Alright, team needs for next year....

[Scoot McGroot]

I'm assuming we don't make major moves, but rather tweaks. Thus, I only have small ideas.

1) better ball handler off the bench. PG or not.

2) scorer off the bench at the wings. A healthy Granger off the bench or pushing Lance to the bench could solve this.

3) a decent and reliable veteran 2 way option in the front court. Hans is offense. Ian is defense. A bit of a mix would help. Especially if they could pass out of the post.

Nothing crazy or wildly expensive. Re-sign West and Sam Young for end of bench support. Move Green for anything of use and/or expiring contract. Replace Shaw (because he deserves a lead job this offseason) with another experienced assistant. Draft BPA. Train. Heal. Learn.

Nothing crazy. Good spot to be in.


Your thoughts?

[Jake0890]

New ball handlers.

Scoring forward behind West. Thinking Carl Landry.

Dump Green, get a veteran shooting guard who knows what he's doing.

[Miller4ever]

See what development Pulp, Plumlee, and Pendy have. They could be the answer to a few of those.

I think a good 4 off the bench like Landry should be our top concern. The starting unit is all good, having proven itself to be the best in the league by some metrics.

[Ice32]

Watching this series, there was one thing that the Pacers lacked - instant energy off the bench. Corey Brewer could fill this role, for under 5 million. He's good for 20-24 mins, gives you 10-15 pts, has developed the corner three shot, plays above average defense and gives 110% every game. He's a game changer and can really impact both ends of the floor.

Lance Stephenson should not be the starting SG next year. Jarrett Jack would be great for Indiana. Danny Granger back helps. Lock up West.

[Jake0890]

Oh, and a 3 point shooter PLEASE. Anyone to stretch the floor. Korver, Bellinelli, Novak, etc.

[pacers70]

Make NO QO's. I hate to say it but we have to let Tyler go and most likely Pendy.

Re-sign West.

If at all possible, unload Green and Mahamini's salaries. This means trading for draft picks (probably 2nd round)and/or someone with an equal salary that will expire in the summer of 2014.

We need a back-up PG, back-up PF and scoring off the bench. I kind of like the idea of signing J.J. Redick. He could be back-up PG and provide scoring off the bench. If we don't sign Redick, we should also look at Jack, Budinger or Korver. Maybe we can find a back-up PF/C and/or back-up PG in the draft.

It is very important that Granger come back at least reasonably healthy (playing at least 20 mpg) and for Plumlee to develop. They said Plumlee was going to be another Jeff Foster, well Foster was contributing 16 mpg his 2nd year in the league. Plumlee needs to be able to play solid D and play at least 12-15 mpg next year.

[Wizop]

We just did well in the playoffs by staying big but Granger coming back means either he will have to play some four or Lance will have to play some one because Paul isn't going to lose minutes. OJ should earn some minutes and unless Plumlee does too his pick will look worse and worse. I think the draft is going to give us a backup point guard. I see wiretap saying West expects to come back and Paul expects a max extension and that is going to be a money issue even assuming we don't retain Tyler or Augustine. the easiest solution to the money problem is to try and trade Danny to a team with cap room but I think last night's loss to the Heat shows we need Danny next year.

[SmashMouthRod]

Lance Stephenson should not be the starting SG next year. Jarrett Jack would be great for Indiana. Danny Granger back helps. Lock up West.

I personally don't think you make drastic changes to a team one win away from the NBA finals. Stephenson should most definitely keep the starting 2 spot for chemistry purposes. Especially if he comes back from the summer with an improved jump shot. George at the 3 is where he belongs naturally. Resign West to a reasonable deal. Let Tyler Hans walk. Hopefully Granger can come back and provide some two-way flexibility off the bench. Considering that turnovers is this teams biggest problem; This team needs a veteran point guard like Chauncey Billups (if healthy) backing up George Hill for tutoring purposes and also for bench scoring. A veteran Big man off the bench that doesn't care about his minutes would help accelerate the growth of Plumlee. Expected lineups/rotations for next season should look something like this.......

