Pacers Will Crumble Without Larry Bird
Even if the Pacers are willing to give him the max they should not haved offered it. Why bid against yourselves just because someone might offer the max? Let the market decide what he is worth. They might have been willing to pay him the max the whole time, but we'll know in a couple of days because the market decided he was a max player so now the Pacers have a decision.
No disrespect to Larry Bird, but Donnie Walsh will be alright. I don't see the Pacers crumbling although the first round pick they made was certainly a stretch. Walsh has proven w hen he's not interrupted by a crazy owner he can put a strong team together, which he did for the Pacers for years and he started doing for the Knicks until he was forced to trade for Carmelo.
between the 4 year, $58million Max contract Portland offered, and the 5 year $79million Max contract the Pacers could have offered. Like a $20million difference.
I think if they can get Kaman for $5-6million per, they could let Hibbert walk. If Kaman wants more like $8-10million, resigning the younger, and to this point healthier Hibbert may be a better option.
Hibbert's importance to the team showed in the Miami series,the Heat didnt have an answer for him...And if the Pacers want to remain among the 5 best teams in the nba..They must resign Hibbert..
Indiana survived Before Bird got there and they'll survive when he's gone..This team now doesnt have a Big Name fans and the public can Identify it by..Granger is a good player,but he's not marketable...I think The Pacers are in the same boat as the Knicks,76'ers and Hawks,all are good enuff to make the playoffs ..But not good enuff to win a title..
When i heard Stern say the Pacers were selecting Miles Plumlee i had to hit the DVR to make sure what i just heard was correct..I figured he'd get drafted but not that high..But a day later reports came out the the Warriors were planning to pick him with the last pick and Charlotte was looking at him with the 1st pick of the 2nd round....
....in the 2nd round, where they easily couldve snatched him at 36. To me, it wouldve made more sense to draft Orlando Johnson at 26 and then wait on Plumlee at 36...and if he wasnt there....there was plenty other talent available. Really though, the Pacers like other organizations seemed to be enamored with taking Indiana natives....I dont always have a problem with that....but one thing that leaves me scratching my head is, there was another very good Indiana native on the board at that time that actually filled just as much if not more of a need and has wayyyyy more upside. You should know who I am speaking of.
This is kinda funny... I remember the days when people said Larry Bird was the reason the Pacers *were* crumbling lol.
I'm confident in D. Walsh. He has a great history here and a proven track record that he can get it done in Indianapolis.
If the Pacers selection in the first round wasn't already an indicator that their an organization is in disarray, without Larry legend, well now is even worst, with starting All-Star center, Roy Hibbert, not even being offered a max offer by the team...It seems unlikely they'll match the 4 year $58 contract Portland offered him, because they had their eyes set on other free agent centers...For years the Pacers wanted Chris Kaman, and I really believe they will let the promising Hibbert go, and sign the slow footed, injury prone, offensive force in Kaman, for less money.