Bird: Roy and West are "going to opt in."

Post #1 » by **Grang33r** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:48 am

I don't think anybody is surprised by this. But there has been some chatter, i think mostly surrounding West.

Pacers President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird has expressed optimism that frontcourt standouts Roy Hibbert and David West will both opt-in for next season.

Neither has declared their intention to do so.

Bird added that their decisions would affect how the team drafts in June. But he told the Indianapolis Star that "they're going to opt in."

Link- http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantas ... YHF7e3228e

MillerTheKiller · Post #2 » by **MillerTheKiller** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:50 am

Thank god.

Post #3 » by **boomershadow** » Sat May 16, 2015 4:47 pm

Glad those comments by Bird and Vogel didnt discourage Roy.

Post #4 » by **Grang33r** » Sat May 16, 2015 7:35 pm

boomershadow wrote:Glad those comments by Bird and Vogel didnt discourage Roy.

I'm sure the $15.5 million he gets if he opts in had a lot to do with the decision. haha

Luciferswings · Post #5 » by **Luciferswings** » Sun May 17, 2015 2:04 am

Going to be a weird offseason for the Pacers next year.

Boneman2 · Post #6 » by **Boneman2** » Sun May 17, 2015 10:02 pm

Luciferswings wrote:Going to be a weird offseason for the Pacers next year.

I agree. I'm banking on PG's ability to attract another superstar. It shouldn't be too difficult since his peers genuinely seem to respect him.

As far as Hibbert, I wouldn't exclude him if he accepted about a 33% pay-cut.

Luciferswings · Post #7 » by **Luciferswings** » Sun May 17, 2015 11:38 pm

I dunno man. How many FA stars has Indiana ever attracted? Then factor in all the difficulties with the modern CBA (which make it tougher to steal FA's) and I think it'll be a big ask.

Post #8 » by **pacers33granger** » Mon May 18, 2015 1:48 am

Luciferswings wrote:I dunno man. How many FA stars has Indiana ever attracted? Then factor in all the difficulties with the modern CBA (which make it tougher to steal FA's) and I think it'll be a big ask.

Yeah the last big free agent we got was West and he was coming off a major injury (and we almost didn't get him). We're not a destination team.

Still, we've also never had a guy like George really. We obviously had Reggie before, but that was before there was a lot of big name free agent movement and Reggie was never a flashy star. George is friends with a lot of elite players, so that could help.

Post #9 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Mon May 18, 2015 4:15 am

Luciferswings wrote:I dunno man. How many FA stars has Indiana ever attracted? Then factor in all the difficulties with the modern CBA (which make it tougher to steal FA's) and I think it'll be a big ask.

Good question. But we've also never had cap space and a superstar talent player that is beloved by other top players like we would next offseason. Add in that Indiana has one of the lowest income taxes (other than the states that have NO income tax, but a much lower sales tax and other taxes than Florida, Texas, etc) in he NBA, and there's at least reason for hope that it could change.

Luciferswings · Post #10 » by **Luciferswings** » Mon May 18, 2015 4:19 am

Spurs and Mavs are in a State with zero income tax, and Dallas at the very least is a large-ish market. Even when they were fresh off winning titles, with cap space in hand, they weren't able to get anyone notable. I think cap space very rarely pans out, and when it does a number of special (rare) factors need to come together. With so many teams being under the cap over the next few years (unlike when the Spurs and Mavs did it) I think the prospects of big name acquisitions are grim.

Post #11 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Mon May 18, 2015 4:54 pm

Luciferswings wrote:Spurs and Mavs are in a State with zero income tax, and Dallas at the very least is a large-ish market. Even when they were fresh off winning titles, with cap space in hand, they weren't able to get anyone notable. I think cap space very rarely pans out, and when it does a number of special (rare) factors need to come together. With so many teams being under the cap over the next few years (unlike when the Spurs and Mavs did it) I think the prospects of big name acquisitions are grim.

As you should be able to tell, we're not exactly banking solely on free agency here. We're a pretty cautious bunch. However, we'll have a beloved by his fellow players superstar type talent locked in long term and with massive cap space. We've never had that before and will give it a shot. If we miss on a superstar, maybe we instead go for 2-3 top notch next level players instead to build a full team. Or, we use cap space in a trade to continue to build. All options. We just don't have interest in the kind of talk where we might as well pack up and move 20 more franchises to California or whatnot. Nor where we give it up for free on poor level acquisitions.

We'll see what we can do and make he best move accordingly at the time. Either way, I'm happier we have some upcoming flexibility than to be locked in with poor contracts on long term deals. We've done that too. This is better to have flexibility for one of many options.

