There’s a possibility that former CEO Donnie Walsh will return to the franchise in some capacity, multiple sources told The Star.

It’s uncertain what role Walsh will play with the franchise.

That question should be answered next week when team owner Herb Simon returns to Indianapolis for meetings to help clear up the team’s murky front office situation.

Wells goes on to note that Walsh has actually attended some of the pre-draft workouts.

This adds to a somewhat curious summer for the Pacer Front Office situation. Larry Bird’s status is still unclear, with reports of his departure running hot and cold. At the post-season presser, Bird looked and sounded for all the world like a man set to return. Days later, Dan Dakich was saying on his local radio show that Bird was definitely leaving.

Then, we hear from Adrian Wojnarowski that Bird’s plan was to fire the current General Manager, David Morway, and replace him Kevin Pritchard. This was later confirmed by Mike Wells, though with considerably different spin.

Woj portrayed Morway as the victim of some corporate backstabbing by Pritchard. While that may be true, at least to some degree, it’s important to note that Woj has a history with Pritchard, famously torching the former Portland GM back in 2010.

Wells’ sources with the Pacers, however, maintained that Bird’s relationship had soured with Morway on its own.

It takes awhile to earn Bird’s trust and once you burn that bridge he’s done with people. That’s the case right now with Morway.

The final straw with the Bird-Morway relationship, according to those close to the two, came during training camp when the Pacers failed to land O.J. Mayo and then lost out on free agent Jamal Crawford – option No. 2 to be the team’s first shooting guard off the bench – on the same day.

The Pacers had agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that would have sent Josh McRoberts to Memphis for Mayo because the Grizzlies were trying to shed salary. Sources say it was Morway that caused the deal to “fall apart” because he pushed the Grizzlies to take swingman Brandon Rush. Morway did a lot of talking to teams and some of the negotiating. Bird would then step in and make the final decision.

Bird was seething over the blown deal, according to sources. He had lost any remaining trust in Morway after that.

To make matters worse, Crawford and his agent got tired of waiting on the Pacers to make a decision that they told them the same day the Mayo deal fell apart that they weren’t going to sign with them.

Of course, this is probably true, as well, at least to some degree. Regardless of the specific details, this information being fed to Wells does seem to at least indicate that The Powers That Be in the Pacer organization are backing Pritchard, not Morway. All the while, Bird’s future was (is) waiting to be determined by a face-to-face meeting with Herb Simon that was to be held this past week, but now isn’t expected until sometime next week.

And now Donnie Walsh might be in the picture.

The Pacers are now six days from the 2012 NBA Draft, and less than two weeks from the start of a crucial free agent summer, and it is still unclear who will be steering the ship. So, is it time to panic? Are they all out of their minds?

No.

Well, at least probably not. Sure, it could all blow up, but there’s no real reason to expect it. The first thing to realize is that while the situation is unclear to us, it is not necessarily unclear to the people directly involved. It’s entirely possible that what looks like wide gaps from the outside are not considered to be large obstacles by those directly involved.

Perhaps the most assuring fact in the situation is that everyone in the picture – Simon, Bird, Walsh, and Pritchard – are all pretty competent hands. It’s not like we’ve got a power struggle between Larry Brown and Isiah Thomas going on here. The most likely outcome is that everything will be fine.

Still, this isn’t really designed to fill the casual observer with confidence. There are some things here that you wish weren’t. Playing out the Morway-to-Pritchard transition in public is less than ideal. The continuing delays in meeting between Bird and Simon could be troubling, and the (re)introduction of Donnie Walsh’s name at this stage of the game does raise some eyebrows.

We could be seeing some red flags popping up, or we could just be witnessing sausages being made, it’s impossible to tell. The Pacers are victim of having this type of internal decision making being played out quasi-publicly. Keep in mind, that three of the major players – Simon, Bird, and Walsh – all have a history of making decisions on their own terms and their own timeline. This does not lend itself to a quick process.

Is this the way things should be done? No, but I’ll tell you I’ve worked for over 20 years in some of the largest and most successful companies in the world, and I can’t ever recall seeing any company or any one person consistently do things the “way they should be done.”

How will it play out? Don’t know, but I’m not particularly worried. We’ll find out soon enough. For now, there is just the waiting.

According to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, reigning NBA Executive of the Year Larry Bird plans to return as the Indiana Pacers’ president. But once he is officially set to lead the franchise again next year, Bird reportedly wants to make a major change to the front office: replacing current GM David Morway with his former Celtics teammate Kevin Pritchard, who was hired as Pacers’ director of player personnel in the 2011 offseason.

