Obviously, the Pacers first order of business in this summer’s free agency, which started this morning at 12:01 am, is deciding whether or not to bring Roy Hibbert back. All signs point to them doing exactly that. But they still have a little more money to play around with under the cap (and would have even more if they can get Hibbert and his agent to hold tight a little bit over the next week). Some — and perhaps all — of this may go to bringing back George Hill. But they have options.
Here are all of them (ranked by highest to lowest 2011-12 PER) with a brief comment on how they may or may not fit in with the 2012-13 Indiana Pacers.
PLAYER | 2012 TEAM | 2012 PER | 2012 SALARY (millions) | AGE |
| Kyrylo Fesenko | IND | 29.81 | $0.3 | 25 |
| Arguably the best player in the NBA. Max offer forthcoming. | ||||
| Tim Duncan | SAS | 22.60 | $21.2 | 36 |
| There is zero chance he leaves San Antonio. | ||||
| Patrick Mills | SAS | 21.60 | $0.3 | 23 |
| Good potential. | ||||
| Ersan Ilyasova | MIL | 20.55 | $2.5 | 25 |
| Perhaps the most intriguing UFA agent on the market. With West and Hibbert, could potentially be the best big-man rotation in the league. | ||||
| Kevin Garnett | BOS | 20.47 | $21.2 | 36 |
| See: Duncan, Tim | ||||
| Deron Williams | BKN | 20.34 | $16.4 | 27 |
| Reports say his choice is down to BKN or DAL. But if Indy has a shot at a franchise-altering PG they should pursue it fully. | ||||
| Steve Nash | PHX | 20.29 | $11.7 | 38 |
| Other than DWill, could be the biggest impact free agent Indiana could acquire. | ||||
| Lou Williams | PHI | 20.22 | $5.2 | 25 |
| Ideal off-the-bench scorer, although he may not be worth the contract he ends up getting. | ||||
| James Singleton | WAS | 19.66 | $0.2 | 30 |
| Nice little player who could fit into Indy’s front court but probably doesn’t fit the team’s long-term situation. | ||||
| Carl Landry | NOH | 18.31 | $8.5 | 28 |
| The best big man, fit-wise, that the Pacers could realistically acquire other than Illysova. | ||||
| Spencer Hawes | PHI | 18.19 | $4.1 | 24 |
| Not a fan. Could backup Hibbert, but will probably get overpaid by someone cause he’s tall. | ||||
| Nate Robinson | GSW | 18.05 | $0.8 | 28 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Goran Dragic | HOU | 18.03 | $2.1 | 26 |
| Houston reportedly plans to retain him and Indy already has enough middle-of-the-pack starting point guards. | ||||
| Kris Humphries | BKN | 17.98 | $8.0 | 27 |
| Hard to root for this guy but he could suppy some badly needed rebounding and finishing at the rim. | ||||
| Ramon Sessions | LAL | 16.79 | $4.3 | 26 |
| Wasn’t good for the Lakers in the playoffs. Would be fairly superfluous in Indy. | ||||
| John Lucas III | CHI | 16.41 | $0.9 | 29 |
| Was a revelation at times in Chicago and could be a cheap spark off the bench, but tough to have him and DC on the same team size-wise. | ||||
| Hamed Haddadi | MEM | 16.31 | $1.3 | 27 |
| He isn’t a stiff. | ||||
| Marcus Camby | HOU | 16.25 | $12.9 | 38 |
| Could teach some of the young Pacers bigs some stuff — about the Vietnam era. | ||||
| Antawn Jamison | CLE | 16.17 | $15.1 | 35 |
