This is part three of The Pit’s five-part look at the NBA’s Central Division. The series will run through Sunday, culminating with the Chicago Bulls before they take on the Washington Wizards in their first preseason game of the year.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Central Division had more movement than any other division in the NBA over the summer of 2014, and if the Cleveland Cavaliers were the undisputed winners in this division, then the Indiana Pacers were definitely the biggest losers.
Indiana lost Paul George to a major injury during the FIBA World Cup exhibition game and primary ball handler Lance Stephenson to a conference rival. We take an early look at the Pacers offseason and outlook for the upcoming season in part three of a five part look at the Central division:
Indiana Pacers’ President of Basketball Operations Larry Bird. Photos/Wikimedia
Management: Unlike the Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pacers made no moves in terms of management this offseason. Larry Bird returns for his 11th over-all season as the President of Basketball Operations and third consecutively after taking a one year break citing health reasons. Frank Vogel returns for his fourth full season as Head Coach, and second longest tenured in a division that has seen 12 coaching changes since his hiring in January of 2011.
Players retained: F Chris Copeland, G/F Paul George, C Roy Hibbert, F Solomon Hill, G George Hill, C Ian Mahinmi, F Luis Scola, G Donald Sloan, G C.J. Watson, and F David West
Departures: Lance Stephenson turned down the Pacers offer of $44 million over 5 years to join the Charlotte Hornets on a shorter 3/27M contract.
The initial grumblings out of the Stephenson camp insinuated that the Pacers presented him a below market “low ball” offer. In taking only $200,000 more per season and three fewer years, Stephenson actually put himself in a much better position to get a max deal when the new television rights are negotiated.
Stephenson will only be 26 and could find himself in prime position to cash in if he continues to improve as he has since entering the league in 2010. In his fourth year as a pro, Stephenson had his best season, averaging 13.8 ppg while leading the league in triple-doubles with 5. The Pacers will have a hard time replacing Stephenson who played such a major role in Vogel’s scheme.
In Stephenson, the Pacers lose their primary ball handler, their assist leader (358), 3rd leading scorer(13.8 p/game), Field goal percentage leader(.491), and surprisingly their rebounding leader(558). Stephenson actually collected 20 more rebounds than Roy Hibbert even though he competed in three fewer contests and stands a full 9 inches shorter. Stephenson’s production won’t be duplicated by another Pacer guard this season and they will have to look to multiple players to make up for his loss.
The loss of Paul George due to a major injury doesn’t officially go down as a departure from the team, but losing him for most if not all of 2014/15 is definitely the biggest loss of the season for the Pacers. In the meanwhile, Andrew Bynum, Raual Butler, and Evan Turner remain Pacer unrestricted free agents who have yet to find new homes, although it appears as if Turner has a handshake agreement with the Boston Celtics.
The Pacers acquired Rodney Stuckey from the Detroit Pistons in the offseason to offset the loss of Lance Stephenson.
Acquisitions: The NBA granted the Pacers a $5.3 million “disabled player exception” to replace the loss of George due to the severity of his leg injury. The Pacers will be able to use about $2 million of the allotted amount to sign a player to replace him since they are facing “the hard cap.”
Under the new collective bargaining agreement, using the entire amount would result in them exceeding the “Luxury tax threshold”. Besides facing the hard cap, the Pacers vowed to never become tax payers. As of this writing, it appeared as though the Pacers were close to signing New York Knick free agent Chris Copeland with their new found funds, but the official announcement had yet to be made.
Here are the acquisitions that transpired prior to George’s devastating injury.
- Damjan Rudez- Rudez comes to the Pacers as a 3 time Liga all-star and four time world Champion. The Yugoslavian born, 6’10” forward signed a 3 year deal to join the Pacers as a 28 year old rookie.
- Lavoy Allen- Originally signed for depth and defense, Allen might actually see real playing time in the wake of George’s injury and the departure of Stephenson.
- Rodney Stuckey– After playing his entire 7 year career in Detroit as a scoring sixth man, Stuckey comes over to help the Pacers offset the loss of Stephenson. Stuckey could find himself playing an even more significant role as a starter with the loss of George occurring after his signing. His 13.4 points per game average in 29.1 minutes of action will need to be increased if the Pacers are to come anywhere close to the team they were over the last 4 years.
- CJ Miles– Miles comes to the Pacers in very much the same fashion as Stuckey. Originally brought in to fill a void and compete with Stuckey for playing time, Miles could find himself in the starting lineup next to Stuckey. After 9 years in the NBA with stops in Utah and Cleveland, Miles might be in position to be the featured scorer after being the 3rd option for most of his career. Without a go to guy at this point, Miles might actually be called upon to do some heavy lifting and take some of the scoring burden vacated by the loss George and Stephenson.
Outlook: The Pacers find themselves in a very tough position for the upcoming season. Besides the losses they face coming in to this season on their own, the Central division has managed to bring more talent to add to their demise.
The additions made by the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers simply add to the depth of the division and make it nearly impossible for the Pacers to duplicate their conference leading 56-26 record of last season. The Pacers look as if they simply don’t have the scoring punch to overcome their losses and compete with teams led by Derrick Rose and Lebron James respectfully.
With good coaching and experienced players, the Pacers should be able to maintain at least a .500 record. And if things remain as they have the last 15 seasons, 41 wins should be enough for them to make the playoffs. After suddenly falling behind the Cavs and Bulls in terms of offensive weapons, the Pacers will be on the lookout all season for another scoring option to add to the team.
The major hurdle will be finding that player without adding payroll as to not exceed the luxury tax line. Look for the Pacers to be associated with any player waived as the result of a salary dump and be very active at the trading deadline.
Early Prediction: Look for the Pacers to finish at the bottom of the Central division only ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks and in a battle for the eighth playoff spot in the eastern conference.
