Roy Hibbert - Indy says they will match/offer same terms.

[re49gb_2gho32fp]

question;

IF ind decides to match, are they obliged to match the "signing bonus" as well?

I think so, remember how we front loaded the Wes contract, I think they have to match our offer exactly, whatever it is

Hm, well it sure increases the chances ind abstains from matching. whatever those chances are.

[The Sebastian Express]

I can't remember if Wesley's was a signing bonus or just a clause in his contract that stated he'd be paid a certain amount on the first day of his contract. If I recall that was between 8-10 million for him, and Portland knew that Utah did not have that kind of money to just get out of the bank.

[DusterBuster]

I've been following the Hibbert situation from Indy's prespective, it's interesting. Their writers don't seem to be as confident of a match as the National writers do. That's not to say that they don't believe the Pacers will eventually match, but it's not a cut and dry as some seem to think.

A few things that have come out that's fairly interesting....

1) The Pacers have yet to offer Hibbert a max contract. Even after Hibbert met with Portland, the unnamed team and Indy, the only team of the 3 not to offer a max contract was Indy. That should tell you a little bit about where they think his value is.

2) The Pacers do have salary restrictions to consider. For starters, they don't have a super rich owner who's willing to go over the luxury tax, especially not under this new CBA. Secondly, they have a number of other FA's and FA's-to-be that they've got to consider. They've still got George Hill, who already turned down a extension mid-season that would have paid him 6 mil per year. Then they've got Hansboro, West, Granger and George who'll need extensions fairly soon. On top of that all, they still want to add another high quality FA this summer. So long story short there, they need to be smart with their money.

I still think it's a long-shot that he doesn't get matched, but I can see where the cracks in the foundation were that Olshey saw when he decided he should make a run at him. Also, with this FA crop, why not just go after the best of the best, regardless of if they're restricted or not. The drop from Hibbert to the next FA C is pretty steep. If they don't get Hibbert, why waste their money on a sub-par player? Olshey seems to be either going for it or not, there's not going to be in middle-ground of being a mediocre team. He either wants them to be really good or bad, which I like as a blueprint for this Blazer team.

[DusterBuster]

Quick was on 750 this morning, talking Batum and Hibbert. With regards to Hibbert, he said there are rumblings out of Indy that they just don't view him as a max player, they're concerned that he's a bit too "soft" and is pushed out of the block too easily.

Quick did say that his gut says that the Pacers WON'T match Hibbert and he'll be a Blazer after the 3 day waiting period. This however is the 'Quick Kiss of Death', meaning it's now a lock that Hibbert get's match.

[The Sebastian Express]

Duster, only I am allowed to make jokes about Quick's kiss of death!

(joking)

But I would point out that I called for a Quick's kiss of death when he said that Portland would not draft Drummond, suggesting that they would indeed now that Quick had said they wouldn't..

BUT THEN THEY DIDN'T!

There is a chance!

[Wizenheimer]

Duster, only I am allowed to make jokes about Quick's kiss of death!

(joking)

But I would point out that I called for a Quick's kiss of death when he said that Portland would not draft Drummond, suggesting that they would indeed now that Quick had said they wouldn't..

BUT THEN THEY DIDN'T!

There is a chance!

at the time Quick said that about Drummond, I think it was pretty evident that the Blazers had little interest in him. I know I was pretty confident that Drummond was not going to be a Blazer.

I think by 3 or 4 days before the draft, 3 of the 4 players the Blazers had identified were Lillard and Waiters at #6 and Leonard at 11. Who that 4th player was I really have no clue...maybe Rivers

[BlazersRizing]

I would be kind of surprised if Indy doesn't match the offer IF the Blazers actually offer one. Indy is kind of in a win-now mode with the likes of Granger and West. The rest of their team is fairly young. Indy and Portland will do a lot of talking between now and July 10th or whatever date teams can sign players to offer sheets. Portland may have to throw Indy a bone to keep them from matching the offer. That could be Leonard, a future draft pick (I know, way in the future because of the pick to Charlotte last season), etc.

win-now mode? win what exactly?

[GeraldWallace3]

Mike Wells ‏@MikeWellsNBA
The Pacers have agreed to a 5 year deal with George HIll, according to a source.

interesting...

[Goldbum]

I want Hibbert but the truth is he goes from free agent prize to bad contract one day after IND doesn't match. I mean he's not really a Max guy. Sports talk radio here was laughing at us calling him "the big mediocre" and "the big average" joking about how crazy this contract is with the new CBA. The fact that IND is reaching out to Kaman is an indication of what they think his contract should be and what his value is.