| Tawn is one of the league’s greatest gentlemen, so I’ll just say this: No thank you, sir. | ||||
| Chauncey Billups | LAC | 16.10 | $2.0 | 35 |
| Has been fading for years and is trying to comeback from one of the most devastating injuries a player can sustain. At 35. | ||||
| Steve Novak | NYK | 15.95 | $1.0 | 28 |
| Every team could use the best three-point shooter in the league. | ||||
| Gerald Green | BKN | 15.88 | $0.4 | 26 |
| Will believe it if I see him produce for a full year for an actual NBA team (Read: not the Nets). | ||||
| Jason Terry | DAL | 15.80 | $10.7 | 34 |
| Not what he was a few years ago, but a gamer who can still straight score off the bench. Best airplane imitator in the league, too. | ||||
| Jordan Hill | LAL | 15.80 | $2.9 | 24 |
| Young, athletic, servicable big man who may still improve. If he’s cheap enough, not a terrible option. | ||||
| Jamal Crawford | POR | 15.80 | $5.0 | 32 |
| Like OJ Mayo, Indy pursued him heavilly last offseason. They could use his scoring. | ||||
| Matt Barnes | LAL | 15.55 | $1.9 | 32 |
| Not sure he gives you much that Dahntay Jones’ doesn’t. Maybe a little versatility. | ||||
| Chris Kaman | NOH | 15.42 | $12.7 | 30 |
| Worthwhile backup center for sure. Pricetag may be too high for that role. | ||||
| J.R. Smith | NYK | 15.27 | $1.4 | 26 |
| Reportedly opted out of his deal just to re-sign with NYK on a longer deal. Could be useful in Indy. | ||||
| Jeff Green | BOS | 15.00 | $4.5 | 25 |
| About to mount a noble comeback effort from heart condition, but never liked his game much when he seemingly had no risk. | ||||
| Andre Miller | DEN | 14.84 | $7.8 | 36 |
| Even when young, he made Mark Jackson look like Brandon Jennings so mileage hasn’t hurt his game much. | ||||
| Ray Allen | BOS | 14.83 | $10.0 | 36 |
| No-brainer if he would come over for reasonable money. Paul George/Ray Allen SG rotation would be enviable. | ||||
| O.J. Mayo | MEM | 14.76 | $5.6 | 24 |
| Indy has been trying to acquire him for years. Expect it to continue this summer. Great fit. | ||||
| Jameer Nelson | ORL | 14.66 | $7.8 | 30 |
| Not sure he gives you anything that George Hill and Darren Collison doesn’t. | ||||
| Brandon Bass | BOS | 14.21 | $4.3 | 27 |
| Ideal back-up for David West. | ||||
| Leandro Barbosa | IND | 14.07 | $7.6 | 29 |
| Indy has rhetorically talked about bringing him back. I doubt it’s high on the priority list. But he was a spark, so a return — on a good deal — would be better than losing him sans replacement. | ||||
| Michael Redd | PHX | 14.00 | $1.3 | 32 |
| Unofficial Comeback Player of the Year in 2012. Could help off the bench. Short-term stop gap, obviously. | ||||
| Willie Green | ATL | 13.93 | $1.2 | 30 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Mike James | CHI | 13.81 | $0.6 | 36 |
| Nah x 10 | ||||
| Jannero Pargo | ATL | 13.69 | $1.1 | 32 |
| Nope. | ||||
| Tracy McGrady | ATL | 13.69 | $1.3 | 33 |
| Sure. If cheap enough. Can’t hurt off the bench. | ||||
| Shannon Brown | PHX | 13.68 | $3.5 | 26 |
| I can’t say I enjoy his playing style but he isn’t bad. | ||||
| Craig Smith | POR | 13.67 | $0.9 | 28 |
