Bird And The State of The Pacers

[Tradetime]

How do you guys think Bird made out this draft? Jermaine O'Neal will be teaming with Bosh now, should be interesting to see how we match up against them this year.

Do you guys think Bird got enough for him?
-TJ Ford
-Roy Hibbert
-Rasho Nesterovic

Plus he made the draft day trade to get Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack and McRoberts from Portland for Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu.

The one thing that sticks out to me is they now have 3 point guards with Ford, Tinsley and Jack. How will they make time at the point?

Will Brandon Rush only see rookie minutes this year with Dunleavy and Granger already onboard?

[johnnyrondo]

How do you guys think Bird made out this draft? Jermaine O'Neal will be teaming with Bosh now, should be interesting to see how we match up against them this year.

Do you guys think Bird got enough for him?
-TJ Ford
-Roy Hibbert
-Rasho Nesterovic

Plus he made the draft day trade to get Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack and McRoberts from Portland for Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu.

The one thing that sticks out to me is they now have 3 point guards with Ford, Tinsley and Jack. How will they make time at the point?

Will Brandon Rush only see rookie minutes this year with Dunleavy and Granger already onboard?

What he got back from Toronto isn't much, but I kind of compare it to the original Tione trade. Not many good offers for o'Neal I assume. At least he didn't get stuck with raef. i don't know about Hibbert and the Rush trade is ok, as long as Bayless doesn't become a much better player. I usually prefer the trade for the team that gets the best player. Tinsley won't wear a Pacers uniform again, so Ford and Jack will be the pg's. If they could swing a trade for Marion at the 4, they'd have a nice fast paced team, but I'm not sure what they have to trade.

[Who]

It's hard to have any confidence in the man's GM skills. Two bad draft day trades that have just made it more difficult to build a contender. There's far too many mediocre players on that roster.

[LB3533]

Hibbert might be the next Lamarcas Aldridge or he might be the next Acie Earl.

Not sure why they traded away Bayliss...maybe they are hoping TJ Ford can be healthy for a full season.

But it seems to me that Bird is doing his best to change the image of the Pacer franchise...he is getting rid of all the so called "bad apples" and trying to start fresh.

The problem I see is that it isn't so much as what Bird is doing, but what Jimmy Obie ain't doing and that is focusing on defensive end.

[buckets]

at this point i think tinsley is in DNP-CD mode barring an injury to ford or jack.  he is too inconsistent offensively, too prone to injury, and not much of a "character guy".  he is probably only still wearing a pacers uniform because they couldn't find someone willing to take him.

[Roy Hobbs]

Bird had three goals, which he has been talking about for quite awhile: 

1. Solidify the point guard position;

2. Bring in shooters;

3. Get rid of malcontents.

The two trades accomplished all three goals, especially after you factor in that the team is buying out Tinsley.  I didn't like the trade with Portland much, either, but Bird fell in love with Rush's shooting ability, and bringing in Jack -- a starter -- as his backup PG really strengthens the team in that area.

[Steve Weinman]

How do you guys think Bird made out this draft? Jermaine O'Neal will be teaming with Bosh now, should be interesting to see how we match up against them this year.

Do you guys think Bird got enough for him?
-TJ Ford
-Roy Hibbert
-Rasho Nesterovic

Plus he made the draft day trade to get Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack and McRoberts from Portland for Jerryd Bayless and Ike Diogu.

The one thing that sticks out to me is they now have 3 point guards with Ford, Tinsley and Jack. How will they make time at the point?

I wouldn't be too worried about that one.  As of now, it looks like Ford is the starter, Jack the back-up and Tinsley on his way out of town by any means necessary -- even if the Pacers have to buy him out.

The problem I see is that it isn't so much as what Bird is doing, but what Jimmy Obie ain't doing and that is focusing on defensive end.

The Pacers weren't great defensively, but I would hasten to point out that they weren't as bad as the high point totals might lead you to believe.  They played the third fastest pace in basketball and were 15th in defensive efficiency, right in the midst of the pack.

-sw

[acieEarl]

Kinda funny that they got the Rush Brothers on that team, both who play the same position. I know Brandon is suppose to be better, so does this mean they cut his brother?

