| Peers Like What Pacers Are Doing Authored by Andrew Perna - September 8, 2009 - 1:57 pm
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As I wrote back in July -- Patience Will Pay Off -- Indiana is set up to have a tremendous amount of cap space following the 2010-11 season. Currently, they'll owe just $21 million to Danny Granger, Dahntay Jones, Brandon Rush, Roy Hibbert and Tyler Hansbrough in 2011 (including team options for the latter three).
In addition to providing themselves with a chance to sign a star player or two in 2012, team president Larry Bird and general manager David Morway are setting themselves up to withstand a possible salary cap storm. All indications point to the cap decreasing once again next season.
It's one thing for someone like myself to commend Bird and Morway for their salary cap shuffling and roster rebuilding, but what do their peers think?
"With the uncertainty of the cap you can no longer be committed to players over a long term particularly when you aren't winning," a rival general manager said. "I like the job [the Pacers] have done in keeping the life of the team for two more years. The team will have to win to change that."
Indiana isn't going to threaten Boston, Orlando, Cleveland or Atlanta this season or next, but if healthy they could certainly grab one of the Eastern Conference's final playoff berths. After that, Bird and Morway will have plenty of chips to play with.
"They have positioned themselves well to make that decision over the next two years," the GM added. "If they don't win, they can dramatically change the team. If they win, they may try to keep what they have. They have flexibility."
Andrew Perna is Deputy Editor of RealGM.com and co-host of RealGM's Radio Show. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions via e-mail: Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com. You can also follow Andrew on Twitter: APerna7. |
