Indiana Pacers

The current NBA lockout has the Indiana Pacers nestled on a strange perch anxiously waiting for the go-ahead to build on the exciting finish to last season, with roster spots to fill and cap space to fill them thanks to several dead-weight salaries coming off the roster. Yet, as much as the Pacers want to get back to work, they desperately need this CBA resolution to address the competitive balance issues that force small market teams to hit the lottery and navigate through roster moves with no margin for error in order to compete with big market teams.

Regardless of how it shakes out, the Pacers will be in good position to improve their roster. Mike Dunleavy, T.J. Ford, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones and Josh McRoberts (along with Jamal Tinsley’s cap number) all came off the books opening up plenty of cap space and roster spots to work with. On draft night, the Pacers traded their top pick for utility guard and local legend, George Hill who will help bolster the back court options for the Pacers and put pressure on Darren Collison to perform as the starting point guard.

Hill can also slide over to spend time at shooting guard where second-year guard Paul George needs to make a bigger impact. As a rookie, George finished the season in spectacular fashion turning in an impressive playoff performance against the Chicago Bulls. While the high-flying forwards’ offensive game is still developing, George proved he can be a prime time defender in the league, using his length and quickness to make Derrick Rose work.

The Pacers’ wing corp has thinned out with Dunleavy not expected to return as he hits the free agent market. That leaves Dahntay Jones and Brandon Rush vying for time off the bench to back up George and Danny Granger. But once teams can start making moves again, don’t be surprised if Jones and Rush are involved in trade talks with other teams.

That leaves the team’s biggest need to address which is the front court. Jeff Foster and Josh McRoberts are the two most likely free agents to return, but the team desperately needs a stronger all-around presence at power forward to go along with Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert in the post. They key free agents the Pacers will be looking to land at that position are Nene Hilario, David West and Carl Landry.

While the new additions can help the Pacers, their near-term success will rely on the continued improvement of their young core players in Collison, George, Hansbrough and Hibbert along with Danny Granger returning to All-Star form as a 20-plus-point scorer. At least with new coach Frank Vogel pushing the players, following that development
will be fun to watch.