Pacers Pre-Season Presentation S62

[PaulyP]

Another season in the books, another 2nd Round playoff exit--thats 4 straight!
Our expectations last year were pretty modest but thanks to the strides made by Svi and the trade of He Hor we were able to raise our level and hit our ceiling once again and set us up pretty decently for the year ahead

This offseason we were able to flip Svi for Jericho Sims, a player coming off All-PBSL 3rd Team and an All-Star selection last term. One of our weaknesses last year was controlling the glass, allowing our opponents way too many offensive rebounds so Sims will definitely help shore up that area as well as having more of a consistent threat in the post on offense.

I think our team this year is deeper and more experienced than the one previous and im expecting us to once again fly under the radar and pick up plenty of regular season wins, fight for the division title, and have homecourt advantage in the first round. Whether or not we can go further than that will depend on our stars, namely Herb Jones. I'd love for him to be a bit more selfish and announce himself as an MVP candidate this year

Our starters are pretty settled except for the other wing spot, we'll experiment with several options to see who compliments the starting unit the best but we are excited about the year to come and NOT excited about this big ole tax bill coming our way at years end so lookout for a potential Pat Williams trade to soften the blow if he cant pick up his performance. A 6-0 preseason isnt the end all be all as far as projections but I think it shows were definitely on the right track in terms of our goals this year

Now open to any and all questions so i can earn them points...HIT ME!

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You mention a potential Patrick Williams trade to soften the blow of your tax bill. If he wasn't on your team, who would win the minutes opened up by his absence, and what qualities would earn them that spot?

[K-100]

Looks like it has been over 20 seasons since the Pacers Ring of Honor had any new members. Apart from Herb Jones has there been anyone since J. Williams who could be a future inductee?

[Eazy P]

What do you think is contributing to these 2nd round exits

[IamQuailman]

Do you forsee a Patrick Williams buyout or salary dump? If so, have you had any preliminary conversations?

[PaulyP]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: You mention a potential Patrick Williams trade to soften the blow of your tax bill. If he wasn't on your team, who would win the minutes opened up by his absence, and what qualities would earn them that spot?

Im intrigued at the idea of using Roman Milam as a stretch 4 and spacing the floor for Herb and Hor to create plays and also John Reyna as an elite offensive rebounder if we need to go big off the bench and maybe even a buyout candidate later in the season could force their way into that role. Were very fortunate to have someone like Tony Parris whos able to defend at a high level and NOT foul so the burden is lessened on the backup bigs

[PaulyP]

Looks like it has been over 20 seasons since the Pacers Ring of Honor had any new members. Apart from Herb Jones has there been anyone since J. Williams who could be a future inductee?

There are plenty of candidates! Ive just reached the character limit for the sig section and ive meant to do like a banner-type thing and add the names on that but thats like a project i keep putting off. Guys like John Stoll and DeAaron Fox absolutely are deserving names alongside unsung heroes like Mike Camby and Robert Bonnett. A more recent name folks will remember is Mamadi Diakite who was a killer for us for his entire tenure.

I absolutely do want to update it though and add more names. This league has been going on so long and theres so much history to it that its kinda crazy to think about

[PaulyP]

What do you think is contributing to these 2nd round exits

I really think its just talent, im an optimist but there was no chance I was beating a Boston juggernaut that had Cade, Folse, and Blakeney last year in a series. The year before that another 70-win Laker team who I had traded Larry Canfield to them to strengthen their playoff hopes in exchange for Svi so that was never going to be competitive.

This year I think we have a good amount of starpower and depth so im intrigued if we can get into that top tier mix because im not paying $100M over the cap for 45-50 wins ill tell ya that

[PaulyP]

Do you forsee a Patrick Williams buyout or salary dump? If so, have you had any preliminary conversations?

If he doesnt shoot 42% with a bunch of dumb Fryeing jumpshots and we win, he can stay. But the Patrick Williams for the last 2 seasons is not welcome. He hasnt been shopped to anyone in particular over the offseason but with the current landscape of only 5 teams above the cap that should make salary dumpers a bit nervous I think

[IamQuailman]

Do you forsee a Patrick Williams buyout or salary dump? If so, have you had any preliminary conversations?

If he doesnt shoot 42% with a bunch of dumb Fryeing jumpshots and we win, he can stay. But the Patrick Williams for the last 2 seasons is not welcome. He hasnt been shopped to anyone in particular over the offseason but with the current landscape of only 5 teams above the cap that should make salary dumpers a bit nervous I think

(call me )