This NBA offseason has already been crazy and nobody, and by that, I mean nobody, has done what the Indiana Pacers have done so far this offseason. Eventually, somebody will get Kevin Durant and that’ll be a monster upgrade, but given what the Pacers had in their budget, I have to give props to Larry Bird and their entire front office. They won 45 games last year with Paul George, one year removed from his horrible injury and developing rookie center Myles Turner had a great rookie year. This coming season, they have positioned themselves to seriously contend in the Eastern Conference.
They needed a point guard who could dribble, drive and kick the ball out to shooters, something they haven’t had in a while so they dealt George Hill for Jeff Teague in a three-team trade. Larry Bird wasn’t done after that. They went out and got a power forward who could shoot from the perimeter and could help with rebounding and they dealt their 20th pick in the NBA Draft for a solid pro in Thaddeus Young. Still, Larry Bird wasn’t done after that. They needed a center who could score and give them low post toughness, so yesterday they went out and signed veteran center Al Jefferson. The Pacers draft selection of Georges Niang from Iowa State was also a smart move by the Pacers. In his senior season at Iowa state he averaged 20 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists per game. He will be a good solid athletic role player for the Pacers bench this coming season.
Larry Bird has done a great job of going out and getting guys to surround Paul George and get them to the NBA Finals and he knows has to get past the Raptors and Cavaliers to do so. The Pacers still have some needs they have to get. It will be interesting to see how they value second year player Joe Young and what kind of minutes he will get this coming season. They still need a backup power forward who can offer them toughness defensively and on the boards. Larry Bird hasn’t shown any hesitation about making trades to fill holes on his roster or signing players this offseason.