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

[BballFanAddict]

Honestly, I believe the fact they are so quiet is because they really are on the fence. You match if you cannot fill the spot(s) with other assets for the same money. So I assume they are determining if they can land a Mayo and Caveman for the same money or something similar.

I still am confident they will match. If it were any other position that Hibbert played I would be more confident in Portland landing him. The facts are: He is a true center; bigs get over paid; and its not a 5 year max with max raises. I think they match.

[PDXKnight]

I still am confident they will match. If it were any other position that Hibbert played I would be more confident in Portland landing him. The facts are: He is a true center; bigs get over paid; and its not a 5 year max with max raises. I think they match.

Hit the nail on the head here. For all I've said, Hibbert is a player who is at least worth a significant amount of money and as a bidding team the Blazers have to offer something more than Indy would be able to get him for. That said he's essential to that team's future and Indy probably should/ will match.

[DusterBuster]

I think you're right on all accounts BBall. I do think it's very telling that the Pacers haven't come out and said "We're going to match" yet. Most teams that have a coveted RFA come out almost immediately to say they're going to match. Indy hasn't, and what's more, they've interview potential replacements. I do believe this means that they are very much on the fence.

That said, I'm still very pessimistic about the Blazers chances to get him. I still believe he gets matched as well.

[DusterBuster]

Apparently Mike Wells was on a radio station in Indy and said that the rumor is the Blazers have front-loaded Hibbert's contract.

[Clarity]

front loading the contract could help but im w/ everyone in here in the belief that Indy matches.

However one glimmer of hope for Portland is the ridiculous way Hibbert wasnt fed in Indy. 10 shots a game is laughable, in Portland he better average 15-20 shots easily. Indiana is loaded w/ good players & they may simply not view Hibbert as the main franchise piece, if you were to judge that based on his usage Id say Portland easily gets Hibbert.

[cucad8]

Apparently Mike Wells was on a radio station in Indy and said that the rumor is the Blazers have front-loaded Hibbert's contract.

Other than adding in a signing bonus, isn't the max stuck at 12.9 regardless?
I imagine any info on details for Pacers brass would likely come from KP, having knowledge of the type of deal we used to go after Millsap.

[Wizenheimer]

Apparently Mike Wells was on a radio station in Indy and said that the rumor is the Blazers have front-loaded Hibbert's contract.

as far as I know, that would only be in the form of a 10% signing bonus. It would not affect his cap amount...afiak

the Pacers would probably have to come up with about 6 million when they matched

[The Sebastian Express]

If the Pacers are having financial concerns as has been slightly reported/speculated, Portland very may well be doing the Wesley Matthews signing bonus due on day one of the contract in cash that they knew Utah couldn't come up with, or would have serious problems coming up with.

[mojomarc]

Apparently Mike Wells was on a radio station in Indy and said that the rumor is the Blazers have front-loaded Hibbert's contract.

as far as I know, that would only be in the form of a 10% signing bonus. It would not affect his cap amount...afiak/quote]

It does. Singing bonuses are spread equally across the years of the contract for cap purposes.

[Wizenheimer]

Apparently Mike Wells was on a radio station in Indy and said that the rumor is the Blazers have front-loaded Hibbert's contract.

as far as I know, that would only be in the form of a 10% signing bonus. It would not affect his cap amount...afiak/quote]

It does. Singing bonuses are spread equally across the years of the contract for cap purposes.

yes, but the first year salary does not change. If Hibbert were to get a 6 million signing bonus, the allocation for each year would be 1.5 million. So if the 1st year max without the bonus was 13 million, the first year base salary would drop to 11.5 million...which would still equal 13 million when the bonus was included

I believe that the lower base salary in the first year becomes the calculator for the step raises as well. That would mean that the 3 subsequent years of the contract, plus the overall contract value, would be slightly lower then if there had been no bonus

maybe that's different in the new CBA

[SinceClyde]

I believe they will match. My only reasoning is that I don't want to be disappointed. If they match, I was right! If they don't, what a pleasant surprise!

[DeBlazerRiddem]

I believe they will match, because how many teams let a young, first time all-star center walk?

Especially after doing decently in a the playoffs because of said center.

[Wizenheimer]

I still think all this supposed indecision by Indian is posturing

yeah, the first move Walsh and Pritchard want to make is losing Hibbert for nothing

[DusterBuster]

I believe they will match, because how many teams let a young, first time all-star center walk?

