Is the massive amount of cap space the Pacers have worthless

[slickrickstyles]

After everything that has went on here in Indiana I really do not see any notable free agents or star caliber athletes that would be willing to play here. The team has improved dramatically since the fall out of the Brawl but I still am curious if we can ever get over that hump again...We over estimate players and try to hide the negatives. Basketball is the heart of Indiana but for awhile now the Pacers have been an afterthought

[franktony]

Well,

You have to think twice to play in a place that people set fire in the house of the best player to ever play the game in Indiana.

[UGA Hayes]

You guys kind of got unlucky twice. The new CBA without all the harsh penalties and with the amnesty really came at the worst possible time. In addition its really a weak market to be a free agent player in. On the plus side I think you guys got a real gem in Paul George which may do more for your future than any of the available FA.

[SouthJersey]

Not worthless but just don't blow it all in one offseason. PAcers need to take care of their own and then see who they can sign to add depth

[BH8]

I can't see any great FA that helps Inidan compete right now. May I'd try to make a play for Nene in a reasonable deal. Wouldn't go for anybody else right now, definitely not Chandler.

[s_g_b]

Save it for the future or for trade for a superstar absorving a bad contract.

Larry will overpay something or take a Boston bad contract tho

[Dr Aki]

offer gasol the max.

do it indy

[slickrickstyles]

offer gasol the max.

do it indy

Rumors are that Gasol could cost us Hibbert...Which is the heart and sole of this young team...He's been wonderful to the fans here

[Jazza2319]

I think you guys are better off shopping Granger for the right offer. But you are in a city where no free agents will go, so you're gonna have to get lucky through the draft or trade. You have a nice young team but at this point you are just a middle-of-the-pack team in the east.

How would you Indy fans feel about this? Monta Ellis for Danny Granger? Lets Paul George move to the 3, and gives you one of the better scorers in the league at the 2. Then possibly you offer a nice deal to David West

Collison - George Hill
Ellis - Stephenson
George - Posey
West - Hansbrough
Hibbert - Foster?

Much more well-rounded team that could get lucky and surprise somebody in the 1st round

[Dreamz]

I think you guys are better off shopping Granger for the right offer. But you are in a city where no free agents will go, so you're gonna have to get lucky through the draft or trade. You have a nice young team but at this point you are just a middle-of-the-pack team in the east.

How would you Indy fans feel about this? Monta Ellis for Danny Granger? Lets Paul George move to the 3, and gives you one of the better scorers in the league at the 2. Then possibly you offer a nice deal to David West

Collison - George Hill
Ellis - Stephenson
George - Posey
West - Hansbrough
Hibbert - Foster?

Much more well-rounded team that could get lucky and surprise somebody in the 1st round

As a Warriors/Pacers fan, I feel this would be a good trade for the Pacers but not the Warriors. I say they sign Crawford and then try to sign someone who still has a little bit of promise to play PF so they dont sacrifice money on an aging and fresh of injury David West. I would rather see someone like Branden Wright get a look.

[tidho]

This is a league wide epidemic of sorts.

As all the top players line up to play for the same handful of teams there are a dozen teams that don't have players to pay their cap to, and another dozen that will in the next year or two.

The new CBA is going to force them to pay out a high percentage of that cap which means a lot of less thans are going to get big deals. It a very flawed system.

[slickrickstyles]

This is a league wide epidemic of sorts.

As all the top players line up to play for the same handful of teams there are a dozen teams that don't have players to pay their cap to, and another dozen that will in the next year or two.

The new CBA is going to force them to pay out a high percentage of that cap which means a lot of less thans are going to get big deals. It a very flawed system.

yeah its quite ridiculous because the Pacers are gonna have to work to even reach the minimum requirement

[Frank Mulely]

yeah as far as I can tell the new CBA is a joke. woulda been much better to uncap max salaries so stars would have had to choose to give up 40 million or more just to team up. as it is now the glamour cities i.e. miami, la, ny, will be where half the league superstars are located.

maybe indy should try investing some of that cap space in a movie industry

**** we Warrior hopeful can't even hope that superstars would consider living in northern california, home of the country's best lifestyle

[MaceCase]

Free agency may be a crapshoot but I believe that the lockout forced a lot of guys to miss meals so they may be eager to be locked up to a deal real quick rather than shopping around for a bit so that's something that may be in the Pacers advantage if they come out aggressive on the outset.

[coldfish]

I don't know if people have been paying attention, but in the majority of cases, capspace is worthless. Look at Chicago, their last two big splashes into free agency netted the corpses of Ben Wallace and Carlos Boozer. Detroit badly overpaid Gordon and Villy. You can go on and on. Regardless of market, the vast majority of time capspace ends up becoming really bad contracts.

[ropjhk]

I don't know if people have been paying attention, but in the majority of cases, capspace is worthless. Look at Chicago, their last two big splashes into free agency netted the corpses of Ben Wallace and Carlos Boozer. Detroit badly overpaid Gordon and Villy. You can go on and on. Regardless of market, the vast majority of time capspace ends up becoming really bad contracts.

I don't think it's worthless, just stupidly wasted. There are some good free agent deals to be had for those who wait. Once other teams use up their cap space and contenders use up their MLEs the remaining free agents at the end of the off season usually sign at a bargain price.

[jefe]

No, it's not worthless. Like the Grizz with Zbo, the Pacers need to use their capspace to acquire an impact player via trade rather than free agency, because, like Memphis, Indiana is not going to outright attract big name free agents.

[vincecarter4pres]

Yup as others have said, it's only worthless if you use it badly like many teams have time and time again on horrid albatross signings of scrubs and heavy overpays of solid but slightly above average players.

You can pull a Cleveland or OKC and absorb a bad contract for a pick(s).

You can pull a Houston, Utah, Memphis, etc. and grab a good player on a bad contract who needs a change of scenery.

But, although it's not worthless, cap room is also simultaneously overrated in most cases.

[EscapoTHB]

Pacers should save their cap space for a better free agent crop. They have a good young team, that just needs to keep growing. You don't want to sabotage that by bringing in a needy overpaid vet like Crawford or Nene.

[RutgersBJJ]

Indy should just throw money at RFA's and force their current teams to keep them at inflated salary. Make your cap space worth something by making yourself the only team to be in a position to use cap space.