It's a little more than month until the NBA preseason begins, and it appears that the Indiana Pacers have made all the roster moves they intend to make this offseason. Has president Larry Bird done enough to improve the team? Here's a player-by-player look at all the changes the Pacers have made this offseason.
Free Agents
The Pacers had limited cap space with which to sign free agents this offseason, but by far the biggest acquisition was former Denver Nuggets' guard/forward Dahntay Jones.
Jones averaged only 5.4 points per game in 79 contests last season, but made his name as a defensive stalwart. The addition makes perfect sense for the Pacers since team defense is precisely the area that Larry Bird set out to improve before the start of the season.
"We know we're going to score plenty of points but on the defensive end we've got to get much, much better as a team," said Bird recently in an article on Pacers.com. "Dahntay can guard all three positions on the perimeter."
Jones will have his work cut out for him as he is now playing in the same division as LeBron James, who was second in the league in scoring last season.
Dahntay should improve the starting guard rotation as either a starter or, if second year guard Brandon Rush shows marked improvement, as a reserve off the bench. Jones is versatile, and can play shooting guard or back up Danny Granger at small forward depending on matchups.
Grade: B
The Pacers also signed former Oklahoma City Thunder Point Guard Earl Watson to replace departed point guard Jarrett Jack. Jack played extremely well for the Pacers last season, and eventually won the starting position over T.J. Ford. Jack's contributions will be difficult to replace, but Larry Bird's motives for making this move also center around improving the team's defensive effort.
"Earl is a strong defender and leader at point guard," Bird said. "When you add players that are very good defenders and take pride in that end of the floor, you're going to improve."
Nevertheless, the team would have liked to retain their starting point guard, and only acquired Watson because they could not match the offer sheet Toronto issued for Jack. Watson only averaged 6.6 points per game and will probably not challenge T.J. Ford for the starting role. Losing a starter for a potential role player is not a good trade-off.
Grade: D
Solomon Jones was also signed by the Pacers at the end of last month, and, although his statistics aren't stellar, the Pacers did award him a multi-year contract. Jones will be competing with Troy Murphy and rookie Tyler Hansbrough for playing time, and is, at best, a reserve role player. Larry Bird has said that Jones is also a capable defender and could help improve the team's interior presence at that end of the floor. However, if Jones gets significant playing time at forward it will be an indictment of the team's choice with the 13th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.
Grade: D
Draft Picks
It may be too early to judge how much first-round draft choice Tyler Hansbrough will be able to contribute in his rookie season with the Pacers. He has already begun to disprove those who doubt his ability to make the transition to the pros with an outstanding performance in the Orlando Summer League. It remains to be seen whether or not he can make the starting roster.
Larry Bird believes that Hansbrough will be extremely successful in his NBA career, and likens the 6'9 forward out of UNC to himself.
"He (Hansbrough) sort of reminds me of when I came out," said Bird. "There was always this skepticism that we wouldn't be able to play in this league against these players. His future is going to be filled with nothing but accolades."
Hansbrough is another player that can help improve the Pacers' defense, and he also brings and energy to the team that made him infamous in college.
"I like energy guys," said Bird of his new additions. "I like guys that play hard and get after it on defense because when they come to practice they raise everybody's intensity. As competitive as we were last season, we should be even more so this year and hopefully we'll come up with some more stops in those clutch situations."
Grade: B+
The team's second round pick has not received as much attention as Hansbrough, but could make a bigger impact on the Pacers in the short term. A.J. Price, a 6'2 guard from UConn, could get extensive playing time at point guard if he can win the reserve position over the afore-mentioned free agent acquisition, Earl Watson.
Since Jarrett Jack is no longer with the Pacers, the hole at point guard will have to be filled by one of these two new players. Their performance in the preseason could determine who wins the competition for playing time.
Grade: C
Overall
In addition to letting Jarrett Jack go in free agency, the team also came to an agreement with Jamaal Tinsley to finally remove him from the payroll. The team won't see the extra cap-space this season, but it could lead to a big-name free agent acquisition in the future. The team also resigned Josh McRoberts, a local product that will compete for playing time at power forward.
When the team's moves are examined based on their resources and their intentions, they score a solid B+ for the offseason. Without much cap-space or a high draft pick, the Pacers definitely made a concerted effort to improve their major weakness on defense.
However, when you compare the team's offseason to the improvements made by other teams in the Eastern Conference and in their own division, the Pacers score a disheartening D at best. Considering the Clevend Cavaliers' signing of Shaquille O'Neal and the Orlando Magic's signing of Vince Carter, Indiana does not appear to have made much headway towards competing with the top contenders.
Grade: C
Comments
Pacers aren't done yet. The Marquis Daniels situation isn't resolved (although it looks like he'll just sign with Boston) and the team still needs to figure out what they're doing with second-round pick A.J. Price. Once Price signs, then the offseason should be officially over.
I'd agree that they deserve a "B+" grade for their offseason efforts compared just within the organization. I think it was productive, but not productive at the highest level. It was a 41-41 record offseason.
It's being reported that Daniels is going to sign with the Celtics for the biannual exception since a third team could be found to negotiate a sign and trade. Good point about A.J. Price, and I agree that the Pacers are looking at a .500 record next season, a low playoff seed at best.
I don't agree with your assessment. It is far too subjective and offers a ridiculous comparison to what Cleveland and Orlando did in the offseason. First of all Orlando lost Hedo and replaced him with a highly-overrated Vince Carter - that is not worthy of an "A." Instead, it falls shy of even keeping the status quo. Cleveland added a slow, injury prone, non free throw shooting hack named Shack. This signing will not help Cleveland nearly as much as commentators are claiming. Indy improved on defense and has second year players that started to blossom last year. Their overall offseason moves deserve at least a B+ if not an A- for accomplishing what they have without large market pull.
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