The Indiana Pacers have publically stated they have a chance to be aggressive this summer. That implies a lot about their summer plans.
Share to twitterINDIANAPOLIS, IN - DECEMBER 12: Indiana Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard and general manager Chad Buchanan look on during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on December 12, 2018 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The Pacers won 113-97. The Indiana Pacers are at a crossroads. They have completed two years of the Victor Oladipo era and finished with the same record in both, albeit under very different circumstances. Now the organization must bridge the gap from year two to year three. Usually, the transition from season two to season three of a re-tool isn't a time for big changes. But the Pacers are in a unique spot. They face a summer filled with important decisions and consequential maneuvers. They have somewhere between seven and nine players set to become free agents this summer and a solid amount of cap space. The front office has a unique opportunity to improve the roster. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor. The Pacers could have salary cap room in the summer of 2020 if they sit in a holding pattern this offseason. But that strategy would make it impossible to re-sign the players they had on the roster this past season. They would lose their leg up on retaining talented players. This offseason could be the only window to substantially improve the roster around All-Staron his current deal, and it is important that the front office chooses the best of their options. In the Pacers postseason press conference, everyone was given a glimpse into the mentality the organization will have in such an important summer. "[Our cap space] allows us to be super aggressive," said Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard on the podium."It allows you to do uneven trades. It allows you to go sign players." The latter of those two options is the obvious one. Signing player is the obvious mesh between cap space and an improved roster. But when you have an estimated $43 million of cap space, a specific number that Pritchard referenced multiple times, your options expand. That's a big number. Uneven trades, as referenced, are one of those options. Normally, trades are required to have teams send out and receive nearly equivalent salaries. However, if a team has salary cap space, they are able to trade for a player as if they were adding them to their team on the contract they are currently signed to. Essentially, you take a player's contract into your salary cap space. For example, if the Pacers wanted to trade for their former wing CJ Miles, they could simply take his contract into cap space. Miles is set to make $8.7 million in 2019-20, so acquiring him without sending any salary out would move the Pacers from ~$43 million in space to ~$34.3 million in space. Other teams don't have this luxury. Without cap space, trades require the teams to exchange salaries that are similar in value. The Pacers are not required to do that, which allows them to be flexible and creative. That inherently gives them a leg up on other teams this summer. It's another tool to be, as Pritchard put it,"aggressive". Part of being aggressive is pursuing any possible avenue to improve. Pritchard was proud of what the team accomplished this past season but was also reflective. Getting swept by the Celtics was eye-opening for the organization."The Boston loss was as challenging of a series as I’ve been a part of. I thought we’d win a couple of games. We all have to look in the mirror and look at our process." The head honcho thought the team could do more in the postseason than they ultimately did. While not explicitly said — this statement did make a thought resonate in my head. They didn't have enough talent. The front office knows that. They watched the series and know that the team has to get better. "We have to improve our talent. Me and Nate will look for ways to improve our talent," said Pritchard earlier in the presser. Improvement appears paramount to the entire front office in this summer full of opportunity. Later on, he was more specific about the improvements."We need some [shot] creation. We need a guy that can break down a defense," he said, before saying more about how the league was trending more towards offense. Then, back to getting a creator."When we signed Tyreke, we wanted him to be that creator," clearly this was a focus for the team last summer."I believe that you don't have to be a point guard or a 2 guard to be a creator. [Domantas Sabonis] creates a lot of offense for us. It doesn't have to be at a specific position." Thanks for the easy segue, KP! Speaking of shot creators and Sabonis, the team considers Sabonis to be a part of the solution in getting more shot creation on the court." All indications are that [Sabonis] loves it here," said Pritchard,"I think he wants a bigger role and we’ve got to figure out how to get him a bigger role." You can blend these last two quotes from Pritchard and make a thesis for this press conference. If you did, it would have to do with shot creation. Pritchard explicitly said he wanted more of it, and then stated he would expand the role of one of the Pacers best shot creators. That is a big part of what the team wants to do next. The Pacers President of Basketball Operation is prepared to use all of his resources to make that happen. I meanof them. He was asked if anyone, excluding Victor Oladipo, was untouchable in trade talks this summer and hesitated just long enough for all of us to know the true answer to the question. That doesn't mean there will be trades. That just means every option will be explored, including trading the 18th pick in the first round of the NBA draft."We're going to be opened-minded [with the draft pick]," he said after joking about the number of prospects he likes,"I would not be surprised if [18] isn't the pick we pick. We [could] either move down, move up..." Team building isn't rocket science. But it is hard and extremely calculated. You have to find the right players to fit your organization's culture and structure as well as the right fit on the court. But Kevin Pritchard wants to find those guys. He wants to make the Pacers better by shrewdly using the right pieces of capital. With deep pockets and an aggressive mentality, the options are endless. But the goal is clear: make the Pacers a better basketball team.I cover the Indiana Pacers and NBA players from the state of Indiana. I have done so for many years with written content, both as the Site Expert for the Fansided networ...
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