G. Hill/Billups/ 1st round pick?????
Stephenson/P.George/G. Hill/O. Johnson (unless he comes back too good to sit out the rotation)
George/Granger/ Young
West/Plumlee/Granger
Hibbert/Mahinmi/ Vet Big PF/C ?????

[Scoot McGroot]

I doubt we can afford an MLE or higher free agent this offseason. Yeah, Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry would be nice, but their going to be out of our price range.

I kind of like Copeland out of NY in free agency and think we might be able to net him on a 2 year deal for $1-2m a year as the shooter off the bench.

New backup PG, or ball handling combo guard (one or the other), should be a top priority this offseason.

Ultimately, we simply cannot have the huge drop off when the bench comes in every game as we have this entire season and most all of the playoffs. Obviously, if Granger is healthy, we reduce a lot of bench minutes by playing a rotation of Lance, PG24, and Danny on the wings.

[Starkiller]

1a. Return of David West

1b. Healthy Danny Granger. Whether it's bench or starter, just 100%

2. Two way backup big. Carl Landry would be a dream but we can't afford him.

3. Ball handling and jump shooting back up guard

4. Lance to develop a dependable, almost deadly long distance jumpshot.

5. PG to improve ball handling.

6. George Hill to improve dealing with pressure from opposing defenses and improve his ball handling as well.

[8305]

Do you think we are married to playing big even when we go to our bench? Vogel has almost never gone small to this point but both backup 4's controacts expire this summer. Tyler's qualifying offer is a little salty for what he brings. Guess what I"m getting at is Danny could make for a pretty scary stretch 4. Could his minutes largely be part of a George, West, Granger rotation at the 3 and 4 as opposed to a George, Stephenson, Granger rotation at the 2 and 3? Either way our bench looks remarkably better.

I could see this question being answered on draft day. Draft Mitchel and Granger would continue to spend most of his time at the 3. But if you take one of the wings (at our position in the draft that's where the depth of this draft seems to reside) you might like to create some backup minutes at the 2 that wouldn't exist with Danny getting all the backup minutes behind Lance and Paul.

[Scoot McGroot]

I think we'll offer Tyler his QO just to retain some flexibility to trade him. If he ends up signing the QO, it's only a one year deal, and we would just play Tyler for a year and re-examine later. It's not an unwieldy number for a single season deal.

If he doesn't sign he QO, maybe he negotiates a low deal elsewhere that we match or we help him negotiate a S&T with Green out of town. Who knows?

[SmashMouthRod]

Affordable options that could help include...
Point Guards
Chauncey Billups (the one i prefer) hes a champion and has big shot capabilities
Will Bynum (Good Scorer/playmaker for the D last season off the bench)
Jarrid Bayless (Good Scorer not so good playmaking)
Derek Fisher (solid vet whos been in all of the big situations)
Jamaal Tinsley (maybe he has grown up; Solid ballhandling/3pt shooting and passing)
A.J. Price (wouldnt mind him again but my last option)

Bigs
Ivan Johnson (I like his hustle; he fits the smashmouth mold)
Jermaine O'Neal (I would welcome him back as a third (PF/C)/ I understand a lot of pacers fans might cringe at the thought of him; but he possibly could help get this team over the hump and make a mends by helping this team get the jewelry he shouldve got in his prime. A good ending to a wild story.)
Samuel Dalembert (A good option as he used to be one of the leagues best in reb/blks)
Nazr Mohammed (a last option)
Ronny Turiaf
Jason Maxiell (cant play 4 and 5 but is a fierce competitor)
JJ Hickson (probably will get overpaid)
Chris Andersen (Hard to believe Miami doesnt sign him back; or that Indy is interested in him but he could help.)

[8305]

I think we'll offer Tyler his QO just to retain some flexibility to trade him. If he ends up signing the QO, it's only a one year deal, and we would just play Tyler for a year and re-examine later. It's not an unwieldy number for a single season deal.

If he doesn't sign he QO, maybe he negotiates a low deal elsewhere that we match or we help him negotiate a S&T with Green out of town. Who knows?