The reason is reportedly more about Bird’s poor relationship with Morway as it is with his respect for Pritchard’s basketball acumen, although the two are presumably intertwined.

The relationship between Morway and Bird reportedly became strained when the GM failed to acquire OJ Mayo (in a sign-and-trade deal for Josh McRoberts) or Jamal Crawford (through free agency) before the season. In fact, according to Wells, the two now have “no relationship,” and Morway is a “soon-to-be ousted general manager.”

The final straw with the Bird-Morway relationship, according to those close to the two, came during training camp when the Pacers failed to land O.J. Mayo and then lost out on free agent Jamal Crawford – option No. 2 to be the team’s first shooting guard off the bench – on the same day.

The Pacers had agreed to a sign-and-trade deal that would have sent Josh McRoberts to Memphis for Mayo because the Grizzlies were trying to shed salary. Sources say it was Morway that caused the deal to “fall apart” because he pushed the Grizzlies to take swingman Brandon Rush. Morway did a lot of talking to teams and some of the negotiating. Bird would then step in and make the final decision.

Bird was seething over the blown deal, according to sources. He had lost any remaining trust in Morway after that.

Bird had tried multiple times over the years land Mayo, who he felt would be the one player on the roster that could get his own shot off the dribble.

To make matters worse, Crawford and his agent got tired of waiting on the Pacers to make a decision that they told them the same day the Mayo deal fell apart that they weren’t going to sign with them.

It also showed, as Bird was never really with Morway during the games.

Things were so bad that during the playoffs Bird took the coaching staff and training staff out to dinner on back-to-back nights during their playoff series against Orlando and brought Pritchard along and didn’t invite Morway, his general manager, sources say. It was Pritchard who often sat next to Bird during the games on the road while Morway usually sat several rows higher.

It was no wonder that Morway interviewed with the Portland Trail Blazers to take over as their GM, a position once held by Pritchard.. That job, however, went to former Los Angeles Clippers GM Neil Olshey. Now, it looks like Bird will return and Morway will be out of a job. Presumably, this will be the biggest “question” that Larry will have for his owner, Herb Simon, when they sit down soon (next week has been reported by Wells) to make Bird’s return official. And if Simon wants Bird to continue to be team president — especially for under-market pay — it would likely be a no-brainer for him to allow Larry to have complete control over who comprises the front-office team.

Whether that means signing the likes of Marc Gasol, Nene, David West, Jamal Crawford or using the luxury of cap space to make a trade, it is certain that something interesting involving the Pacers WILL GO DOWN in the next few weeks. In fact, the Pacers are so far below the salary cap that they figure to be involved in almost every rumor we hear about (see: Rondo, Rajon) regardless of the likelihood of any deal materializing. Due to the fact that the new CBA is expected to retain the same silly salary-matching restrictions for trades involving any team over the cap, Indiana is in the enviable position to help facilitate any major deal as a third party.

There are many course of action the team could take. Word from Mike Wells of the Indy Star, and others, is that the team is interested in Nene but doesn’t want to overpay (which some team almost certainly will) but squeamish on David West given the fact that he is 31 and recently removed from ACL surgery and the Pacers won’t be real Eastern Conference Finals contenders for at least another few years. (Although some people think the West injury risk trope is overblown.) Additionally, Wells has reported that the “Pacers are more likely to make trades then spend a lot of money on free agents,” because they don’t want to overspend.

Of course, there are also question marks regarding the guys already on the roster. Who starts at point: incumbent Darren Collison or NBA champion George Hill? Can Tyler Hansbrough be a starting power forward in this league if team head honcho Larry Bird doesn’t acquire a more-proven big man? Will the Pacers use their “amnesty” (a clause in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that will allow each team to dump one player’s salary from being included on their cap) on Dahntay Jones?

Lastly, what will the schedule look like? We know that teams will have between one and three back-to-back-to-back playing nights — among other logistically complicated/grueling scenarios — on their itinerary this season. Will the Pacers be favored or worse off compared to their peers?

As we enter this stretch of the unknown, there are many more questions than certainties. But the only question that truly matters — will Indiana play basketball this year? — does have a definitive answer: yes. So until something bad happens, just be happy the team is back.

Additionally, Bird and GM David Morway are holding a press conference in a bout 20 minutes. So perhaps they will have a few more answers for us.

Well, according to the executives already on staff, he has.

