8p9s Roundtable: Did the Pacers Offseason Moves Make the Team Better?

Does Monta Ellis make the Indiana Pacers a better basketball team?

Donahue: By himself? No. Ellis offers some scoring and some ball-handling, but isn’t great at either shooting or defense, so he’s not going to be a difference maker. What will matter will be how well he fits with George Hill, Paul George, Rodney Stuckey and the other Pacers. He’ll be taking minutes that were manned by guys like Donald Sloan and Solomon Hill, so they’ll move forward, but how much will depend on the overall mesh of the unit.

Furr: I think the Pacers have 2 guys who are suited for the 6th man role in Rodney Stuckey and Monta Ellis; unfortunately, that means one of them winds up as a starter. I do think that playing Ellis alongside George Hill has some serious benefits, however. Ellis is a more polished attacker and can take a good amount of the ball handling duties from Hill and Paul George, giving both some freedom. Ellis has not exactly been a positive on the court force during his various stops in the association, but his biggest strength (attacking the basket, creating shots) is something the Pacers have lacked in previous years, and could mesh well with the offensive machine that Larry Bird is trying to create.

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Comstock: Without question, yes. Ellis is, by far, the best offensive player on the roster, and either the 2nd or 3rd best overall player – depending on whether or not George Hill is able to maintain last year’s level of play. Rick Carlisle was able to craft a historically great offense with Monta last season until the Mavs foolishly traded for Rondo and derailed their season. Now it’s up to Vogel to do the same.

Medworth: He won’t make the Pacers worse. They need guys that can score buckets and he brings that. I also think the Pacers will be able to make up for him defensively so I don’t think there is any way he makes the Pacers worse. But make them better? We’ll have to wait and see. I sure hope.

Hughes: No question. I look back at the days when Lance Stephenson essentially ran the point and how good that team was pre-The Struggle. With more offensive firepower around Ellis than Lance had, including blonde George Hill and not blonde C.J. Miles spotting-up on the perimeter with Myles Turner as a pick-and-roll partner, he should have an easy time succeeding. And let’s not forget Paul George having mismatches with power forwards, too. Ellis can feed PG and watch him work.

Next: Who Ya Got: Chase Budinger or Jordan Hill?