| Homeless man’s Carl Landry. Narrowly out-ranks Craig Smith the apparent NHL player and “Craig Smith Auto Group” on Google search page. | ||||
| Randy Foye | LAC | 13.56 | $4.3 | 28 |
| Nice little bench guard who does a lot of things but nothing notably well. | ||||
| Brian Scalabrine | CHI | 13.54 | $1.3 | 34 |
| *insert white guy as team mascot joke* | ||||
| Ian Mahinmi | DAL | 13.50 | $0.9 | 25 |
| Really fun name to say. | ||||
| Raymond Felton | POR | 13.46 | $7.6 | 27 |
| Not fat meaning phat but fat meanting fat. | ||||
| Terrence Williams | SAC | 13.17 | $2.4 | 24 |
| Not worthwhile. | ||||
| Jason Kidd | DAL | 13.11 | $8.6 | 39 |
| Ol’ Man River could be a good pickup if for nothing else than to teach George Hill to play PG. Doubt he’s interested. | ||||
| Nick Young | LAC | 12.93 | $3.7 | 27 |
| Have thousands of problems with his play and wardrobe, but a volume, selfish scorer off the bench is actually somewhat of a need in Indy. | ||||
| Cartier Martin | WAS | 12.85 | $0.1 | 27 |
| Sounds like a guy Rick Ross would pretend can rap. | ||||
| Daniel Orton | ORL | 12.71 | $1.1 | 21 |
| Exceptional at being tall. | ||||
| C.J. Miles | UTA | 12.46 | $3.7 | 25 |
| The only 48-year NBA veteran who is only 25 years old. Can play. Would fit in sorta but doesn’t score much, which hurts his usefulness here. | ||||
| Hasheem Thabeet | POR | 12.42 | $5.1 | 25 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Grant Hill | PHX | 12.34 | $6.5 | 39 |
| If he’ll take a cheap, one-year deal … of course. Perfect veteran back-up for a squad trying to learn to win in the playoffs. | ||||
| Delonte West | DAL | 12.32 | $1.1 | 28 |
| Love ya, Redz but … nah. | ||||
| Marco Belinelli | NOH | 12.00 | $3.4 | 26 |
| No. | ||||
| Shelden Williams | BKN | 11.94 | $1.0 | 28 |
| Only NBA skill is trying hard and pushing people and the Pacers already have a few of those guys. | ||||
| Dominic McGuire | GSW | 11.82 | $0.9 | 26 |
| I’ve always felt like he’s good but he’s probably not. Tall though. | ||||
| Carlos Delfino | MIL | 11.72 | $3.5 | 29 |
| He is a pro. Could help. Plus, sounds like a premium bottled water. | ||||
| Vladimir Radmanovic | ATL | 11.72 | $1.3 | 31 |
| No longer a good basketball player. | ||||
| Jerry Stackhouse | ATL | 11.58 | $1.3 | 37 |
| Ditto. Also: a Miami Heat fan. | ||||
| Louis Amundson | IND | 11.54 | $2.4 | 29 |
| He was invaluable playing out of position last year at backup center. Bring him back cheap if you can. | ||||
| Boris Diaw | SAS | 11.20 | $9.0 | 30 |
| He had an excellent year in San Antonio but just seems like the type of guy you would rather see on the other team. | ||||
| Jonny Flynn | POR | 11.20 | $3.4 | 23 |
| Perhaps terrible. | ||||
| Aaron Gray | TOR | 11.09 | $2.5 | 27 |
| Enormous. The American Kyryrlo Fesenko. | ||||
| Kwame Brown | MIL | 11.09 | $6.8 | 30 |
| If he’s cheap, could play backup center. | ||||
| Nazr Mohammed | OKC | 11.02 | $3.8 | 34 |
| Same. How is he only 34 though? Feels like twice that. | ||||
| Jared Jeffries | NYK | 10.96 | $1.2 | 30 |
| Hasn’t scored a basket since he played in Bloomington. Great first name. | ||||
| Anthony Parker | CLE | 10.94 | $2.3 | 36 |
| Retired. | ||||
| Ben Wallace | DET | 10.74 | $2.2 | 37 |