Bird, who played alongside both Pritchard and soon-to-be associate head coach Brian Shaw (until he was traded) on the 1991-92 Celtics, has stated adamantly that Pritch is not being brought in to replace Larry as the Pacers top exec.

Reports Mike Wells in the Indianapolis Star:

Bird and Morway recently spent several days having candid discussions with Pritchard about the direction the team is headed and how he could be a positive addition for them.

Bird said Friday that they are not bringing Pritchard in as his future replacement.

“That’s not the case at all,” Bird said. “I’ve known Kevin for a number of years and we’re in the position to improve, and his knowledge will help us.”

Bird makes his stance pretty clear here. But just because the stated, public plan is not to give Pritch a one-year apprenticeship under Larry before giving him the keys to the franchise, it doesn’t mean that won’t be the eventual outcome.

Kevin’s reputation has been sullied somewhat around the league given his fallout with Paul Allen in Portland. Some have called him arrogant, self-congratulatory and “green at managing people.” So perhaps he is just viewing this as a good opportunity to get back on an NBA team’s payroll and re-prove that he can still do what he does best, evaluate talent, better than most. He goes back very far with Bird, so Indiana, his home state, gives him a great chance to do just that.

We see former NBA head coaches take assistant roles all the time as they wait for new jobs to open. Dwane Casey and, quite likely, Lawrence Frank have both done exactly that of late. It’s not out of the question that Pritch is doing the same thing.

But it does seem hard to believe that Pritchard would stick around Indy for any longer than one year in anything but a lead decision-making position.

Either way, this would seem to put David Morway in an odd position.

There are now three chefs in the kitchen and all three will likely have some divergent views on how the franchise should spend the salary cap room Bird and owner Herb Simon have spent years patiently waiting for. How much weight will Pritchard’s “advice” have on the final decisions?

I’m not going to speculate what Morway is thinking right now about the direction of the team and his future in it, but here he is speaking on the hire. (via Pacers.com)

From Larry’s general public demeanor of late, however, I don’t think there are many people who would be surprised if this was the final go-around in a Hall of Fame NBA career that began in the 1970s.

So it is also no shock to learn that the Pacers are about to hire former Trailblazers GM Kevin Pritchard, according to multiple reports. Pacers super scoop Mike Wells broke the news of Indiana hiring Pritchard.

The Pacers are in the process of hiring former Portland GM Kevin Pritchard, according to multiple sources.

He added that Pritchard’s role was still uncertain given the fact that Bird already has an understudy in David Morway.

Its unclear what Pritchard’s role will be w the Pacers but he’ll work under President Larry Bird and GM David Morway, according to sources

This is another move that should excite Pacers fans.

For a time, Kevin Pritchard was the darling GM of the league. He became known for his talent evaluation skills and orchestrating savvy draft-day deals. “You got Pritch-slapped” was common NBA dork parlance at one point in reference to any GM who was foolish enough go toe-to-toe in a trade with Pritch.

His greatest moment undoubtedly came on June 28, 2005, the day of the 2005 NBA Draft in which Portland acquired the only two draftees that have so far made an All-NBA team. At the time, it seemed quite likely that he got the two best players available, Brandon Roy and LaMarcus Aldridge, despite only having one pick in the lottery. In hindsight, the concerns over Roy’s knee were real and Rajon Rondo, drafted at #21 by Boston, is probably better than Aldridge, but the team rebounded to relevancy largely based on what happened that night.

Two years later, however, the beginning of the end likely started. Pritch and the Blazers took Greg Oden over Kevin Durant. And we know how that turned out.

Stripped of golden boy status and increasingly, according to reports, caught up in squabbles with other high-level Portland personnel, Pritchard fell out of favor with billionaire owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. Compensation and control became issues, reportedly, and eventually Allen felt that Pritch could no longer co-exist with the franchise. He fired Pritchard, leaving many NBA fans who were unaware of the growing internal turmoil scratching their heads.

That’s all in the past though.

Pritchard arrives anew with the Pacers and the future is all that matters to Hoosiers. Unfortunately, there are many questions. Will Bird groom Kevin to take over his job next season? Where does this leave David Morway? Is the team going back to the co-GM strategy employed during the Walsh/Bird days that so many fans loathed?

All these issues will play out in time. There could be conflict during the structural transition or it could all work seamlessly. Who knows really?

But, for now, the Pacers now stand as one of the biggest winners so far this offseason among those teams that lacked a top pick in the draft.

