Thinking about this again...Posey/JO works, and saves the Pacers some bucks as they try to bring in a free agent...
I'd say Bird does it to save money, and Danny does it to get a player who is available to play at a position of relative need, while looking like he's giving JO something he's okay with.
Worth some thought.
Also somewhat humorous that we're never too far away from a "bring back Posey" thread...
You're missing one point though, both contracts expire at the same time.
So, this only works assuming JO is not going to play again, plans on retiring, and agrees to forgo any buyout, OR the Celtics agree to facilitate any buyout. Otherwise, it doesn't save the Pacers any money at all. And the buyout still counts against their cap for next year.
So if you look at it for Indiana, why would they take on JOs contract, when they could just sign him to a 10-day contract in the 2013 season, and have him officially file retirement then; if there really is any truth to this talk about him wanting to retire there.
Bottom line is, Posey is a more useful player right now for the simple fact that he can ya know... play. So the Pacers gain nothing by this.