Especially after doing decently in a the playoffs because of said center.

I don't think it's as easy as that. It's easy to just look at a player and go 'well obviously you can't let a guy like that go'. But doing just that doesn't take into account the entire situation.

There is some legit worry from the Pacers that Hibbert is a bit "soft" and gets pushed around too easily for a guy his size. Considering his season averages aren't stellar, he's definitely being overpaid for the time being when on a max contract.

Then you have the Pacers simply being a team that has struggled financially over the past few years. Back in the middle of 09, it had gotten so bad that the dreaded "R" (relocation) word got brought up. It's possible that has gotten better in the past year or two, but even with their great season last year, they were second to last in attendance, struggling to average over 14k per game. And those numbers are generally inflated, like how the Blazers are on a 180 some-odd "sell out" streak when there are clearly empty seats in the arena. So the Pacers aren't a franchise with great fan support in the regular season yet.

http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance

Again, it's still likely imo that they match, but just going "Well, he's a young C coming off his first ASG, so you can't let him go" definitely doesn't tell the whole story. There's a lot they have to consider

I think as others have mentioned, the Pacers are weighing if it's better to get Kaman and Mayo, or just resign Hibbert. They aren't a team who can afford to go into the luxury tax and they have young guys who'll need extensions sooner than later, so they need to be judicious about how they spend their money this summer. They probably can't afford to bring in a Mayo or a Courtney Lee type if they resign Hibbert. So the question for them becomes, is the drop from Hibbert to Kaman big enough that we just match and ignore signing anyone else of significance this summer.

[DusterBuster]

I still think all this supposed indecision by Indian is posturing

yeah, the first move Walsh and Pritchard want to make is losing Hibbert for nothing

I agree, Walsh/Pritch definitely don't want losing a fan favorite to be their first move, so again, I'm with you on that. And as I've said in probably every post I've made about Hibbert, I still think they match, so keep that in mind as you read the rest of this post.....

But as for Indy posturing..... Posturing for what? What gain do they make by keeping this silent? If they've already made up their mind they're going to match, wouldn't it make more sense for them to just come out and say, "We're going to match".

I guess I just don't see what advantage they're gaining by being this secretive about their intentions if that's indeed what it is. It would seem the cons of this tactic would outweigh the pros. As an outsider looking in, the longer the Pacers wait to decide to match and the more "replacements" they interview, the worse that's going to look towards Hibbert. Players generally tend to be fairly thin skinned (at least that's what it's made out to look like in the media) and can easily feel disrespected by their teams if they aren't shown a ton of support. They Pacers have never once come at Hibbert with a max contract offer, they've not come out in the media to say they're definitely going to match and they have considered players to replace him. That doesn't show a lot of "respect" to Hibbert. I would think the possibility of alienating their player would outweigh whatever potential positive there is in posturing like this.

And again, I don't see the upside in posturing. What good does it do? It's not like the Pacers are trying to block the Blazers from going after someone that they want and want to use this as an opportunity to tie up their cap space. Most the players that are worth a damn are all signed, the rest are situational players and I don't see a whole lot of overlap in the players the Blazers could use and the Pacers could use.

Just trying to look at it from all angles.

[DusterBuster]

Keep an eye on OJ Mayo. It's pretty well known the Pacers love him. They nearly traded for him 2 times in the last 2 seasons and it's been reported they've been in contact and the Pacers have expressed interest in signing him. So look for how much he gets signed for if he ends up with the Pacers, that could end up being very telling about what way the Pacers are leaning with Hibbert.

[DusterBuster]

Ken Berger ‏@KBergCBS
In addition to Dallas, Indiana is weighing whether to put in a bid for amnestied forward Elton Brand, leaugue source says.

Ken Berger ‏@KBergCBS
Early read on Pacers' appetite for matching Roy Hibbert's offer sheet with Portland stands at 50-50, according to a source.

https://twitter.com/KBergCBS

[Jack wore plaid]

8.5 up front. 17 mil year 1! With the entire signing bonus and half of the 17 million paid before October 15th. 12 mil, 12.5 mil, 13 mil

[The Sebastian Express]

Where are you getting those numbers?

[License2Lillard]

Wow, that's a big check...