Post Paul George Leg Snapping in Half Plan for the Indiana Pacers

            I’ve had over 24 hours to digest the possible scenarios for the Indiana Pacers this season, and here’s my half-baked solution to not only keep the Pacers relatively competitive, but also plan for the future.

1. Apply for a disabled player salary exemption – This move would give the Pacers almost $6 million to acquire a mid-level player.
2. Trade David West – Moving Roy Hibbert or waiving Luis Scola has been discussed more, but West is six years older than Hibbert, and costs $8 million more than Scola. West still has value as a leader who can hit mid range jumpers, and virtually every contending team in the West would have a use for him. They should expect a future first rounder that should fall somewhere in the 20s in return.
3. Make a four year, $60 million qualifying offer to Eric Bledsoe – Bledsoe is the last dynamic talent left in restricted free agency, and with the savings created by their salary exemption and moving West, the Pacers would be able to afford to make this offer. Word on the street is the Suns have offered $48 million over four years, so there’s a chance this offer goes unmatched. If George can return at near full strength in 2015-16, him and Bledsoe would form a devastating defensive duo on the perimeter.
4. Let Roy Hibbert shoot – Hibbert has bitched and moaned about his lack of low post opportunities for years, so what better chance to shut him up than right now. In this scenario, he’s the second best scoring option after Bledsoe.
5. At the trade deadline, move George Hill – The acquisition of Hill has never looked worse after Kawhi Leonard (the player the Spurs drafted with the pick Indiana sent them for Hill) was named Finals MVP. Hill is best suited as a back up, so like West, there would be a market for him in February.
6. After the season, trade Roy Hibbert – Assuming Hibbert thrives with an increased offensive workload, his trade value should be at it’s highest. Seven footers that have the defensive Hibbert has don’t grow on trees, so he will command a large package in return.

         This plan should put the Pacers in the bottom half of the Eastern playoff bracket, give them a duo of George and Bledsoe to build around, and depending on what they get back in trades, possibly $30 million in cap room for next summer. We’ll sign off on this plan every day and twice on Wednesday.    

NBA Season Wrap-Up = OKC and Indiana

            Our latest edition of our NBA year-end recap looks at the two clubs who lost in their respective conference finals.

4. Indiana Pacers

No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 8
Fantasy MVP = SG-SF Paul George (for the first three months of the year, was a top-4 ranked fantasy player, and finished the year inside the top-10)
            Indiana might have been the worst passing team in the history of man to make it to a conference finals. They couldn’t even get the ball into the post to take advantage of their size against the Heat. While most of the talk surrounding the Pacers revolves around whether or not they should resign Lance Stephenson, they really would benefit from adding a quality point guard. A star point guard isn’t necessary, just someone that can adequately get the ball into the post.
            As for Stephenson, No Credentials can’t figure out if Stephenson made or lost money during his wild and wacky playoff run. For all of his goofiness, he was still Indiana’s most important defender during their series against Miami, and at times was their best playmaker. There isn’t a viable replacement for him available on the open market, so for better or worse the Pacers and Stephenson are likely going to be together for the foreseeable future.

 

 

3. Oklahoma City Thunder

No Credentials Pre-Season Rank = 6
Fantasy MVP = SF Kevin Durant (don’t need to explain this one)
            Fresh off a loss in the Western Conference Finals, the Thunder are at multiple cross roads. We’ll address them in bullet form.

Would it be more beneficial long-term to split Durant and Russell Westbrook?

            The answer here is simple…only if a team makes a ridiculous offer for Westbrook. There were times against the Clippers and Spurs that Westbrook was the catalyst instead of Durant, and seems that they both are comfortable complimenting each other. Some stronger coaching (more on that later) is needed to reaffirm Russell’s place in the team pecking order, but that’s something that can be fixed. In a league dominated by rosters with multiple stars, it would make no sense to split the second best player and another top-10 player.

Should the Thunder finally amnesty Kendrick Perkins?

            Yes, yes, and yes again. Perkins is the easiest go to person to look at when evaluating how Oklahoma City built it’s supporting cast. The Thunder’s greatest advantage is the athletic ability of Durant-Westbrook-Ibaka, but with the exception of Reggie Jackson and Steven Adams, the rest of their playoff roster was made up of old washed up veterans. The fact that they went down in Game 6 with Derek Fisher as one of their five guys on the court is laughable (not as laughable as the amount of times Fisher found himself getting posted up on due to a pick-and-roll switch, but close). Perkins being let go would free up $9.5 million on their cap, which they should be able to spend on a player or players that would post a PER higher than –3.0. We’d also like to see them give guys like Jeremy Lamb and Perry Jones III some more run during the regular season, as they do possess the natural athletic ability to compliment the core players. Amnestying Perkins makes tons of basketball sense, but we’re guessing the Thunder are too cheap to do it (they would still have to pay Perkins if they amnestied him, even though it wouldn’t count against their salary cap). At the very least, hopefully they don't play him very much next year.

Is Scott Brooks the right fit as Head Coach?

            Normally, I’m rational when discussing whether or not a coach who led his team to the NBA Final 4 should be kept, but the Thunder feel like a team that hasn’t hit it’s potential yet, and I don’t see Brooks being the guy to do it. He’s a good coach, but his offense is vanilla (it’s the talent of Durant and Westbrook that generate points here, not the Xs and Os), and his refusal to sit washed up veterans (to reiterate, Derek Fisher played the entire overtime in Game 6. Derek fucking Fisher!) rather than develop than roll with their younger bench players is detrimental to the team. Brooks is a good coach, but good isn’t good enough when given the talent he has at his disposal. The Chicago Bulls faced a similar situation when they fired Doug Collins after the 1990 season. Chicago was an up-and-coming team that couldn’t get past the Detroit Pistons. After losing in the Conference Finals, the Bulls canned Collins, hired Phil Jackson, and the rest is history. Oklahoma City should go down the same path here, but we’re guessing they are too cheap to fire Brooks and pay his buy out. So after all these words, we expect the Thunder to return in 2014-15 with virtually the same roster, and again be a championship contender.