RealGM

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/07/trail-blazers-remain-in-market-for-center.html

This got me thinking that the Pacers are another team that can use a veteran big on the roster. The article above mentions Amir Johnson, Joakim Noah, Kosta Koufos, Greg Monroe, and Nene. I have always had a soft spot for Monroe's offense and maneuverability.
Thoughts about the shoes the Pacers still need to fill this off-season?

Jonas Jerebko makes more sense to me than a lot of those names. Nene, Monroe, Koufos, Noah, and Amir at this point are all pure 5's and solely 5's. I'd prefer someone that could keep up on the perimeter defensively and play situationally in place of Leaf.

I also think he'd fill the roster requirement of one "old guy" that Pritchard seems to have. Think Rasual Butler, Damien Wilkins, or somewhat Al Jefferson.

Jerebko or Monroe would be fine with me.

Personally I would prefer Monroe. I think we have plenty of guys that could cover for us at the 4. I think we need a 5 that has enough size to bang with the Drummond's and Whiteside's of the league if needed. While Monroe is only 29 years old, he still fills the role of veteran as he has 9 years NBA experience.

Stretch Four who can switch on defense is the smarter move. We have three guys who should play all the minutes at the 5. Maybe Luol Deng??? I know he played a role in the development of Jimmy Butler in chicago. Maybe he can help wit Alize in addition to steping in and playing 5-10 minutes here and there defending and hitting threes. Jerebko is a pretty good choice too.

pacers70 wrote:Jerebko or Monroe would be fine with me.

Personally I would prefer Monroe. I think we have plenty of guys that could cover for us at the 4. I think we need a 5 that has enough size to bang with the Drummond's and Whiteside's of the league if needed. While Monroe is only 29 years old, he still fills the role of veteran as he has 9 years NBA experience.

Do you mean bang offensively? Monroe is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad defender.

Scoot McGroot wrote:

pacers70 wrote:Jerebko or Monroe would be fine with me.

Personally I would prefer Monroe. I think we have plenty of guys that could cover for us at the 4. I think we need a 5 that has enough size to bang with the Drummond's and Whiteside's of the league if needed. While Monroe is only 29 years old, he still fills the role of veteran as he has 9 years NBA experience.

Do you mean bang offensively? Monroe is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad defender.

Both. Bojan had a reputation as a bad defender when we got him and turned into a decent defender. Call me an optimist but I think Monroe can become a decent defender as well. He should have plenty of energy as he would be taking the role that Jefferson and O'Quinn had.

pacers70 wrote:

Scoot McGroot wrote:

pacers70 wrote:Jerebko or Monroe would be fine with me.

Personally I would prefer Monroe. I think we have plenty of guys that could cover for us at the 4. I think we need a 5 that has enough size to bang with the Drummond's and Whiteside's of the league if needed. While Monroe is only 29 years old, he still fills the role of veteran as he has 9 years NBA experience.

Do you mean bang offensively? Monroe is a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad defender.

Both. Bojan had a reputation as a bad defender when we got him and turned into a decent defender. Call me an optimist but I think Monroe can become a decent defender as well. He should have plenty of energy as he would be taking the role that Jefferson and O'Quinn had.

I don’t know. It’s one thing to be bad, and it’s another to be the poster child of not being able to defend in this current nba. Monroe is just so slow and lacks all defensive IQ so he can’t make up for the lack of speed like Al Jefferson did. He’s also not willing to defend physically at all. At least, he never has been in his 9 year career. Bojan was unable because he hadn’t been asked to play defense and he didn’t know how to, but he was willing to learn and do what was necessary. That’s the difference to me.

It's gotta be a 4 that we sign. The last thing we need is another center. We already have 3 on the roster we are just choosing to put one at PF.

Jerebko would be a decent addition. At least he can still play.

Monroe? I don't know. I totally agree about his defense or lack thereof. He's been like that for years and I don't think he could improve on defense anymore. Also, he's not an energy guy. There's a chance he could fit, though. He's a playmaking big and a smart one.

I personally would want Faried or Cheick Diallo for someone who could add grit and muscle in the frontcourt. A physical player who can make our bigs play like centers. Or an insurance tough guy in case of matchup problems. Diallo got signed just hours ago.

Looking at our premium vets from the seasons past - Damien, Rasual Butler, Al Jefferson, these are vocal, opinionated players who are more than just vets. I personally think their signings had a lot to do with "mental" mentorship roles. Looking at the list above, I think only Nene somehow fits that role. I have been wanting Anthony Tolliver for that role for quite some time now but I think it will never happen.

I am wondering if the team might be better off leaving one roster spot vacant, for now. You never know what opportunities might come up during the season where that open spot may come in handy. Maybe a two-for-one deal or a situation such as when they picked up Matthews last year.

Tom White wrote:I am wondering if the team might be better off leaving one roster spot vacant, for now. You never know what opportunities might come up during the season where that open spot may come in handy. Maybe a two-for-one deal or a situation such as when they picked up Matthews last year.

Yeah it may be beneficial to leave a spot open along with the room exception.

I'm wondering if Pritchard is focusing on an extension for Domas before figuring out what to do with the two spots. Maybe he'll bypass using the exception to save Simon some money now if he'll allow him to go a bit higher for the extension.

pacers33granger wrote:I'm wondering if Pritchard is focusing on an extension for Domas before figuring out what to do with the two spots. Maybe he'll bypass using the exception to save Simon some money now if he'll allow him to go a bit higher for the extension.

wouldn't think so as the extension doesn't kick in until next summer. we have to get the roster to at least 14. currently we're at 12 plus Reed on a 2-way. I'd be surprised if we were to give Reed a full contract and if not we must sign 2 players and can sign a 2nd 2-way.