In George Hill, they have acquired a proven veteran who can produce on the court and bring a champion’s calm to a precarious, listless locker room. In Frank Vogel, they have secured the services of a guy who helped this team turn the corner towards hope more than a half-decade of flailing mediocrity. In Brian Shaw, they have acquired a veteran assistant who learned the coaching craft from the best to ever do it and was widely considered a front-runner to coach the Lakers. And in Kevin Pritchard, they have acquired an executive who has an excellent track record of finding creative ways to infuse a team with talent — the one thing this franchise truly needs.

UPDATE: As far as terms of the new deal, Mike Wells has the skinny:

Bird will continue to take things year-to-year, welcome to stay as president as long as he wants, owner Herb Simon said.

Interesting

Says Larry:

“The past few months have been the most enjoyable since I took over as President of Basketball Operations,” said Bird. “To see our young players develop, to see us make the playoffs and then to see us compete in a hard-fought series with Chicago are indications we are headed in the right direction and it has made me even more determined to help this team improve further and go to the next level.

“I hope we can keep our core basketball group together and one of my first priorities will be to address the coaching situation.”

Says Herb

“I’m quite pleased with the success we experienced this past season and pleased with the direction our team is going,” said Simon. “I’m glad Larry is staying to help us continue in the positive direction we are going.”

So … that’s settled.

Now time to find a coach. I hear Frank Vogel is available.

It says here Larry Bird, who has sold his Indianapolis home and is moving back to Florida where his son plans to finish college, general manager David Morway and Vogel are on the precipice of becoming ex-Pacers.

Well, it says here that the nugget of actual info is about the sale of Bird’s house and his impending move to Florida, and that nugget is surrounded by trademark Vecsey speculation.  The rest of the column (related to the Pacers) is more of the same, but it’s worth addressing nontheless.  Here’s are the key points of what Mr. Vecsey thinks might happen:

I’m not saying owner Herb Simon won’t try to re-enlist Bird, though that’s a distinct possibility. Should an offer be extended, however, it definitely won’t be remotely near the $5 million he will have banked for eight straight seasons — more like $1 million, tops, per year for three or four.

That’s quite the haircut.  I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but if it is, it raises two seriously disturbing questions about Herb Simon.  First, what is it exactly about the job that Larry Bird is doing that would make Simon think, “You, at $5 mil, he ain’t cuttin’ it, but at a mill, I’m cool.”?  Second, and more importantly, does this mean that he’s willing to forgo fundamental basketball goals for fiscal concerns?

For whatever reason, if Simon and Bird do part ways, the natural progression is for Donnie Walsh to return from whence he came and where his wife, daughter and dogs still live on adjoining properties.

Regardless whether James Dolan wants Walsh back next season or not, it’s easy to conceive the Knicks’ president concluding his health would be better served by escaping New York’s laboratory and its microscope-wielding multitude, and perhaps re-stake his claim to his former Pacers position, if not re-control of Conseco Fieldhouse.

Vecsey himself acknowledges that this is possibly a fantasy, but it’s one that makes some degree of sense — at least from Herb Simon’s point of view.  For roughly 22 of the first 25 years that the Simons owned the Pacers, Donnie Walsh was their de facto binky.  He basically ran everything.

In 2008, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported that Herb and Mel Simon preferred to keep Donnie Walsh and fire Bird.

Walsh’s future with the Pacers also remains up in the air. According to a high-ranking Pacers official, the team’s co-owners, Herbert and Melvin Simon, are hoping to retain Walsh and fire team president Larry Bird. The same source indicated that Walsh has too much respect for Bird to fire him and then reassume full control of the team.

So, will Donnie Walsh be coming home to the Pacers?  While I can’t say that that interest exists in Donnie Walsh’s mind, or that any plans are being made in Herb Simon’s, I have little doubt that Simon would be perfectly fine with such a scenario.

Mel Daniels, whose ABA number is retired by the Indiana Pacers, was fired as the team’s director of player personnel.

In today’s message-conscious world, the word “fired” isn’t something you expect to hear associated with Mel Daniels. Mel was — and still is — a Pacers icon. He led the franchise to three ABA titles and has been in the front office in various capacities since 1986.

It seems to me that someone of that import to the organization and the community would merit more than an apparently hastily prepared 71-word report. The Pacers press release used softer language, but did nothing to indicate that this action had been well-planned:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 23, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers today confirmed that Director of Player Personnel, Mel Daniels, is no longer with the organization.