| Should retire. | ||||
| Josh Howard | UTA | 10.55 | $2.2 | 32 |
| Isn’t a bad option. | ||||
| Yi Jianlian | DAL | 10.48 | $0.8 | 24 |
| Not good. | ||||
| Earl Boykins | HOU | 10.37 | $0.2 | 36 |
| Short. | ||||
| Baron Davis | NYK | 10.05 | $1.3 | 33 |
| Broken. | ||||
| Gilbert Arenas | MEM | 9.96 | $0.4 | 30 |
| Odd. | ||||
| Kenyon Martin | LAC | 9.93 | $2.5 | 34 |
| Optimal back-up for David West. So much energy and nastiness. Would be worth a small deal for sure. | ||||
| Kirk Hinrich | ATL | 9.28 | $8.0 | 31 |
| Would be an ideal backup guard. Can play both positions and is a smart defender. | ||||
| Reggie Evans | LAC | 9.21 | $1.2 | 32 |
| If Jeff Foster looked more like Issac Hayes, shrank a few inches and wasn’t as good of a defender he would be Reggie Evans. | ||||
| Maurice Evans | WAS | 9.08 | $0.9 | 33 |
| Better as an NBPA rep than a player. | ||||
| Troy Murphy | LAL | 9.03 | $1.3 | 32 |
| Ha. | ||||
| Alan Anderson | TOR | 8.75 | $0.2 | 29 |
| Wasn’t aware he was still in the NBA. | ||||
| Morris Almond | WAS | 8.75 | $0.1 | 27 |
| Not that good. | ||||
| Mickael Pietrus | BOS | 8.58 | $1.2 | 30 |
| Could be helpful backing up Granger and hitting threes. | ||||
| Royal Ivey | OKC | 8.46 | $1.2 | 28 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Anthony Tolliver | MIN | 8.30 | $2.1 | 27 |
| Isn’t bad. | ||||
| Marquis Daniels | BOS | 8.12 | $1.2 | 31 |
| His career seems near over and bad memories of the JailPacers era. | ||||
| Derek Fisher | OKC | 8.02 | $3.4 | 37 |
| He wouldn’t come to Indiana at this stage of his career. | ||||
| Mike Bibby | NYK | 7.82 | $0.9 | 34 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Tony Battie | PHI | 7.28 | $1.3 | 36 |
| Nope. | ||||
| Ryan Hollins | BOS | 6.96 | $0.3 | 27 |
| Have no idea what type of contract he’ll get but if it’s small enough, a decent bench big. | ||||
| Damien Wilkins | DET | 6.95 | $1.1 | 32 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Keyon Dooling | BOS | 6.92 | $2.2 | 32 |
| Homeless man’s Jason Terry. | ||||
| Sasha Pavlovic | BOS | 6.78 | $1.2 | 28 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Mikki Moore | CHI | 6.34 | $0.1 | 36 |
| Double nah. | ||||
| Damion James | BKN | 6.17 | $1.2 | 24 |
| Not that good. | ||||
| Bobby Simmons | LAC | 6.06 | $0.5 | 32 |
| Nah. | ||||
| Joel Przybilla | POR | 6.03 | $0.7 | 32 |
| Thought he retired. | ||||
| Brian Cook | WAS | 5.85 | $1.3 | 31 |
| Should retire. | ||||
| Erick Dampier | ATL | 5.50 | $0.5 | 36 |
| Ditto. | ||||
| Eduardo Najera | CHA | 5.48 | $2.8 | 35 |
| Not sure he has anything left. | ||||
| Ronnie Price | PHX | 4.72 | $1.1 | 30 |
| Serviceable. | ||||
| DeShawn Stevenson | BKN | 4.33 | $2.5 | 31 |
| No longer serviceable. | ||||
| Craig Brackins | PHI | 4.30 | $1.4 | 24 |
| Who is this? | ||||
| Jason Collins | ATL | 3.76 | $1.3 | 33 |
| There is no way he’s only 33. | ||||
| Juwan Howard | MIA | 3.68 | $1.3 | 39 |
| There is no way he’s only 39. | ||||
| Eddy Curry | MIA | 3.67 | $1.2 | 29 |
| Hehe. | ||||
| Brian Cardinal | DAL | 3.28 | $1.3 | 35 |
| Dad. | ||||
| Jamaal Magloire | TOR | 2.71 | $1.3 | 34 |
| Former All-Star. | ||||