Moving Gerald Green in a Tyler Hansbrough sign and trade? You're an optomistic guy.

Like everyone else, I love Tyler's effort and the physicality he brings. But, against good competition he just doesn't get much done. I wonder if the 4 mil needed for his QO could be spent better?

[Scoot McGroot]

Did I sound optimistic? Nope.

However, I'm not sure that if we extend the QO, which is only an offer and not a signed contract, we could spend $4m otherwise. I'm already assuming that an upgraded backup PG would chew up most of the MLE, and then you really only have minimum salary slots available. So, by extending the QO, which we could revoke later, we're not really making a decision of $4m here or elsewhere, it's simply more of a "lets maintain the ability to match offers or S&T Tyler". If we don't extend the QO, we have none of those as an option.

[Wizop]

Vogel seems to like Tyler but I'm not sure why. he just hasn't shown the year to year improvement that was called for. his outside shot has disappeared. he has no left hand. he gets too many fouls because he uses his hands instead of his feet. I'd hoped he was going to work on his game last summer but in many ways he's worse than before. he seems to think he's worth starters' money, but if he is just an energy guy, we can get that cheaper with Pendi.

[Scoot McGroot]

Vogel seems to like Tyler but I'm not sure why. he just hasn't shown the year to year improvement that was called for. his outside shot has disappeared. he has no left hand. he gets too many fouls because he uses his hands instead of his feet. I'd hoped he was going to work on his game last summer but in many ways he's worse than before. he seems to think he's worth starters' money, but if he is just an energy guy, we can get that cheaper with Pendi.

Believe me, I don't wanna keep him. I think I've been pretty open a out that the last 2 years. I just want to maintain flexibility throughout this summer in possible deals. That's all.

[8305]

Did I sound optimistic? Nope.

However, I'm not sure that if we extend the QO, which is only an offer and not a signed contract, we could spend $4m otherwise. I'm already assuming that an upgraded backup PG would chew up most of the MLE, and then you really only have minimum salary slots available. So, by extending the QO, which we could revoke later, we're not really making a decision of $4m here or elsewhere, it's simply more of a "lets maintain the ability to match offers or S&T Tyler". If we don't extend the QO, we have none of those as an option.

Didn't realize you could resind a QO. That being the case there is very little to lose. If we extend the 4 mil QO can another team make an offer for less annual money but for more than a year that Tyler could accept? If he sees himself as a starter moving to a team better positioned to give him that opportunity could make more sense for him irrespective of the money.

[Scoot McGroot]

Did I sound optimistic? Nope.

However, I'm not sure that if we extend the QO, which is only an offer and not a signed contract, we could spend $4m otherwise. I'm already assuming that an upgraded backup PG would chew up most of the MLE, and then you really only have minimum salary slots available. So, by extending the QO, which we could revoke later, we're not really making a decision of $4m here or elsewhere, it's simply more of a "lets maintain the ability to match offers or S&T Tyler". If we don't extend the QO, we have none of those as an option.

Didn't realize you could resind a QO. That being the case there is very little to lose. If we extend the 4 mil QO can another team make an offer for less annual money but for more than a year that Tyler could accept? If he sees himself as a starter moving to a team better positioned to give him that opportunity could make more sense for him irrespective of the money.

If we extend a QO, free agency operates for Hans like normal. He still solicits offers and we just reserve the right to match any offer he gets. It's just like Hibberts free agency last year.

Worst case is that Hans doesn't get offers and signs our one year $4m offer before we could rescind it.

[Grang33r]

They will need to replace DJ Augustin for sure. Not sure who we will be able to land, but he was a major weak spot. He was getting consistently blocked whenever he drove in, and his three-point shot wasn't going in. Not only was it not going in, but he wasn't even able to set up to take a shot. He did nothing for us when he came in.

As for a player who i think should be #1 priority (leagues fa, not our own), is Nick Young. Love him swagger and his three point shot. He can knock down some shots against anybody and he can start when asked. I once read he is very good friends with Paul George so George could sell him on the team bonding and unity that they have going, as well as a legit chance to win the NBA title.