What does LeBron’s final four mean for the Pacers?
Houston Rockets
The Move:
Well, this would be something else. They have a dynamic trio (James Harden, Paul and Capela) that was won roughly 300% of the games that they’ve played together; and they surround those three with the type of role players that pose a significant threat to the Warriors’ dynasty. And the Rockets have the best record in the league.
Indiana Pacers
Houston does have a weird cap summer ahead of them. Currently they are well under the salary cap, which is the good news. The bad news is that valuable pieces (Paul, Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute) are either unrestricted or restricted (Capela) free agents. The Rockets have more than the gross domestic product of Tuvalu tied to Ryan Anderson over the next two seasons, which is great for Ryan and bad for Houston. If Houston wants to sign James and resign both Paul and Capela they’ll have to be creative. Just resigning Paul and Capela will push Houston up to, if not over, the salary cap. Which isn’t a problem, unless they want LeBron.
They could do a sign and trade with Cleveland. Sending both Anderson and Eric Gordon to Cleveland would work salary-wise, but I like Olaf’s chance of getting a suntan better than Cleveland thinking that trade is worthwhile. The only way they’ll be able to saddle Anderson’s contract on anyone is if they can find a team just looking to reach the salary floor and then sweeten the bejeezes out of it with a pick or two.
That’s not saying it’s impossible to move him. If LeBron decides on Houston, the Rockets will do what it takes to add him to the roster. It’ll just be interesting to see how they go about it.
Impact on Pacers:
If Indiana is looking for a 3-and-D type player, they should be very interested in this scenario. The Pacers could kick the tires on a player like Ariza, whom they could theoretically sign outright. But they could also try to be the benevolent organization that takes Eric Gordon off of Houston’s ledger. Fitting Gordon, or Ariza, in would be intriguing. Indy already has Oladipo, Lance Stephenson, Glenn Robinson III and Bojan Bogdanovic on the wings, assuming Indiana resigns Robinson. It’s not like Indiana has a dearth of perimeter players.
But would Gordon fit? Both he and Oladipo are plus defenders, but if you started Gordon with Victor, it’d be a teensy-weensy perimeter unit. Indiana doesn’t really need a sixth man either with Stephenson on the roster. Lance isn’t in Gordon’s zip code when it comes to reliable shooting, but he’s a far superior passer and orchestrator. Adding a player of Gordon’s talents, as any Hoosier could tell you, isn’t a bad thing; the question would be does adding Gordon make the Pacers tangibly better? That answer is inconclusive.