Am I the only one...

[paulgeorge24]

who is a little bit perplexed and/or underwhelmed and/or unsure of how our front office is managing this team (i.e. The huge amount of expiring contracts and the cap flexibility this summer). I would still be feeling this way even if we had gotten the Mayo deal done. Our front office has been pointing to this summer all along and had to a smaller extent the value of our expiring contracts, but now that the deadline has passed and we are still sitting with all of these expiring contracts with only the possiblity of a guy like David West, Carl Landry, etc. coming in return, Im starting to question how this is going to pan out.
Maybe I'm overreacting but I feel like we've gotten a little high on the recent winning stretch against very bad teams and have forgotten where this team is in the grand scheme of things and what we still need to do. Still a promising group, but with the recent power shift to the East, we have even more work to do and we just lost an opportunity to get some serious work done.

Interested to see what you guys think, whether or not you have a similar sentiment.

[colts2004]

Sure, it wouldve been nice to pull a trade or two, get rid of Ford, possibly take a gamble on Mayo but I think your worrying to much...

[jcodbf2]

I think multiple things will happen early next season.

[paulgeorge24]

Less than a couple hours after I post this, an article shows up on Wiretap about Bird already having targets for this summer.

[chube]

I'm about 90 percent comfortable, with most of that remaining 10% because of how unpredictable the league is. Whenever I would hear Larry talk about the future, he would often first point to the cap space and then occasionally mention trading away an expiring contract. So his eye seemed to be on the cap space flexibility, so in that sense, his plan seems to be right on track.

We have a pretty good core right now, and honestly, trading away one of our expiring contracts would have likely included someone like McBob or Foster and we all know what that means. More run for Solomon Jones...and the only beneficiary of that would be our opponent. Plus, we're talking about tinkering with a young team that finally seems to have found a productive groove the last 15 games or so. Throwing in a big new piece might tinker with that a little bit, especially with (currently) so little wiggle room in that 8th spot. A veteran team might be able to add somebody and hit the ground running, but maybe not a young team as much.

So, right now, I'm fine. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have been upset with the Mayo trade at all. But as of right now, I'd rather go into the offseason with the cap room, resign McBob (as long as it's not outrageous) and Foster (ditto, for veteran leadership purposes) and then add to our young core of Danny, Roy, Darren, Paul, Tyler, Rush, etc. Not to mention, next year, we'll be one wing lighter assuming Dunleavy walks, plus we'll have a couple more borderline players on the downhill side of their contracts, namely Posey and Rush.

Bird was quoted as saying that because of our market size, we aren't going to be able to get the Amare's and Carmelo's. So he realistically knows who should and shouldn't be on our radar. And I'm hoping that guys like David West or Nene or whoever are just below the "I'm too good for small-market Indiana" mindset.

[Wizop]

time is on our side. we've got plenty of young talent and the cap space to keep them from leaving.

[Miller4ever]

I think the fact that we HAVE all that capspace is while retaining Granger, Collison, Hibbert, George, Rush, Hansbrough, Lance D. Jones, and Price is a HUGE credit to our front office. Other teams with such capspace do not have such a great core in their possession.

[Indy4Life]

this summer is critical for the outlook of our franchise. We have ton of money, a very solid young group of players including a solid young PG, a couple of wings that can become great role players if not stars, one of the better young bigs in the league and all the other guys are great role players in terms of hustle, shooting, or rebounding.

the key will be...with our 36MM in cap room and the core already built can we lure on of the 'BIG" free agents to come to Indy?

Who might we get? Who is available that can take us to the next level?

Any Ideas/

[8305]

I think we have drafted well and the Collison trade was a clear winner. Yeah, we have an above average young core and a borderline all star. Given the mess Larry inherited from the Walsh/Bird regime he has done about what could have been expected. If we were to assign a grade today it would be an "I". Incomplete until we see what is done with the cap space.

[Indy4Life]

Yes....The question will be..."CAN WE GET A LEGIT ALL-STAR TO COME TO INDY?"

I think we miss out on a true All-Star that will help us close out games (although I believe Paul George is starting to develop into this player currently) and a player that can get to the line 12-15 times when the shots aren't falling. Danny is trying to fill this role, but we as a collective group 'SUCK' at finishing near the rim when we get there.

We will likley land two free agents and overpay (as we will have to to get them to Indy) for talent that is just above average (David West, Randolph) or take a high risk, high reward injury riddled player.

Hope Larry can prove me wrong by bringing in the marquee name...

[JeffFosters]

I thought I had an idea of where the team was headed, but now I'm not so sure. What swayed me was the pursuit of OJ Mayo. I really believe that acquiring Mayo would've meant the deadline or summer trade of Granger, as Paul George and Mayo take the wings for the future. Mayo as 6th man? George? I don't buy it.

