It's a very tough decision for a franchise when it comes time to rebuild. Many felt as though the Pacers waited too long to fully explore rebuilding as they opted to slowly divest themselves of their assets rather than just cutting their losses and overhauling. While the latter approach is very much in vogue in the NBA these days, the Pacers have shown that there is value to be taken in the slower, more methodical approach.
The Pacers have managed to establish a solid core of players by systematically reconstructing their roster these last few years. During that time, though, fans have grown weary of the teams consistent non-competitiveness and, in some cases, tuned them right out. That constitutes the downside to the approach favored by Indiana since years go by with nothing to show for them except very minute building blocks and seeds for the future.
Their plan really started to pan out last season, though, when perennial underachiever Mike Dunleavy had a career year under head coach Jim O'Brien. As the team's starting shooting guard Dunleavy posted career highs in points (19.1), assists (3.5), field goal percentage (48%), three-point percentage (42%) and minutes (36). His rebound per game average (5.2) was just shy of his career-high and all the more remarkable when one considers he was playing the off-guard spot. After years of disappointment in Golden State Mike Dunleavy has finally begun living up to the lofty expectations that came with him out of Duke University.
Along with Dunleavy was 2005 draftee Danny Granger as part of the new-era Pacers. Passed on by several teams in the draft due to concerns over a knee injury, Granger fell into the Pacers' laps and had a career-year himself last year; posting averages of 19.6 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 40% shooting from behind the arc. While neither player on his own falls into the dominant category, their combination makes for a number of headaches for opposing wings. Both are so versatile and both are also quite big (especially 6' 9" Dunleavy at the two) that they had a great deal to do with the team's 36-wins last year.
Looking ahead, this team opted to address two pressing needs going into next season. The first was what to do with the old guard (i.e. Jermaine O'Neal and Jamaal Tinsley) and the second was how to replace them. After all, no rebuilding project was going to work so long as both of them remained on the roster. If for no other reason than the memories they quelled, both had to go. So, just before draft night, O'Neal was turned into a new starting point guard in T.J. Ford and a new starting centre in RashoNesterovic, both imported from Toronto. They also nabbed a second first-round draft pick, which they used to select Georgetown centre Roy Hibbert. Ford was a great pick-up for a team looking to play up-tempo basketballwhile Hibbert provides depth to a (still) weak front court. Nesterovic, a probable starter in that front court, represents little more than an expiring contract in the grand plan.
The team also managed to pull off another deal on draft night that got them their new backup point guard in Jarrett Jack and their new backup small forward in rookie Brandon Rush. While the team may come to regret giving up Jerryd Bayless to Portland in the deal, the overall haul of that week looks very favorably on the team.
The last piece to be dealt with, then, is Tinsley. Team president Larry Bird is adamant against releasing him and paying him his full salary. However, that salary - roughly $6.5 million each year for the next three years - combined with Tinsley's penchant for getting hurt has very few teams lining up to trade for the point guard. So the team remains at something of a standstill in that department, which is lamentable because while this team is stocked fairly enviably in the backcourt and on the wing, their depth up front could use some addressing. While it's unlikely that a Tinsley trade would offer too much help in that area, the money invested in his salary that could be spent elsewhere on the roster would help. Right now, having three not-inexpensive point guards on one team doesn't help the Pacers much. While they have enough talent to make a push for a Playoff spot like they did last year, without a more established front line, they will almost assuredly fall short again this season.