“Mel was a great basketball player who helped make the Pacers a well-known franchise”, stated Larry Bird, President of Basketball Operations, “and we wish him well.”

The Pacers are working with Mel, and we are hopeful we will be able to make a joint statement in the near future.

The way the news is being reported, and the fact that the Pacers are confirming that Daniels is no longer employed, leads me to believe that these are relatively rapidly changing events, rather than a pre-planned, cost-saving reduction or termination.

Many Pacer fans, including myself, were somewhat dazed by the move. Events took a further turn when Peter Vecsey unloosed a volley at the Pacers in his blog for the New York Post. Some of his more inflammatory comments included:

Owner Herb Simon and team president Larry Bird should be ashamed for not superseding GM David Morway’s decision to hatchet one of Indianapolis’ most revered sports figures, something he’s wanted to do for months; conveniently he was out of the office, in Orlando, when the execution was implemented.

… and …

Donnie Walsh should be embarrassed he ever hired such a paperweight as Morway, a former player agent whose basketball opinion rings hollow at his own family dinner table, to understudy him.

At first blush, I had to wonder why Vecsey, or anyone outside of the immediate Pacer community, would take any notice of Mel’s termination. Secondly, it struck me odd that he was so vitriolic in his comments. Almost immediately, however, I realized that this wasn’t the first time this week that Peter Vecsey had led off his column with a story about the Pacers. On Sunday, October 18, he published a piece headlined, “Sources: Bird set to go at end of season.” In the piece, he said two sources, a  former and a current employee of the Pacers, had said that Larry Bird would step down at the end of the season. The reasons given were health and “lack-of-enjoyment” issues.

For those who have followed the Pacers, this is an entirely plausible scenario. Though he was a successful coach, Bird’s post-basketball career has never even approached the success he experienced as a player. The humiliation this franchise has suffered (much self-inflicted), along with the paucity of talent and scarce financial resources, can’t make that job pleasant for anyone. However, Vecsey did not stop at that. Perhaps the most potentially incendiary comment came towards the end, quoting an unnamed source:

One thing’s for sure, “Our players were sick when they heard about the extension,” someone on the scene accentuated.

Of course, “the extension” refers to the Pacers decision to pick up the 2010-2011 option on head coach Jim O’Brien’s contract. If this news was in fact true, in part or in total, it would be very reminiscent of the dysfunction that’s plagued the Pacers for years.

In any case, the nature of Daniels’ firing, coupled with the quick response from the distant Vecsey, led me to strongly suspect that Mel Daniels might be his source inside the Pacer organization.

This story is far from completely told, however. While I was writing this piece, Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star posted a column on Daniels’ ouster. In it, he notes others’ speculation that Daniels was the source for Vecsey’s story, but he also mentions that Daniels denied that charge on the record. He gives the outline of political infighting in the Pacers’ front office. This is hardly news. Anybody who has worked in a corporate setting has witnessed this type of feuding first hand.

While he notes that the biggest battles were between Daniels and Pacers’ GM David Morway, he does cite that Daniels also apparently had ongoing disputes with Coach Jim O’Brien and Director of Scouting Joe Ash. Mel, unsurprisingly, was apparently loud and unapologetic in voicing his dissent. I clearly do not know this specific dynamic first hand, but I can tell you that the value of that particular approach in a management setting is variable, at best.

Both the Pacers and Daniels are being relatively mum on the subject. The only person Kravitz quoted in his column was former Pacer Bob Netolicky, a long-time teammate of Daniels:

Netolicky believes Bird and Morway wanted to be surrounded by yes-men and they chafed when Daniels had the temerity to disagree.

“Mel’s basketball knowledge is so great, he knew more about the game than all of those (front-office) people put together, especially in terms of seeing a player and understanding how he’ll fit in,” Netolicky said. “All I know is, some people just dance to the beat, and Mel made the mistake of voicing his opinion.”

Netolicky had also been let go by the Pacers in May. He had been with the team for 10 months, and they told him “it was a cost-cutting thing.”

Kravitz finishes his piece with the following dark words:

The wounds are deep. The anger is real.

So real, it wouldn’t shock me if Daniels demanded his jersey be taken down from the fieldhouse rafters.

We haven’t heard the last of this.

Now, Kravitz, like Vecsey, loves the drama, and isn’t above valuing a provocative comment over any actual truth or substance. That could certainly be the case here, but this news is coming to the Pacer nation pretty hard and pretty fast. The problem that Bird, Morway, et al, face is that all of the issues occurred behind closed doors. This isn’t a GM with a history of bad moves or a coach with a long losing record. The Pacer community as a whole will never really know what happened. So what it will come down to is what — or more accurately, who — people are going to believe.

