thing is on the forefront of our minds (apparently Nate McMillan expires this season.)

But yes or no - do you want him back?

I do. Next year is the last one in his plan, and we can reassess then, but it's looking positive right now.

Same here. What he's done in the 3 years since Donnie Walsh left (especially considering the team was still feeling the remnants of the brawl), he's done a pretty good job slowly but surely, and pretty quietly.

But I think his GM contract expires after this year and obviously the Simons have a decision to make because extending a front office contract by just one year is pretty rare isn't it?

Expiring contracts/valuable trade chips this coming summer:
Mike Dunleavy - $10.5 million
T.J. Ford - $8.5 million
Jeff Foster - $6.6 million
Jamaal Tinsley - $5.5 million (had to hold in the vomit as I typed that)Solomon Jones - $1.5 million (^ditto)
McBob - $885k (seems like a high likelihood that he might be re-signed, which I'm fine with.)

Thanks for pointing that out, cause JT slipped my mind.

We'll have roughly $33.5 in expirings, followed by Posey's 12 mill the following season. Anymore? That is 45.5 over the next two seasons. After some calculations it might take around 25-30 mill per season, just to resign Brandon ($6-7), Darren (6-7), & Roy (12-13). If Rush and Collison continue improving, than it could take even more. We really shouldn't exceed 13 mill in any type of transaction.

His track record looks more than ok to me. Looking back at it, I can't find any real failures.
With Hibbert and Collison and also the contract of Granger he can look back at some very good decisions.

I'm glad he has taken over from Walsh and I'd like him to stick around.
He has some major tests coming up for him: getting us a starter quality pf and resigning the likes of Dundun, McBob, who knows maybe even TJ or T Murda

Major decisions look pretty good right now. I have no complaints with his draft decisions. The Collison acquisition looks pretty good. I think he has done about as good a job as could be done with what he had.

The guy I've heard mentioned as a possible replacement (Kevin Pritchard) was reguarded as a genius. But, who signs a guy with knees going bone on bone to a max money contract? And, Bird abused him on the Rush/Bayless trade.

i think bird should be given an extension...he has done a great job with trades, draft picks, and getting expirings together for this coming offseason...as well as clean up walsh's mess he left us with when he bolted for nyc....bird was a great coach, and seems to be going that direction as a gm..he is very loyal to indiana and wants nothing but the best, and is getting it done...sign him up if you ask me

Bird is doing well and Donnie is doing the same in NY. we had a period when both deferred to much to the other but alone both are top notch.

Posey misused? he won the game for us less night with his defense taking charge after charge plus his example has been key in getting the others to defend. huge acquisition. actually helping more this year than DC.

It's been a slow but steady rebuilding process. I wouldn't call it an extraordinary effort, but it's looking more and more like he's doing a solid job.

If Paul George /Lance doesnt get some run soon and we're not a 4/5/6 team in the East by the end of next year, fire Bird. He whiffed with Psycho T and possibly both of those guys. The only good draft pick we had is Roy. We have made little to no progress the last 3 years. (record has gotten worse) And if next year is the 3rd year of his plan and we dont really compete, then he needs to go.

no point in calling anyone a whiff based on rookie year pine time and that includes Psycho T since he missed so much of last year. and his contract is up at the end of this year not next. I can't see us extending his contract and then dumping him because of poor first year performance. the decision will be made in 2011.

I think the 2008 draft looks pretty good right now. And, I'm not sure anyone would have agreed with that assessment until now. There are a number of players taken ahead of Rush and Hibbert who don't look at good now and I'm not sure there are any taken later who are clearly better either.

We aren't going to know if the Hansbrough pick was a whiff until he gets some consistent court time. I think that will happen before the year is over. George will get his chance next year when some of the free agents move on.

While the record has not improved this teams position form improvement has improved significantly.

aquatic92 wrote:If Paul George /Lance doesnt get some run soon and we're not a 4/5/6 team in the East by the end of next year, fire Bird. He whiffed with Psycho T and possibly both of those guys. The only good draft pick we had is Roy. We have made little to no progress the last 3 years. (record has gotten worse) And if next year is the 3rd year of his plan and we dont really compete, then he needs to go.

Acquatic, Bird did well in all of his recent trades, even though he was straddled with bad contracts. The only one he kind of took a beating on was the Jax/Al trade, but ultimately that trade led to Collison, so it's a wash.

Also, I like his recent draft picks, and hope he continues with a similar approach.

Personally I believe his three year plan shouldn't be recognized until our payroll actually allows him to build something, up until this point Larry has exceeded expectations in all but one department. The hiring a suitable coach department.

Boneman2 wrote:

aquatic92 wrote:If Paul George /Lance doesnt get some run soon and we're not a 4/5/6 team in the East by the end of next year, fire Bird. He whiffed with Psycho T and possibly both of those guys. The only good draft pick we had is Roy. We have made little to no progress the last 3 years. (record has gotten worse) And if next year is the 3rd year of his plan and we dont really compete, then he needs to go.

Acquatic, Bird did well in all of his recent trades, even though he was straddled with bad contracts. The only one he kind of took a beating on was the Jax/Al trade, but ultimately that trade led to Collison, so it's a wash.

Also, I like his recent draft picks, and hope he continues with a similar approach.

Personally I believe his three year plan shouldn't be recognized until our payroll actually allows him to build something, up until this point Larry has exceeded expectations in all but one department. The hiring a suitable coach department.

Bohneman. Psycho T was not a good pick lol. We could have drafted a point guard at that spot instead of using our expiring(s) to get one of the guys that could have been drafted. That expiring could have been used towards getting a starting quality 4 in here, which appears to be the last major weakness on our team. Seems like a wasted asset to me and im not sure how you can argue otherwise.

Actually Posey will be an expiring, and easy to move, so we lost very little considering all the salary that drops off this season. We can afford to defer 12 mill until the following season.