[GeraldWallace3]

How often can you say you have a top 5 center? That's what he is, totally worth it

[mojomarc]

How often can you say you have a top 5 center? That's what he is, totally worth it

I don't know about top 5, because the stats just aren't super impressive. But Hibbert is a 7'2" guy who is competent offensively, competent defnsively, and a serious shot blocker to boot. Getting anyone of that size who can walk and chew gum at the same time is rare, regardless of where you rank him or how the stats show up (for an example of what you usually find, look in Wikipedia at the entry for "Thabeet, Hasheem"). Certainly he is no Bynum or Howard, but I think he's a well-rounded player than, say, Noah. Noah signed an extension that averages $12m a year, so I am not sure why it is so ludicrous to look at Hibbert starting at just a hair more than that. After all, if the other team has no real center presence, you can go to Hibbert and say "we're running the ball through you and you're going to get 25 tonight" and have a good chance at getting there. You can't run anything through Noah with confidence.

[Billy]

I like the contract offer. He's a very good center, and those don't exactly fall off the back of a truck. I thought he was very impressive in a few games I saw him during the playoffs.

I certainly like this much better than KP's grand plan to overpay Hedo.

Portland has so many needs, but picking up a franchise type center definitely can turn the tides. It will be interesting to see if Indy matches. I personally feel that somewhere in the back of their minds they had to have known he'd get a max deal. 7'2"/7'3", coming off an all-star year, plus IMO was one of the major reasons Indiana was able to hang as well as they did with Miami in the playoffs. You have to think that's going to be close to max.

If he comes, Portland then has to get creative to figure out where the scoring will come from. Right now there are only two guys (Aldridge and Lillard) that seem capable of creating their own offense.

[DusterBuster]

Another interesting tidbit being brought out by some media outlets....

The Pacers would still be able to match any offer for Hibbbert when the July moratorium expires, but teams generally work out deals for players who express a specific desire to be elsewhere once they become free agents.

That is from David Aldridge's article, but I saw it mentioned somewhere else this morning. I guess we'll really get to see how good Olshey's sales job was if Hibbert was blown away enough to the point where he absolutely wants the Blazers over the Pacers (which has been reported as such).

[BballFanAddict]

I like the move to go after Hibbert, but I am afraid of what will happen if Indy matches. Especially if Batum gets a crazy offer to boot.

All of the other Free Agents seem to already be engaged in conversations with teams, so Plan B looks sketchy at best.

What if Indy matches and we let Batum go? We are then left with gaping holes at Center, SF and arguably PG.

[Wizenheimer]

I like the move to go after Hibbert, but I am afraid of what will happen if Indy matches. Especially if Batum gets a crazy offer to boot.

All of the other Free Agents seem to already be engaged in conversations with teams, so Plan B looks sketchy at best.

What if Indy matches and we let Batum go? We are then left with gaping holes at Center, SF and arguably PG.

If "plan B" was a major rebuild, then Portland would be on track with tons of cap-space

[DusterBuster]

If Indy matches, Plan B imo should just be to let Batum walk (if he gets a HUGE offer) and throw in the towel on the season and try to rebuild next summer.

Chris Haynes said on 750 this morning that he's hearing from Indiana that they aren't "max contract" high on Hibbert and with Larry Bird not in control anymore, the chances that the Pacers let Roy walk free increases.

[Fitz303]

Spencer (Indiana)
What are the odds of Indiana matching Portland's offer on Roy Hibbert?

Chad Ford (1:31 PM)
51%. They are really on the fence. If they can find a replacement that they are comfortable with for cheaper, they may let him go. Chris Kaman is coming in today into Indy. Personally I feel that's a pretty big downgrade, but Larry Bird has been a huge fan of Kaman's.

[The Sebastian Express]

A Batum/LMA/Hibbert front court would be pretty crazy size and length wize.

[DusterBuster]

Very interesting to hear how on the fence they are about Hibbert. That seems to be the word coming out of a lot of media outlets now.

Not sure what it matters than Larry Bird is a big fan of Kaman's though. Bird doesn't have any real sway with the franchise anymore, does he?

[JasonStern]

hypothetical you're the GM situation
walsh/pritchard call. they claim the kaman interview went well, and they'd be willing to agree to a hibbert sign and trade for the right price. otherwise, they'll match. what is the max offer that you would make?