[Jeff]

Bird had three goals, which he has been talking about for quite awhile: 

1. Solidify the point guard position;

2. Bring in shooters;

3. Get rid of malcontents.

The two trades accomplished all three goals, especially after you factor in that the team is buying out Tinsley.  I didn't like the trade with Portland much, either, but Bird fell in love with Rush's shooting ability, and bringing in Jack -- a starter -- as his backup PG really strengthens the team in that area.

I agree with all of this, but I still don't like the end result.  They've got a team full of support players and no stars.  Best, best, best case scenario right now is a very poor man's Detroit Pistons.

of course they've got cap room for next year, so maybe they can add a star or two in the next couple of years

I see what Larry's doing, but I'm not too scared about that team anytime soon

[JSD]

Bird made a major mistake in leaking that a Tinsley buyout is possible. That’s 6 million a year for 3 years the Pacers will end up eating. I’m sure a team would have been willing to take a chance on a veteran PG with that money but not now, Teams will wait for a buyout and sign him on the cheap.

[Steve Weinman]

Kinda funny that they got the Rush Brothers on that team, both who play the same position. I know Brandon is suppose to be better, so does this mean they cut his brother?

I believe Kareem is a free agent, and as you point out, they do have several players at the swing spots.  It would be ironic if they drafted one Rush and dumped the other.

Then again, one went to Mizzou and one to hated Kansas  ...so maybe they shouldn't be playing together after all 

-sw

[canman1971]

I think he got plenty back. O'Neil's time has passed.  Bird needed to make a change and he did.  If Ford is healthy, it will be a steal.

[Chief]

Bird had three four goals, which he has been talking about for quite awhile: 

1. Solidify the point guard position;

2. Bring in shooters;

3. Get rid of malcontents.

4. Bring in slow white guys.

The two trades accomplished all three goals, especially after you factor in that the team is buying out Tinsley.  I didn't like the trade with Portland much, either, but Bird fell in love with Rush's shooting ability, and bringing in Jack -- a starter -- as his backup PG really strengthens the team in that area.

McRoberts
Dunleavy
Nesterovic
Foster
Diener
Murphy

Larry, this is not an Indiana rec league. This is the NBA. No matter what race or nationality, you got to bring in some athletes. Guys that can get to the basket and create shots for your shooters. None of the guys on this list are capable of doing that.

[Roy Hobbs]

Bird had three four goals, which he has been talking about for quite awhile: 

1. Solidify the point guard position;

2. Bring in shooters;

3. Get rid of malcontents.

4. Bring in slow white guys.

The two trades accomplished all three goals, especially after you factor in that the team is buying out Tinsley.  I didn't like the trade with Portland much, either, but Bird fell in love with Rush's shooting ability, and bringing in Jack -- a starter -- as his backup PG really strengthens the team in that area.

McRoberts
Dunleavy
Nesterovic
Foster
Diener
Murphy

Larry, this is not an Indiana rec league. This is the NBA. No matter what race or nationality, you got to bring in some athletes. Guys that can get to the basket and create shots for your shooters. None of the guys on this list are capable of doing that.

Dunleavy, Murphy, and Foster were all very good there, and Diener wasn't terrible.  Dunleavy put up better numbers (including percentages) than Ray, and Foster outplayed Perk.  Dunleavy was decent at getting to the hoop, averaging only slightly fewer free throw attempts per game than, say, Vince Carter (and Pierce shot about one more FTA per game.)  Let's not stereotype on the basis of race, please.

He also brought in T.J. Ford, who is both an athlete and good at getting to the line. 

[the_Bird]

Bird made a major mistake in leaking that a Tinsley buyout is possible. That’s 6 million a year for 3 years the Pacers will end up eating. I’m sure a team would have been willing to take a chance on a veteran PG with that money but not now, Teams will wait for a buyout and sign him on the cheap.

Leaking?  They've been trying to give Tinsley away for years, without any takers.  There's absolutely no secrets when it comes to Indiana's desire to get rid of Tinsley, and anything they said to the contrary would immediately be perceived as being total BS.  The only thing that would be more shocking than seeing Tinsley suit up for Indiana again would be Marbury doing the same in NY.