I'm counting McConnell who is practicing with us but for some reason hasn't signed a contract yet. perhaps there is some advantage to signing him last.

Wizop wrote:

pacers33granger wrote:I'm wondering if Pritchard is focusing on an extension for Domas before figuring out what to do with the two spots. Maybe he'll bypass using the exception to save Simon some money now if he'll allow him to go a bit higher for the extension.

wouldn't think so as the extension doesn't kick in until next summer. we have to get the roster to at least 14. currently we're at 12 plus Reed on a 2-way. I'd be surprised if we were to give Reed a full contract and if not we must sign 2 players and can sign a 2nd 2-way.

I'm counting McConnell who is practicing with us but for some reason hasn't signed a contract yet. perhaps there is some advantage to signing him last.

I understand that Domas' salary doesn't change, but my point is that Simon may authorize Pritchard to go higher next year if salaries are lower this year. We're already at a bit over $106 mil next year so he may want to save some money now if he's going to be spending big next summer.

I also do not believe we have Reed on a 2 way anymore. I think it's just Wilcox and Grant.

In any event, I don't think there's anyone left worth using the room exception on anyways.

pacers33granger wrote:I also do not believe we have Reed on a 2 way anymore. I think it's just Wilcox and Grant.

strange that pacers.com shows Reed on the roster and doesn't show Wilcox or Grant, but you're right.

Wizop wrote:

pacers33granger wrote:I'm wondering if Pritchard is focusing on an extension for Domas before figuring out what to do with the two spots. Maybe he'll bypass using the exception to save Simon some money now if he'll allow him to go a bit higher for the extension.

wouldn't think so as the extension doesn't kick in until next summer. we have to get the roster to at least 14. currently we're at 12 plus Reed on a 2-way. I'd be surprised if we were to give Reed a full contract and if not we must sign 2 players and can sign a 2nd 2-way.

I'm counting McConnell who is practicing with us but for some reason hasn't signed a contract yet. perhaps there is some advantage to signing him last.

Davon Reed is gone. We didn't tender a qualifying offer. He played for Golden State in the summer league and shot 32% overall. Brian Bowen is a guy we signed to a 2 way already. We signed Jakeenan Gant and CJ Wilcox to summer contracts with exhibit 10 options (meaning they could be converted to a 2 way or would get preferential placement in Ft. Wayne if we waive them and they later join the GLeague).

If you're counting McConnell, we're at 13 NBA deals signed.

Brogdon/Holiday/McConnell
Oladipo/Lamb/Sumner
Warren/McDermott
Sabonis/Leaf/Alize
Turner/Goga


As for McConnell not signing yet, original reports were some contractual details (could be guaranteed amount, guarantee dates, all kinds of small inconsequential things) were being ironed out still. Otherwise, there is some benefit in holding off, as his salary could easily fit inside the Room Exception if we were to choose to use our cap space in other ways (Room Exception is limited to 2 year contracts or less, while cap space could be used for up to 4 years).

pacers33granger wrote:I also do not believe we have Reed on a 2 way anymore. I think it's just Wilcox and Grant.

Neither are on 2 ways. Just Bowen. Those two are signed to summer contracts with Exhibit 10 restrictions.

Scoot McGroot wrote:If you're counting McConnell, we're at 13 NBA deals signed.

that had been my count until I made the mistake of thinking the roster of the team website was up to date.

pacers33granger wrote:In any event, I don't think there's anyone left worth using the room exception on anyways.

For us? I agree. Really struggling through the list of current remaining free agents and I'm seeing Justin Holiday and ..... not a whole lot else. I could see a Pau Gasol get a room somewhere. Maybe a Shaun Livingston?

As for other minimum salary guys, Vince Carter, Thabo Sefalosha and Lance are still out there on the wings (all vet minimum guys at this point). Yabusele and Troy Williams are still there if you're looking for a younger guy. Ryan Anderson wouldn't be the absolute worst option on a vet minimum, though he's pretty darned close to cooked, if not already there.

Scoot McGroot wrote:

pacers33granger wrote:In any event, I don't think there's anyone left worth using the room exception on anyways.

For us? I agree. Really struggling through the list of current remaining free agents and I'm seeing Justin Holiday and ..... not a whole lot else. I could see a Pau Gasol get a room somewhere. Maybe a Shaun Livingston?

As for other minimum salary guys, Vince Carter, Thabo Sefalosha and Lance are still out there on the wings (all vet minimum guys at this point). Yabusele and Troy Williams are still there if you're looking for a younger guy. Ryan Anderson wouldn't be the absolute worst option on a vet minimum, though he's pretty darned close to cooked, if not already there.

Yup, I've gone through the list of remaining guys a few times and there's some decent vets left and some young guys with some modest potential. But we would be more than fine with a minimum vet if we're just looking mainly for a good lockerroom dude. And I think we've really got enough prospects to develop as is.

Pau on a minimum wouldn't be bad to mentor our young bigs. But I assume he either wants a bit more money or a better role. Not sure what Vince's agenda is. Thabo's wife reportedly wanted out of Utah, so who knows if she'd want him signing in Indy. I'd welcome back Lance of course, but we don't really have a place for him and he's not exactly the type of guy we can rely on to give quality minutes in a pinch ala KOQ and Butler.

Can't find the terms yet so not sure if it's a real contract or something to get him into camp and with the Mad Ants.