Who’s got more credibility with the Pacer faithful: The guy whose number is hanging in the rafters or the guy in this picture?

There are so many ways that this can go, and almost none of them are good for the franchise.

If what Vecsey, Kravitz and Netolicky are claiming is true then the Pacers have replaced an old dysfunction (the apparent inability for Bird and Walsh to reach mutually acceptable decisions on personnel) for another (a front office unwilling to listen to opinions it doesn’t want to hear). And even if the sentiments expressed by those three prove exaggerated or simply untrue, but Daniels decides to play the victim, a large portion of the fanbase will be alienated. That, in some ways, could be just as bad or worse than a dysfunctional front office, because we’re talking about the absolute hardcore fans here — and even they only have so much patience.

In either case, the Pacers, as usual, are screwed.

If I were to speculate (which I’m gonna do), I’d guess that Mel had effectively become more trouble than he was worth. I’d also say that it seems likely that Bird and Morway believed that he was Vecsey’s source, despite his denial. (Given Vecsey’s response, I’d consider that to be reasonable speculation.) I’d have to believe they had some pretty strong motivation for letting him go, and for doing it now. Unless they’re completely naive, Bird and Morway would have to know that this would get an ugly reaction from a PR-standpoint. The timing couldn’t have been worse (effectively eclipsing the positive image surveys by Frank Luntz), and the handling could not have been more ham-handed. (I should probably wait on making that judgment until this all plays out. It can always get worse.)

I’m beginning to wonder if the Pacers should forgo trying to come up with a new slogan each year (this years’ tagline is “Passion. Pride. Pacers”), and simply contact Dorothy Parker’s estate and acquire the permanent rights to “What fresh hell is this?”

If that’s too high-brow, perhaps “D’oh!” will be more appropriate.

Indiana entered the summer of 2009 as a team needing to change and improve, but they had very few options to do so. They had the 13th and 52nd picks in a notoriously weak draft. They had a budget of around $9 million to fill out the roster. They had to figure out what to do with restricted free agents Jarrett Jack and Josh McRoberts.

With all of the exciting draft prospects gone by the time the Pacers picked, and all of the attractive free agents out of their price range, the Pacers options appeared to be a choice between “Meh” and “Bored, Now.” Watching Larry Bird and David Morway handle the draft and free agency this summer brought 30-year-old flashbacks of my mom shopping at Zayre’s for my school clothes. They have eschewed the trendier locales and the pricier aisles, instead heading straight to the clearance section — a strategy that seems destined to draw snickers from the cooler, richer kids and an exasperated “Awwww, mom!” from Pacer fans.

It’s hard for Pacer fans to watch that snazzy power forward (Blake Griffin) leaving the store in another team’s shopping basket, just as it was hard last summer when we couldn’t take home that really cool point guard (Derrick Rose). It’s hard for Pacer fans to watch their former nemesis (Detroit) go shopping with daddy’s Gold Card. It’s hard to watch that car they have come to like (Jarrett Jack) be replaced by a cheaper one with more miles (Watson).

It’s hard to get excited about adding a collection of players who scream “serviceable” when “difference-maker” is the most ardent desire. But, again, Pacer fans can find solace in the words of founding father Benjamin Franklin: “He that can have patience, can have what he will.”

Learning to Live “In Between“

In my 43 years of stumbling through life, I’ve come to the conclusion that “in between” is without question the crappiest place to be.  That is where the Pacers and their fans find themselves. They are in between the bad and the good. In between the despair and the hope. In between the fall and the rise.

The problem with “in between” is the uncertainty. It’s the feeling that you could go either way. Doubt grows, first making you antsy, then panicky.

Now, don’t mistake my intentions here. I am not saying “Be patient. Everything will be OK.”  I have no idea whether everything will be OK. I am simply saying that remaining patient will be crucial for everyone as the Pacers try to get from here to there.

In the meantime, Bird and Morway must avoid confusing activity with accomplishment. It could be reasonably argued that the small moves this summer are proof that the front office is doing exactly that, but I would disagree on two counts. First of all, the acquisitions made this summer (Tyler Hansbrough, Dahntay Jones, Earl Watson and Solomon Jones) all bring qualities that were lacking in last year’s squad, primarily in the areas of defense, toughness and athleticism. Given the tenuous position of both their finances and their reputation, the Pacers must continue to put a competitive product on the floor. While none of these players may be difference makers, they may help players like Granger, Rush and Hibbert to be more effective.

