[festar35Participant]

The Pacers are now out of the playoffs and into the offseason with a lot of question to be answered. Just wondering what you guys will think they will do?

Keep Vogel as Head Coach for next season (He deserves to be)?

Will Larry Bird still be part of the franchise?

What will the Pacers do with cap space (sign a starting SG or PF/Add depth/make some trades)?

Can they find a player to put next to Granger as the star?

[marcusfizer21Participant]

 All I can say is… If they don’t keep Frank Vogel, then they are not as smart as I thought they’d be…

[Da1potParticipant]

 Granger is their star and as of now their core is made up of Hibbert, Collison and Hansbrough and to a lesser extent Paul George, but everyone else is expendable and you probably will not see Jeff Foster, Mike Dunleavy and maybe even Josh McRoberts in a Pacer uniforms next season. They have got a lot of extra cap space with the expiring contracts of Dunleavy, T.J. Ford, Foster, Jamaal Tinsley( still on the books) and Solomon Jones. I also think James Posey will either be traded or bought out by midway through next season. The Pacers can really make some noise in free agency and this is a team on the rise IMO that is young and only getting better.

[Jlv2011]

turns outs Kobe was faking it.

[sheltwon3Participant]

Indiana has a promising future but I think they need to upgrade at Power forward.  George can play the 2 and his offense will catch up with his defense.  Hanbrough is probably better as a 6th man bring energy off the bench. Also Kobe was not faking anything.  The media blew this up.

[marcusfizer21Participant]

 I don’t appreciate Granger calling Noah "dirty"… I never see him holding anyone’s balls, make anyone of his teammates trip… Maybe "aggressive" and "passionate" can be a word for him but calling him "dirty" is darn ridiculous…

[ilike.panochasParticipant]

They have some good pieces to look forward to next season. Darren Collison will only get better, Granger is ofcourse a steady player, and Roy Hibbert is the best center they’ve ever had since Rik Smits, and he has the skills and size to be a top 3 Center in the East, but it’s up to him if he really wants it. I think they need a legit starting PF to pair with Hibbert, perhaps someone who can bang inside to complement Hibbert’s high-post game. Then there’s Paul George who is loaded with talent and skills packed in a 6’8-6’9 frame.

There is alot to like about this team looking forward. If they can solve their hole at the PF and Hibbert becomes an All-Star Center by next season, this team could move up the rankings as high as the 5th best team in the East.

[scootover7Participant]

I think this team is going to be nasty in the future if they keep Granger, Collison, Hibbert, Hansbrough, George and I say Rush because of him being a defender and a shooting guard who can rebound.  According to the mock draft they have this team taking 6 footer 10 power forward Trey Thompkins from Georgia who says they compare to Channing Frye.  What do you think of that?  I will be truthful I didn’t think Collison was going to pan out as fast as he did.  He was a bench player in New Orleans and then gets traded to Indiana and becoming an amazing starter.

[i’m jus so offendedParticipant]

I don’t think taking Thompkins 1 pick away from the lottery is a good idea. He’s a soft body who can’t compete like Hansbrough and isn’t going to bring a whole lot defensively. I say they should go for a more defensive PF as Roy Hibbert has evolved into a quite nice offensive low post threat. I think they would nut themselves if Tristan Thompson is still around, otherwise to me they have 2 options. 1st, I think Kenneth Faried would be a good option. He plays every bit as hard as Hansbrough, can dominate the boards and adds a low post presence defensively that Indiana currently does not posses. And I may get ripped, especially by oh canada’s hatin a$$, but Biyombo would be good value to me at pick 15. At 6’9, he is probably best served at PF. Like I said, Hibbert can handle the offense down low and Granger, Collison, and George like to take it to the bucket, opening up Bismack to crash the offensive boards for putbacks. Also, he may be even more dominant than Faried on defense. I’m really high on Biyombo to be honest, defense is the name of the game. I wouldn’t reach for him top 5 or anything but if I’m Milwaukee or G State, I’m taking a serious look at him.

