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The Pacers have a 10am press conference scheduled for Thursday to announce the return of Larry Bird as the senior president of operations.

So we're going to have all 3 (Walsh, Pritchard, and Bird) making decisions?

Some great news to start off the off-season. Should make Vogel and Pritchard feel good to know the guy that hired them is back in charge.

Never mind. Walsh will become a consultant while Pritchard remains GM.

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Great news!

Jake0890 wrote:Never mind. Walsh will become a consultant while Pritchard remains GM.

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Yup. Walsh will step aside (willingly, he made it clear since he took over last year when Bird stepped away) and will become a personal consultant to Simon.

Bird will be top dog. Pritchard will be the legs that gets everything done as GM.

I've kind of felt that it was a matter of Bird's desire to return, not so much that he would go elsewhere. The conspiracy theorist in me says he's been an arm-chair G.M. anyway. Kind of weird that it happened a day before the draft. The timing conspires with possible activity tomorrow imo.

I'm glad he chose to return before 2014. This is his creation thus it feels most comfortable knowing he will negotiate with the 2010 draft-class.

I adore the makeup of our front office and feel confident about the long-term.

Apparently Walsh and Pritchard are going to run the draft and Bird will take a backseat tomorrow.

Congrats, Pacers. Larry Legend was my favourite player and as a FO honcho he did a great job reassembling the Pacers to the tough team to play against that it is. Hopefully you reach new heights with Bird back on board.

I heard effective July 1. Pritchard does draft. Bird does free agents.

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Was hoping Bird would be here for the draft so he could pull another 2nd rounder that sticks around the NBA out of his ***. Just keep him away from the 1st round.

Great news! And I really appreciate how Donnie Walsh love the franchise. He took over to give Larry a breather, and now I think it is just right that Donnie enjoys the rest of his life without much pressure.

Wizop wrote:I heard effective July 1. Pritchard does draft. Bird does free agents.

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That arrangement can't possibly last long. Pritchard seems to be too good at what he does to just focus on the draft. Although, aren't both Pritchard and Bird really good friends? I am sure they can work really well together.

Also- last years draft was done by Bird. This is Pritchard's first draft then. Could be interesting.

Ultimately, it comes off as if Bird is the big picture guy and Pritch is the legs that gets the deals done, as well as ferret out any possible moves out there around the league they can move in on.

Bird listed his top 3 priorities.

1. Re-sign West. Heavily emphasized this multiple times.
2. Fill out assistant coaches. Confirmed Boylen is gone and we have 2 spots to fill.
3. Bench - called this a downgrade from the previous year.

Also said he has no plans to trade Granger and that we gotta get him healthy first. Believes in championship with this roster and why he came back. Kept notes on league in his year away and feels he has fresh perspective after being out a year.

also said he hasn't watched the college game so isn't prepared to make draft picks but knows the NBA and could evaluate draft day trades involving players.

Since Scoot brought up the topic of the bench getting worse, would it have been better if we re-signed Leandro Barbosa and Lou?

Ian was a big upgrade over Lou.

Otherwise, Dahntay/Collison vs DJ/Green? All kinds of poop either way, thus far.