Secondly, none of the decisions made this summer will be difficult to “un-make.” Some may question the length of Dahntay Jones’ contract or the size of Earl Watson’s one-year salary. But, as in all assessments, proper perspective is necessary.  To shed some light, I offer the following three financial nuggets:

1. Only the contracts of Hansbrough and Dahntay Jones extend beyond two years (with the final two years of Hansbrough’s being team options)
2. Over the next four years, Dahntay Jones will be paid $5 million less than the Pacers will have paid Jamaal Tinsley to not play a single game in three seasons.
3. The five contracts added this summer (Watson, Jones, Jones, Hansbrough and McRoberts) represent about $27 million in total salary commitments (and that’s including team options). Compare that to the some past decisions that couldn’t be “un-made,” and you’ll see that the price paid to acquire five new players is roughly equal to the Jonathan Bender extension, about $6 million less than the salary burden added in the Murphleavy trade, and about $13 million less than the Tinsley extension.

The moves made by Bird and Morway this summer were designed to address modest, short-term goals without jeopardizing any long-term plans or flexibility. As with all decisions, some will prove wise, and some will prove foolish. But even if they all fail, they won’t cost the franchise as dearly as any one of a half-dozen or more foolish decisions made in the years since the Pacers played in the NBA Finals.

There will be one or two minor deals made yet this summer, the most likely of which will center around the rumored sign-and-trade deal with Boston for Marquis Daniels. It is doubtful, however, that any more acquisitions will cause much more than a ripple in terms of Pacer or NBA news.

A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Patience is crucial for Pacer fans, if for no other reason than to preserve their sanity. It took years to create this quagmire, and it will take years to extricate the team from it. Pacer fans will need to save their energy for next year, when we see the real, foundational moves begin to be made. (Or, at least, I hope will be made.)

There has been a recurring charge over the past few years that Indiana’s leadership, particularly Larry Bird, has the goal of perpetual mediocrity. I’ve always considered this a straw man argument, primarily because I can’t imagine Bird, of all people, embracing mediocrity.

That being said, I think it is valid to be worried that mediocrity may be the final result of Larry Bird’s tenure. Over the past two years, Bird and Morway have demonstrated that they are quite adept at righting the ship, plugging the leaks and navigating the treacherous seas the Pacers blundered into years ago. The bigger question remains whether or not they actually will lead the Pacers back into contention. They have done a wonderful job of bringing in players that the fans can feel good about cheering for, most recently demonstrated by Earl Watson’s charming and engaging performance in his fan chat. This is laudable, but these players will need to be able to win games, too.

Bird and Morway have shown the ability to make sound, conservative decisions when those are appropriate. But do they have a vision? Can they make bold, aggressive moves when the opportunity presents itself? Can they create that opportunity, if it is not forthcoming?

Regrettably, the answers to these questions belong to tomorrow. And tomorrow is not coming today.

So until it does, I leave you with one last quote from The Count of Monte Cristo author Alexandre Dumas Pére: “All human wisdom is summed up in two words: wait and hope.”

Per policy, neither the Pacers nor Tinsley’s agent commented on any terms of the deal. Both sides were cordial and resolute not to discuss anything publicly. This, of course, prevented anyone from knowing how much the Pacers paid — for nearly 12 full hours.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star soon reported that the buyout agreement will pay Tinsley approximately $10.7 million of the $14.7 million remaining on the last two years of his contract.

When a player is bought out, the amount of the buyout replaces the original salary on the team’s payroll for salary cap purposes. It is spread over the remaining years with the same timing as the original contract. So in buying out Jamaal’s contract, the Pacers were able to immediately reduce their cap figure by roughly $1.9 million this year and $2.1 million next season. (Or, if Jamaal signs with another team for greater than the veteran’s minimum, which is $1.2 million for a player of Tinsley’s age and experience, the Pacers’ cap hit will be reduced by one half of the difference between the contract signed and the minimum.)

That’s what happened. But what does it mean?

The Bloody Stump

There’s very little question that the resolution of the “Tinsley question” was vital to the Pacers future. There is a sense of overwhelming relief flowing throughout the Pacer faithful. With Jamaal’s departure, the team is rid of the last of the players identified with the utter embarrassment that has befallen this franchise in the five years since the infamous Malice in the Palace in November 2004.