But that is not a horrible thing. This team has taken its sweet time getting to this rebuilding thing, but they are now knee deep in it and not all that far behind the eight ball as a result. They may have lucked out trading with some desperate teams to get the assets they have, but high-salaried players like Tinsley and Troy Murphy will continue to cost this team both on the court and off until they can better diversify their spending on this roster. One step at a time, though, has worked for them so far, so they've earned the chance to prove that they can see it through back to respectability.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
PG - T.J. Ford
One of the reasons that the Ford/O'Neal swap didn't generate that much attention this summer is because it was a trade that benefitted both teams, a rarity in today's NBA. There wasn't much to say about the trade beyond the fact that both teams addressed a need. Ford didn't become a poorer player that needed to be shipped off, he simply because expendable after his backup, Jose Calderon, proved capable of doing his job. The Pacers took advantage of that scenario and landed a perfect compliment to the system that Jim O'Brien likes to run - which is to run. Having one of the quickest guards in the NBA on your team always helps that cause. However, Ford has a habit of playing out of control when he's given too long a leash and so O'Brien will have to make sure that his up-tempo attack doesn't simply devolve into a pell-mell circus. If he can keep Ford focused he'll be an ideal compliment to his offensive style.
SG - Mike Dunleavy
To say that Dunleavy had been written off is an understatement. The man had been forgotten. He was a relic of a draft that saw Jay Williams taken one spot before him and NikolozTskitishvili and Dajuan Wagner taken back-to-back shortly thereafter. His explosion last year was so unexpected that Indiana has to be slightly concerned that he won't be able to repeat it. After all, players like him have had everything click one year only to disappear again the next (Mike James, anyone). But for the sake of argument, let's assume that he simply needed more time to arrive than people were willing to give him. If that is in fact the case then the Pacers have themselves one of the most versatile players in the league on the starting lineup. He can shoot, drive, pass, rebound, steal and - most importantly in Indiana - run. He's not exactly what one might call a 'defender', but considering where he was at just twelve months ago, I think he'll be (temporarily) excused. His $8 million salary doesn't exactly make him a bargain, but at least he's - finally - not grossly overpaid.
SF - Danny Granger
Granger is one of those forwardsthat, like Luol Deng and Andre Iguodala last year, never quite peaked before his contract came up for extension. While he's a statistical beast,he doesn't seem to have discovered that 'it' factor that turns him into an All-Star. Last season Deng and Iguodala turned down rich contracts to test free agency this summer and were each rewarded with just-below max-level deals. Granger will, in all likelihood, be festooned with such a deal either before the end of training camp during Indiana's exclusive negotiating window or next summer when he is a restricted free agent. The market value has been set for these kinds of players and so either side playing coy would seem to be counterproductive. Granger is a key element to this team's fortunes going forward and everyone knows it. However, large salaries possessed by Tinsley and Murphy make it slightly more difficult to ink such a deal with Granger while their salaries remain on the books. The hope is, of course, that if a deal cannot be done by this October that he'll react with Iguodala-like commitment and not Deng-like underachievement.
PF - Troy Murphy
Murphy is like what Dirk Nowitzki could have been if unorthodox coach Don Nelson wasn't in charge of his development. Murphy is a perimeter-oriented big who plays an awkward in-between game that doesn't seem to suit his strengths nor does it really leave him as much of an impact player for the Pacers. He's a solid three-point shooter on a team with plenty of them already. What this team really needs is a power forward who can inhale rebounds (especially on the offensive glass) and who can get the ball back out to those shooters while the defenses are scrambling. There was a time, with the Warriors, that Murphy was a double-digit rebound per game guy. In fact, during the '04-'05 season he averaged 3.5 offensive rebounds per game. However, last year he managed a meek 1.4 and for a guy eating up $9 million per year, the Pacers simply need more from him. As it stands, though, he's what they've got, so he's what they'll have to live with - because no one else is taking on that contract.
C - Rasho Nesterovic
There is a chance that this spot goes to Jeff Foster, a rebounding machine that could do wonders for this team on the offensive glass (like he has the last two years when he's averaged 3.4 per game), but Nesterovic's ability to score some in the post, as well as play defense and pass, may give him the spot. Rasho is one of those players that coaches don't need to think about, the just put him out on the court and he makes the right reads, the right cuts and is in the right place at the right time. He won't gobble up boards in the way that Foster will - which is why this spot could still be his - but Nesterovic will provide a more sound base to start out games with. He has also never in his career missed the post season (and neither has his trade-mate Ford), so that could be another reason to send him out for the opening tip each night.