So it'll be interesting to see what happens. The fact is that Indy does have a heap of flexibility, and they can take any direction they want. Whether its trade or FA's or the draft etc. Its a good place to be.

[Wizop]

I don't think this summer will be critical at all. sure we might sign a starter but we're equally likely to sign to experienced backups. I'll be happy if we just take baby steps and give our young players time to develop.

[jowglenn]

Obv the Mayo deal would have been awesome. But keep in mind there are lots of ways for us to get another guy. One solid FA (don't take the pistons route and sign 2 mediocre FA) - I prefer Landry, I think we could get him cheap and he is back to being underrated. Then use our cap space to relieve other teams of the luxury tax and get a player in exchange, like OKC got maynor just by taking harpring and relieivng utah of hte tax, etc. Whatever the new cap is, there will be some team desperate to dump salary, and oh, look, we have oceans of cap space, sure we can take that guy.

What's that Atlanta?? You signed Joe Johnson to the worst deal ever, and now your team is way over the new cap? It's all good, we'll take Josh Smith off your hands for Mcbobs, rush, and a pick. Sure no problem.

Oh, hey Utah, u have cap problem? Yeah i suppose we can take al jeff or millsap off your hands and give you cheap young talent for your rebiuld. how u like mcbobs, rush and pick?

Yo, Memphis, so sorry our deal fell through, what's that, you need large $$$ to re-sign Gasol and Randolph, no problem, we still take Mayo. What was the deal again? A protected 1st and a 2nd? OK cool.

That sort of thing i guess.

[paulgeorge24]

Obv the Mayo deal would have been awesome. But keep in mind there are lots of ways for us to get another guy. One solid FA (don't take the pistons route and sign 2 mediocre FA) - I prefer Landry, I think we could get him cheap and he is back to being underrated. Then use our cap space to relieve other teams of the luxury tax and get a player in exchange, like OKC got maynor just by taking harpring and relieivng utah of hte tax, etc. Whatever the new cap is, there will be some team desperate to dump salary, and oh, look, we have oceans of cap space, sure we can take that guy.

What's that Atlanta?? You signed Joe Johnson to the worst deal ever, and now your team is way over the new cap? It's all good, we'll take Josh Smith off your hands for Mcbobs, rush, and a pick. Sure no problem.

Oh, hey Utah, u have cap problem? Yeah i suppose we can take al jeff or millsap off your hands and give you cheap young talent for your rebiuld. how u like mcbobs, rush and pick?

Yo, Memphis, so sorry our deal fell through, what's that, you need large $$$ to re-sign Gasol and Randolph, no problem, we still take Mayo. What was the deal again? A protected 1st and a 2nd? OK cool.

That sort of thing i guess.

One can dream.
Also if Memphis needs $$$, they just wont pick up his option. Not saying I wouldnt like any one of those, just none of them are happening.
edit; and Mayo would not free up any cap even if they did pick up his option,plus Chicago was offering 3 picks and Brewer for him.

[IndianaSteel]

Hopefully Bird will be patient in the free agent market and just go after a solid back up center.

The only big free agent that interest me is D West and it will most likely cost to much to get him to come here.

We should still be fine if we go into next year with out making a big move during the summer. Be patient there will be deals out there like the Mayo and DC/Murphy deal, no one expected to get DC for Murph.Teams will always be looking to get under the the luxury tax, dont screw it up now by being inpatient and giving out bad contracts just to get marginally better.

[Starkiller]

Hopefully Bird will be patient in the free agent market and just go after a solid back up center.

The only big free agent that interest me is D West and it will most likely cost to much to get him to come here.

We should still be fine if we go into next year with out making a big move during the summer. Be patient there will be deals out there like the Mayo and DC/Murphy deal, no one expected to get DC for Murph.Teams will always be looking to get under the the luxury tax, dont screw it up now by being inpatient and giving out bad contracts just to get marginally better.

I agree with you, but we will have to over pay for any big FA to come here.

[paulgeorge24]

Sadly, it looks like I was right on some of these ideas at this point.

Necropost

[Wizop]

I'm not at all sure that a big name fa is the solution overpaid or not.

[chube]

Anybody thinking that maybe Granger, if his attitude isn't up to par, is maybe due to burnout? After all, he did play all last summer with Team USA.

So since August 2009...
He's gone through a 50-loss season which included a heel injury that saddled him for a while, which might have especially stung coming off his All-Star year.
Then immediately to Team USA where, yeah, he won a Gold medal but it was really the first time in his career that his flaws and play impacted his standing on a team.
Then right back to a Pacers team that has hit a number of rough stretches after starting with such promise, both at the start of the season and under Vogel's tenure. And going 6-11 (which at this point seems up in the air considering their slump and schedule) would just get them out of the 50-loss territory and quite possibly another post-season at home.

Plus, if these internal rumors really are an issue, anybody think he might be experiencing a little burnout?