Rip a Pacer?

You know, this could actually happen: Richard Hamilton to the Indiana Pacers. Personally, even though at his age, Richard Hamilton could be a solid addition to the team. And this can work very well. Now in order for this to work, the Pacers need to make sure they have signed Tracy McGrady or will sign him. Because he is going to be an important key and the Pacers have enough cap to bring him in.

So this is how the trade will work:Pacers Get – Richard Hamilton, Kwame Brown, Austin Daye

Pistons Get – Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush

Now I believe this trade can work and it can benefit both teams. The Pistons could get a nice starting power forward in Troy Murphy and hopefully can develop shooting guard Brandon Rush. Rush could compete for a starting job or be a backup at the position. But, however, I can see him being a pretty solid contributor.

The Pacers could really use this trade. With this, Richard Hamilton and Tracy McGrady will switch a lot at shooting guard. Paul George, McGrady, and Rip will have a nice rotation between each other. Hamilton may be a bit old but he can still produce.

More and more teams are getting interested into Hamilton. And the Pacers could be one of those people. Here’s more about Rip from a piece I read at the Detroit Free Press:

"As teams that were spurned in free agency and those waiting for the dust to settle seek avenues to improve, the Pistons could be open to trade offers. And Hamilton could be looking better and better. Many have said that the $25 million owed to Hamilton over two seasons, plus a partial guarantee for a third season, was too onerous for him to be dealt. But considering the money being tossed around during free agency, the deal doesn’t look that expensive."

This could be a great pick-up in my opinion  for Indy. It just has to work. All the Pacers need to give up is Murphy and Rush. If not interested, the Pacers could add one more player to the package, which would mean the un-needed Jeff Foster. It could also mean Josh McRoberts or Solomon Jones.

Now you may laugh because of the Kwame Brown part, but a lot of draft busts seem like they are reviving themselves. For example, take a look at Darko Milicic. He is reviving himself and could be a valuable part of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ squad at center. He just came back from a four-year $20M deal. However, Brown could be needed.

I wouldn’t be surprised, though, if he starts at center maybe. But maybe Tyler Hansbrough could step up. What would be better is if they could sign Juwan Howard to minimum deal. Because I really don’t feel all that comfortable of seeing Kwame, Hansbrough, and even possibly Magnum Rolle trying to compete for the power forward spot. Hopefully Howard could come or someone else. Could they convince Rasheed Wallace? Hopefully.

But I think they will find a way. What’s another idea in this trade is if the Pacers could add more into it. They could possibly do this:

Pacers Get – Richard Hamilton, Kwame Brown, Austin Daye, Will Bynum

Pistons Get – Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush, Jeff Foster, Mike Dunleavy

This could work as well. Forget to mention Daye, but he is a solid small forward and power forward. He was a good back-up and could also be a great pick-up. Maybe Indy could get rid of Will Bynum out of there and replace it with maybe Chris Wilcox or possibly Tayshaun Prince if they are not interested as it has been reported that they really want Bynum back.

Or the Pacers could just flat-out sell Murphy, Rush, Dunleavy, and Foster for two key players like Rip and Ben Gordon. That could work out as well. But either way, if the Pacers will want to trade for Rip, some good will go out of it. Right now, I’m more comfortable with receiving Gordon and Rip.

With this, the depth chart will look like this after the off-season:

PG: Lance/Farmar/Ford/Price

SG: Rip/T-Mac/Gordon

SF: Granger/George/Dahntay

PF: Juwan/Hansbrough/Rolle

C: Hibbert/Jones

I actually like this line-up. I see a lot of rotation at shooting guard and the small forward position between George, Granger, T-Mac, Dahntay, and Rip. It’s going to be real interesting of how this off-season goes for the Pacers. I’m liking it right now and I am excited about the team’s possibilities.