Saturday, May 13, 2017

Building a Pacer Super Team

The Indiana Pacers were swept out of the playoffs by the Cavaliers, leading to a lot of offseason questions. How will Larry Bird's exit affect them in both the long and short term? Do they trade Paul George and rebuild? Or do they build a super team? I've come up with a crazy yet realistic way to make them a super team.
The first step is not trading Paul George. Despite the fact that George can opt out after next season, the Pacers should bet on him staying. He's one of the best two way players in the NBA and one of the few people who have had some success guarding LeBron. So keeping Paul George is a must.
Second is signing Kyle Lowry. The Raptors were also swept by the Cavaliers and they may face even more uncertainties than the Pacers. Kyle Lowry is one of them. The Pacers should jump at the chance to sign him. With all the surprisingly good contracts on the books they have enough to offer a max contract to Lowry. With Lowry they have a Point Guard they have a player who can take pressure off Paul George, shoot 3s at a high percentage and assist as well as Jeff Teague. If my information is correct Lowry will cost between 26 million and 30 million. The Pacers have about 36 million to play with.
The third step is doing a sign and trade with the Clippers for Blake Griffin. Now this sounds like it would be impossible given that they just signed Kyle Lowry to a max deal. That's why it has to be a sign and trade. The Clippers are in need of an overhaul and Griffin, in my opinion is the odd man out. The Clippers need more of a stretch 4 with DeAndre Jordan on the team. Plus they intend to sign Chris Paul to a max contract as well. So I have the Pacers packaging Thaddeus Young, Monta Ellis and next years 1st Round Pick for Blake Griffin. Young and Ellis is would add up to about 26 million of the 30 million needed to acquire Blake Griffin on a max contract. They Pacers can either dip into the little money they have left or decline Lavoy Allen's 4.3 million team option. I'm going with declining Allen's option for now. I may change my opinion. Why would the Clippers take on that salary though? So that they can slip Ellis to the Knicks in a package for Carmelo Anthony.
The final step is filling out the roster. C.J, Miles is a very important part of the roster, but he has a player option for 4.7 million. Miles had a great season as the sixth man for the Pacers, so I believe he can make much more money on the open market. If the Pacers explain the plan and ask him to stay he just might. Waiting on Miles decision will determine their next move. If Miles stays, I have the Pacers drafting a Point Guard like Juwan Evans or Andrew Jones to backup Lowry and having Glenn Robinson start at Shooting Guard. If Miles leaves, I have them drafting Luke Kennard and having him start. If they draft Kennard I think they should re-sign Aaron Brooks or Rodney Stuckey to a veterans minimum. Then they can pair with Lance Stephenson off the bench. Either way they will have 13 players on the roster.
The team should look something like this.
Starters
  1. Kyle Lowry
  2. Glenn Robinson
  3. Paul George
  4. Blake Griffin
  5. Myles Turner
Bench
  1. Evans/Jones
  2. Lance Stephenson
  3. C.J. Miles
  4. Kevin Seraphin
  5. Al Jefferson
Reserves
  1. Rakeem Christmas
  2. Joe Young
  3. Georges Niang
Or it will look like this.
Starters
  1. Kyle Lowry
  2. Luke Kennard
  3. Paul George
  4. Blake Griffin
  5. Myles Turner
Bench
  1. Brooks/Stuckey
  2. Lance Stephenson
  3. Glenn Robinson
  4. Kevin Seraphin
  5. Al Jefferson
Reserves
  1. Rakeem Christmas
  2. Joe Young
  3. Georges Niang
The Pacers may want to add one or two more veterans to sure up the roster but I think they should keep it like this. Now doing all this will risk them losing Paul George after next season. However it is a risk worth taking because if they lose him then Kennard and Turner will take up a bigger offense role and they can signing a cheaper defensive small forward. Can this team beat the Cavs and Warriors? I'm going with absolutely.

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