Pacers to Sign Wesley Matthews

[Topofthekey]

I struggle to understand the logic behind this

Why not just ride out the rest of the season with Sumner and Holiday absorbing the bulk of the guard minutes?

What does this achieve exactly? Takes minutes away from our young players, so that Pacers can lose to the Celtics instead of the Raptors in the playoffs?

[Scoot McGroot]

I struggle to understand the logic behind this

Why not just ride out the rest of the season with Sumner and Holiday absorbing the bulk of the guard minutes?

What does this achieve exactly? Takes minutes away from our young players, so that Pacers can lose to the Celtics instead of the Raptors in the playoffs?

It provides a stable veteran hand that, according to intial reports may also help the young guys by continuing to let them see how an I drafted guy has made a long career with a great work ethic. We can still get some minutes to the young guys, but when they inevitably hit a wall, we’ll have Wes to help keep it from hurting us too awful much. And with his skills, it’s possible we may hit the 2nd round, which could fiscally make a huge difference for the owners and allow us even more flexibility in the offseason.

[daoneandonly]

I've always liked Wes. This is basically a low obligation tryout. Hope he does well.

He's a pro's pro. You guys will fall in love with him, he becomes the heart of a team with his leadership. I won't be surprised if he resigns with Indy in the summer.

From the outside looking in, I've always gotten this vibe. Exciting to hear someone who knows him better say these words.

I'm super happy about the signing. Thanks, man.

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

[pacers33granger]

My one concern with this signing is that, while he knows Nate and Nate knows him, that may be an issue. He's not the same guy he was in Portland (tbf neither is Nate) and I hope the staff recognizes that. But that is a small potential issue that seems unlikely.

[DusterBuster]

He's a pro's pro. You guys will fall in love with him, he becomes the heart of a team with his leadership. I won't be surprised if he resigns with Indy in the summer.

From the outside looking in, I've always gotten this vibe. Exciting to hear someone who knows him better say these words.

I'm super happy about the signing. Thanks, man.

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

I can't attest to what he did in Dallas. All I know is this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say that about him, even during his time with the Mavs.

I still believe he's the same Wes. The fact he went to a team where he's actually needed and didn't jump to the first big-city or guaranteed ring/finals team says a lot imo.

[Wizop]

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

McDermott played with him in Dallas and was very complimentary in an interview on TheAthletic.

“I think he’ll be a big part of us going forward,” McDermott said. “With Vic being out, he’s a guy that can really help anchor our defense and shut guys down on the wing, and he’s obviously a great 3-point shooter. He’s very underrated in the post and he’s just an all-around good player.

“A good vet who works extremely hard, leads by example. Just a great player on both ends of the floor.” ...

“I learned a lot from him in my short time with him,” McDermott said. “Just the way he thinks the game, the way he sees it. The way he reacts on defense, the angles he plays with and how he’s a very confident shooter regardless if he’s 0 for 10, he’s still shooting.”

[daoneandonly]

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

McDermott played with him in Dallas and was very complimentary in an interview on TheAthletic.

“I think he’ll be a big part of us going forward,” McDermott said. “With Vic being out, he’s a guy that can really help anchor our defense and shut guys down on the wing, and he’s obviously a great 3-point shooter. He’s very underrated in the post and he’s just an all-around good player.

“A good vet who works extremely hard, leads by example. Just a great player on both ends of the floor.” ...

“I learned a lot from him in my short time with him,” McDermott said. “Just the way he thinks the game, the way he sees it. The way he reacts on defense, the angles he plays with and how he’s a very confident shooter regardless if he’s 0 for 10, he’s still shooting.”

I dont think players are going to trash one another, especially perspective teammates. His last part rings true 100%, the guy keeps shooting even if he's 0 for 10, and its a team burial.

[basketballwacko2]

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

McDermott played with him in Dallas and was very complimentary in an interview on TheAthletic.

“I think he’ll be a big part of us going forward,” McDermott said. “With Vic being out, he’s a guy that can really help anchor our defense and shut guys down on the wing, and he’s obviously a great 3-point shooter. He’s very underrated in the post and he’s just an all-around good player.

“A good vet who works extremely hard, leads by example. Just a great player on both ends of the floor.” ...

“I learned a lot from him in my short time with him,” McDermott said. “Just the way he thinks the game, the way he sees it. The way he reacts on defense, the angles he plays with and how he’s a very confident shooter regardless if he’s 0 for 10, he’s still shooting.”

I dont think players are going to trash one another, especially perspective teammates. His last part rings true 100%, the guy keeps shooting even if he's 0 for 10, and its a team burial.

All shooters are streaky, but shooting 38% from the 3 point line I don't see him going 0 for 10 to often.

[winter_mute_13]

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

I think when you're a non star player like Wes, things like fit and role matters a lot. So what may have been true of him in Dallas won't necessarily be true somewhere else.

I won't pretend to know more about those Dallas teams than you, but I want to posit that perhaps the massive contract that he received from the Mavs led him to take on a larger role than what he's actually capable of, in a misguided attempt to live up to that contract. It's a sort of NBA version of the Peter principle.

If that's the case, hopefully he won't feel that pressure with the Pacers, and go back to playing the role he knows.

[DusterBuster]

This was the Blazer version of him, he seemed to do somewhat of a 180 in Dallas and became a selfish guy who only cared about his game and stats vs the betterment of the team.

I think when you're a non star player like Wes, things like fit and role matters a lot. So what may have been true of him in Dallas won't necessarily be true somewhere else.

I won't pretend to know more about those Dallas teams than you, but I want to posit that perhaps the massive contract that he received from the Mavs led him to take on a larger role than what he's actually capable of, in a misguided attempt to live up to that contract. It's a sort of NBA version of the Peter principle.

If that's the case, hopefully he won't feel that pressure with the Pacers, and go back to playing the role he knows.

TBH, Wes had a pretty massive role in Portland during pretty much his whole career there. He was usually their 2nd option on offense after Aldridge, then then 3rd when they drafted Lillard. So it's not like he was just a 3 and D player and thats it. He was pretty regularly posting up guys too because he was so strong. Wes' mentality isn't one who'd wilt or get crushed under the pressure of a situation, that's definitely not in his DNA.

On top of that, if you look at his FGA per game in DAL vs POR, they're pretty consistent. I fact, he took less shots per game with DAL than he did in POR, so I'm not really sure where the "selfish" tag is coming from from the Dallas fan here. If they were looking for him to also run some offense, then they had unrealistic expectations. He's a pure SG/SF, through and through. He's not a great passer and never has been one.

More than anything, I think what may have happened in Dallas is simply fans expecting one thing and not totally getting it. Remember, they signed him coming off a nasty achilles tear rupture. That's a pretty serious injury and by all accounts I've seen, he's never really 100% recovered from it. That's not to say he's been a shell of himself, I think it's fair to say he's gotten a good 80% of it back and is still a very solid player. But I think Dallas fans thought they were getting a 15-16ppg player entering his prime years and instead got a 12ppg player who couldn't quite reach his prime years.

[Wizop]

finally official. he practiced today.

edit. the only reason there was even a practice today (Sunday) was to show Wesley the basics.

[basketballwacko2]

Looks like signing Matthews is lighting a fire under Evans butt.

[boomershadow]

I guess he got offers from OKC and SAS, and came here over them.

[Pacers_Freak]

I'm typically not a fan of guys getting Ts. I kind of liked it out of him last night to see the fire. Takes some marbles to get a T in your first game with a team. Sounds like he is going to be a great leader. JJ reported he was in the huddle in the 1st quarter explaining the Charlotte P&R.