Pacers salary series: Darren Collison has an uncertain future

In this series, 8p9s writer Tony East breaks down the contract situation of each Pacers player. In this edition, we’ll look at Darren Collison, the point guard of the extremely near future.

With the departures of Jeff Teague and Aaron Brooks, the Pacers were left without a point guard going into the summer. The front office had to decide if they wanted to make a long term commitment to a point guard who can grow with the team, or sign a veteran to a short term deal. Ultimately, the team decided to go with a veteran to bridge the team from one era to the next, so they signed Darren Collison.

Collison played for the Pacers from 2010-2012. He was a second-year player when he joined the team, and he had been growing into a solid offensive player. He started and averaged over 10 points per game both seasons in Indiana, but off-court issues forced him out of the city.

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Now, five seasons have gone by, Collison is back and improved and his off-court issues are a thing of the past. Since leaving the team, he has steadily increased his ability as a 3-point shooter, and last year he shot 41.7 percent from deep.

His defense leaves a lot to be desired. It is very apparent that he is aging and losing a step on that end of the floor, as his defensive box plus-minus as well as his defensive rating have both gotten worse over the past four seasons.

Thankfully, the Pacers signed Collison for his offensive upside and not his defensive talents. His best skill is creating shots for himself, either off-ball or while handing the rock. Here, he’s off ball, and when the play breaks down he cuts to the rim to create an opportunity. He ends up receiving the pass and getting a bucket:

And here he showcases his on ball skills, taking care of the mismatch and nailing the fadeaway jumper:

These two showcases of Collison’s offensive abilities are exactly what the Pacers are paying him for, and his salary is what we will look at next.

2017-18 season

Herb Simon will pay Collison $10,000,000 next season, and he carries a cap hit of the same amount. For a starting point guard of Collison’s ability level, that is fair money. As a ball handling mentor and shooting mentor for Victor Oladipo and Cory Joseph, Collison will be a useful veteran presence as well. The combination of his veteran leadership and offensive firepower make him more than worth his $10 million dollar pay.

2018 summer and beyond

This is where things get interesting. Darren Collison has $2,000,000 of this contract guaranteed next season. The Pacers have until July 1, 2018 to decide if they want to waive Darren Collison and only pay him $2 million, or keep him and pay him $10 million for another season.

Indiana has no point guards on the roster next season. Cory Joseph has a player option that he will likely opt out of, and Joe Young isn’t good enough to bring back. If the Pacers want to have a competent point guard on the roster, they should bring back Collison.

But if they don’t bring him back, they free up $8 million in cap space. They could use that money to sign a point guard to replace Collison. The decision becomes: Can the Pacers find the appropriate replacement for Collison with only $8 million? If not, they should bring him back for a second season.

Prediction time

This one is tough, but given that the Pacers would have no other point guards without Collison, they will more likely than not bring him back. He’s a quality player who is worth his contract, so bringing him back wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, outside of his bad defense.

Next: Victor Oladipo salary breakdown

This one is too hard to predict. Let’s just enjoy our one guaranteed season with Darren Collison.

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