WHAT WENT RIGHT
Light at the end of the tunnel
How is this for damning with faint praise: The Pacers can look forward to more than $40 million in salaries coming off the books at the end of the upcoming season. That includes about $22 million for Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy, who tease with talent but produce pretty numbers and few victories; $8.5 million for perpetual doghouse resident T.J. Ford; nearly $7 million for the aging Jeff Foster; and the $5.5 million Jamaal Tinsley was paid to go away.
An emerging force in the middle
Big men take time to develop. But 7-2 center Roy Hibbert (pictured), 23, is progressing nicely. According to 82games.com, the Pacers were plus-11 in the 2,034 minutes he played and minus-258 in the 1,906 minutes he sat last season. Hibbert reportedly has been putting in the time this summer, including workouts with Hall of Fame center Bill Walton. Another step forward this year and the Pacers will boast that rare commodity -- a young, talented behemoth who can protect the rim.
Drafting for talent, not for need
Indiana dangled the 10th pick in an effort to bolster their point guard position, only to find zero takers. But rather than reach for an inferior point, they selected Paul George, a raw uber-athlete with a good shooting touch but propensity for turnovers. Indiana was derided for choosing a player with a skill set so similar to All-Star Danny Granger's, but George's talent justifies the move.
WHAT WENT WRONG
Down on the throttle, but with no steering wheel
Only Golden State operated at a faster pace than Indiana last season, but the Pacers weren't exactly a juggernaut, ranking 16th in scoring and 26th in offensive efficiency. The main culprit was the lack of a point guard, and if anything, the situation looks worse this year. Earl Watson, who led the team in assists and minutes at the position last season, wasn't re-signed; Ford and coach Jim O'Brien simply don't get along; and the Pacers' experiment with second-round pick Lance Stephenson running the point resulted in just six assists in four Summer League games.
The dreaded middle
The worst place to be in the NBA is stuck in a rut between 30 and 40 wins. That's bad enough to miss the playoffs but "good" enough to drastically reduce your chances of getting an elite player in the draft. Indiana has won 32-36 games four consecutive years and could easily make it a fifth in 2010-11.
BOTTOM LINE
Waiting for bad contracts to go away is a terrible short-term strategy, but it's unfortunately necessary in Indiana.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/w ... z0yuldnN4b
SI.com's Britt Robson is grading each division on what teams did well or didn't do well in this past summer. Recently, he's done the Central and here is his take on the Pacers.
