As NBA free agency winds down, the Indiana Pacers have just a bit more work to do. Will they try to complete their roster quickly, or will they maintain their flexibility?
At long last, we’ve entered the latter half of July, and the NBA dead season is upon us. If you’re feeling a little punch-drunk, you’re not alone. One of the craziest free agency periods in recent memory is wrapping up, and the Pacers were right in the middle of the frenzy.
The Pacers lost Paul George and shed seven players to make room for eight new guys. That’s some serious roster turnover, even in the new NBA with shorter contracts and more player movement.
The work isn’t quite done, however. The Pacers still have two roster spots left to fill, one NBA contract and one two-way deal. This is the depth chart as of right now, using traditional positions for the sake of simplicity:
Point Guard: Darren Collison, Cory Joseph, Joe Young, Edmond Sumner (two-way)
Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo, Lance Stephenson
Small Forward: Bojan Bogdanovich, Glenn Robinson III
Power Forward: Thaddeus Young, Domantas Sabonis, T.J. Leaf
Center: Myles Turner, Kevin Seraphin, Al Jefferson, Ike Anigbogu
Who should they sign?
The clearest place of need is depth on the wing, but the Pacers will have to get in line if they want to solve that problem. After the top, mega-star guys, small forward continues to be the thinnest position in the league. If you don’t believe me, take a quick look at Otto Porter‘s new contract or just read Rob Mahoney’s latest.
If the Pacers want to dedicate their final roster spot to a wing player, they’ll have to settle for someone with serious flaws. There just isn’t anyone else available.
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Alternatively, they could look to upgrade at backup center. Guys like Willie Reed or Marreese Speights could likely be had for pretty cheap and would help more than Kevin Seraphin (although the French big man did play very well as the sole big on the court once Lance Stephenson arrived). That said, it wouldn’t be very modern of the Pacers to have five centers on the roster.
Anyone who needs the ball in their hands should immediately be excised from consideration since both of the traditional “shooting guards” are most effective as ball-handlers. Ironically, Darren Collison’s edge for playing time over Cory Joseph could end up being his ability to play off the ball.
The Pacers also have another two-way contract open, which they could choose to award to a Summer League standout like Jarnell Stokes or Travis Leslie.
With both of these roster spots, the Pacers don’t have to do anything right now, and maybe they shouldn’t. Teams that rush frantically to set their roster in stone by late July usually look back and regret it. The best strategy might be to wait a few more weeks and see if anyone remains languishing in free agency, then swoop in with a low one-year deal.
Whatever happens, we’ll be around to keep you informed. Happy (real) offseason.