Post #12 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Mon May 18, 2015 4:56 pm

Luciferswings wrote:Spurs and Mavs are in a State with zero income tax, and Dallas at the very least is a large-ish market. Even when they were fresh off winning titles, with cap space in hand, they weren't able to get anyone notable. I think cap space very rarely pans out, and when it does a number of special (rare) factors need to come together. With so many teams being under the cap over the next few years (unlike when the Spurs and Mavs did it) I think the prospects of big name acquisitions are grim.

Also, the Spurs didn't have max cap space unless someone like Dincan signed a vet minimum deal, and the Mavericks had an aging Dirk. Those are t exactly apples to oranges comparisons to be situation we'll hopefully be in (prime beloved superstar as well as top notch role player in George Hill and recent lotto pick).

Luciferswings · Post #13 » by **Luciferswings** » Mon May 18, 2015 10:08 pm

No, the Spurs had max space in 2003. They'd have been thin around the edges, but they had it. Jason Kidd gave serious thought to signing there.

Post #14 » by **pacers33granger** » Mon May 18, 2015 11:34 pm

I also think to add to Scoot's points, there's a lot to be said about signing lower level free agents. Max cap space doesn't need to be used on a max guy. Bird has always had a good eye for talent, only making a few blunders. We got to where we were the past few years by acquiring good, but not great players (West, Hibbert, Hill, Lance) and having one great player (PG). If we had a decent bench those years we may have even knocked off Miami and gone to a Finals.

basketballwacko2 · Post #15 » by **basketballwacko2** » Tue May 19, 2015 10:18 pm

boomershadow wrote:Glad those comments by Bird and Vogel didnt discourage Roy.

Maybe we can trade him for something don't know what.

basketballwacko2 · Post #16 » by **basketballwacko2** » Tue May 19, 2015 11:01 pm

Luciferswings wrote:Spurs and Mavs are in a State with zero income tax, and Dallas at the very least is a large-ish market. Even when they were fresh off winning titles, with cap space in hand, they weren't able to get anyone notable. I think cap space very rarely pans out, and when it does a number of special (rare) factors need to come together. With so many teams being under the cap over the next few years (unlike when the Spurs and Mavs did it) I think the prospects of big name acquisitions are grim.

Like was said Indianapolis is not a city people think of as a place they want to go play, Miami, NY, LA are, but when they get here they tend to like it a lot. I don't expect to attract A list FA's but with the cap space available we should be about to get 2 B list guys and not go over board, then make a trade or 2 and draft well which we've done pretty well at and we'll be in the hunt for the East Finals.

I can see Hibbert getting traded before the beginning of the season, but it might not happen if he is and we draft well who knows what might happen. Late picks can turn into stars look at Jimmy Butler as an example, so if we trade Hibbert for some late picks maybe we get lucky, I'd like to move him and open up some money for a FA this season. Remains to be seen.

Post #17 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Wed May 20, 2015 12:17 am

Luciferswings wrote:No, the Spurs had max space in 2003. They'd have been thin around the edges, but they had it. Jason Kidd gave serious thought to signing there.

OH! You're talking about over a decade and multiple CBA's ago! I thought you meant in the past couple years like when Dallas had cap space, too.

chatard5 · Post #18 » by **chatard5** » Wed May 20, 2015 9:07 pm

Wow, I'm surprised most are happy about this. Hibbert was awful not just for parts of last season, but much of it. D-West definitely lost a step. I'd like another year from West, but not for 12 mill.

Post #19 » by **Scoot McGroot** » Thu May 21, 2015 3:31 am

chatard5 wrote:Wow, I'm surprised most are happy about this. Hibbert was awful not just for parts of last season, but much of it. D-West definitely lost a step. I'd like another year from West, but not for 12 mill.

Well, on West, you don't really have a choice. Either he opts in at $12m (which actually likely isn't far off his market value if he were a free agent), or he opts out and walks, and we wouldn't necessarily have significant cap space (meaning, expect Scola to be re-signed, starting, and playing 30+ minutes a night).

As for Hibbert? He still does one thing well that's hard to replace. I'd prefer a center that had a bit more consistency mentally, but to have him for one more year isn't awful, especially when his contract lines up so much better with our cap situation to provide us the most options. If he opted out, I wouldn't have been angry, but it's not bad to have his services, or be able to trade him, for one more year.

JeffFosters · Post #20 » by **JeffFosters** » Thu May 21, 2015 4:22 am

I like Hibbert and hope he stays, but am I actually the only one who'd be ok with Mahinmi starting?

He has a really nice jump shot and can play plus-defense. I think he'd be fine as a stop gap center for a year until either free agency or a rookie develops.