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

With everyone talking about Biyombo, is there any chance he is still around at the 15th pick?

[HitsterParticipant]

Biyombo in my opinion could go anywhere from top 6 down to late 2nd round. Other sites have him in their top 6 and we all know how hyped big men can fall out of the first round like Whiteside,DeAndre Jordan and Solomon Alabi etc so I’d say his draft spread is wider than his wingspan. Personally I’d say late mid first round onwards is his draft level so he should be available at 15th in my opinion. But with a solid anchor in Big Roy Hibbert would Indiana need to take on another defensive presence in Biyombo.

Ideally the Pacers will probably look for an PF in the draft or at worse an SF/PF as they have lots of depth at SF and also some nice prospects at SG so taking someone who could only play those two positions would be strange. A combo guard who can shot could be an option but I don’t see them taking a young C to play behind Roy Hibbert as surely a seasoned veteran could do that role fairly effectively.

If one of the Morris brothers fell to 15th then Larry Bird may consider them and knowing that Bird always likes to draft fairly established college guys then I’d figure he’d probably take a Junior or a Senior if available.

As regards free agency I’d suggest that David West could be a logical target, he can give you 18 to 20 ppg and would bring extra experience to a fairly young team and take the scoring burden off Grainger’s shoulders. I know that West will turn 31 this summer but has only been in the league 8 seasons so doesn’t have the miles on the clock that other guys of the same age do and he’d need to prove he was over his current injury. With their cap space they could make West a competitive offer without going overboard.

 

[Crossova21Participant]

Nene?

[Russell0WestbrookParticipant]

 They need to find a go-to guy that is actually a go-to guy and not DANNY GRANGER!!!!! They play a lot better when he is in the spot up role he is a player that happens to be a good scorer on a bad team but should never be option 1

[kobyzParticipant]

Thompkins is more than Channing Frye, he is better allround and has better post game, he is somthing between Greg Monroe and Channing Frye.

i think Trey Thompkins will be good pick for Indiana at 15, he fit well with this team as he so versatile as a big and can play both frontcourt positions, he could match well next to Hibbert and next to Hansbrough too, maybe he doesn’t have very high upside but he would be a positive piece for the future!

[BismarkBiyomboParticipant]

With the way I see the draft panning out I can see Tristan Thompson falling to 15. I feel that Trey doesn’t have the athleticism that they need to add to their core of post players, he is very polished offensively but limited on the defensive side. I think that defense will be a big part of the decision here becuase with Hibbert and George possibly developing into top 5 players defensively at thier positions adding another defensive minded bigman would really help define this team as a defensive team the way that Vogel is trying.

I might be the only one who thinks this but I think that they were better without Collison. He is to ball dominante and not a pass first PG and I think that is what they need to fit with Granger and Hibbert downlow to really utilize the players and skill sets they have. When Price was in they always looked like, to me, a better unit as a whole, and Price is not that good but he can run an offense. If they can trade back up to the top of the second or bottom of the first I think someone like Norris Cole or Darius Morris would be good fits for them.

[OhCanada-Participant]

In my opinion the Pacers could use starting SG, upgrade at PF, and upgrade at backup PG. This draft does not have any SG`s who can start over George, so that leaves that out.  It should be interesting to see how stocks rise and fall during workouts, I think Nolan SMith could sneak up there into 15, maybe even Mack could. Noone knows how Selby will look in workouts, even guys like Malcolm Lee, Darius Morris, Norris Cole, Iman Shumpert, Demetris Mccamey would be nice guys to test out with their 2nd round picks if they slipped to them.

Another reason why taking a PG to immediatly upgrade the backup PG position would be because Free Agency will have some good PF`s headlined by David West who may not want to stay in New Orleans with the obvious upcoming contraversy and eventually the undeniable departure of Chris Paul, and possibly the New Orleans Franchise.

1st Pick Radar

Bigs
-Tristan Thompson
-Marcus Morris
-Markieff Morris
-Trey Thompkins
-Bismack Biyambo

Points
-Nolan Smith
-Shelvin Mack
-Corey Joseph

 

 

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