Furthermore, both the $4.0 million savings and clearing roster spot are going to be very valuable to this team over the next two years. These both give the team flexibility, and there are few more precious commodities for a team operating in such tight fiscal quarters. This move has allowed the Pacers to move forward.

But while they have freed themselves from the bear trap, they’re not entirely out of the woods yet. While the team did save $4.0 million, it’s important to remember that they really did have to “gnaw off an ankle” to get it. Indiana will still be paying $10.7 million to a player who is likely going to be wearing another uniform. That’s close to 10% of their total cap going to dead salary.

While the $14.7 million owed to Tinsley seemed particularly onerous given the fact that he won’t play, it should be noted that it pales in comparison to the $23.0 million owed to Troy Murphy over the next two years. Mike Dunleavy is similarly owed $20.3 million over the next two years, and even the most optimistic estimates don’t have him returning to the lineup before the January, 2010. And TJ Ford and Jeff Foster are still under contract for $17.0 million and $12.7 million, respectively, over the next two years.

As everyone knows, this franchise was dealt a severe blow by the brawl all those years ago. Just as much damage has been done by desperate reactionary moves since then, however.

Follow the bouncing ball:

(1) Ron Artest burns his Indianapolis bridge by demanding a trade and is traded for (2) Peja Stojakovic, who gets a ridiculous offer from (3) New Orleans, who agrees to do a sign-and-trade deal that gives the Pacers front office (4) a “trade exception” that they use to acquire (5) Al Harrington — who comes over from the Hawks to begin his second tenure as a Pacer, aka, Al Harrington Part Deux, aka, 2 Al 2 Harrington — but he flops both critically and commercially at the box office and gets lumped into another deal with Golden State as a sweetener so that the Pacers can unload (6) Stephen Jackson (who, believe it or not, was a bigger pariah in the community than either Ron Artest or the bear trap in question here) in a trade that nets a return of (7) Mike Dunleavy, (8) Troy Murphy, and (9) something on the order of $33 million in additional salary, which virtually guarantees that there is no way that the Pacers would be able to offer a significant extension for the 2009-2010 season to (10) Danny Granger without unloading the $23 million salary owed to (11) Jermaine O’Neal at that time.

Phew…

Now, Jamaal’s buyout basically ensures that the Pacers will not only stay under the luxury tax threshold this season but probably still have $2 to $3 million of wiggle room once they fill out their roster. This helps in a number of ways, the first of which aligns with the rumored Pacers/Celtics sign-and-trade deal that will send Marquis Daniels to Boston. The buyout and the resulting wiggle room makes almost any of the proposed scenarios with Boston doable without a threat of exceeding the luxury tax limit. (The popular speculation has the Pacers acquiring one or more of Bill Walker, Eddie House, Tony Allen, JR Giddens or Gabe Pruit if the deal goes through.)

That breathing room will evaporate next summer, however. With doom-and-gloom projections coming from the NBA corporate office, it is likely that the luxury tax threshold will drop from $69.9 million this year to no more than $65.0 million next season — and people are saying it could drop as low $62.0 million if the NBA’s overall “basketball-related income” drops by a scary-but-possible 5 percent.

Meanwhile, the Pacers are already committed to over $62.5 million in guaranteed contracts next season for only nine players. If you include the partially unguaranteed contract of Josh McRoberts and the guaranteed contract of the team’s first round pick next summer, they would already eclipse the potential $65 million luxury tax ceiling — and they would still need to fill three or four roster spots.

The Shining Beacon of Hope

The Pacers have paid the luxury tax in the past – and spent several years with one of the higher payrolls in the League – but they have been absolutely committed to avoiding it over the last two to three years. This financial philosophy makes perfect sense given the team’s current level of performance both on the floor and on the bottom line. Fiscal prudence isn’t exciting, but it’s a necessary quality if the franchise is to survive these rocky days of sparse attendance and apathetic public support in Indianapolis.

As the ship gets back on course, the summer of 2011 is the shining beacon for both Pacer ownership and Pacer fans. It is the hope held in the distance — the day Indiana can finally be back on track to make the bold, aggressive moves necessary to improve this franchise’s lot.

The Pacers have over $43 million in contracts that expire in the summer of 2011. These can be used either to create cap space to acquire free agents or as trading chips before the trade deadline in 2011. Given the Pacers history on the free agent market — or, more accurately, the lack thereof — the popular assumption is that major talent acquisition must be done through trade or the draft.

Thus, it will be very important to watch how the Pacers organization, and specifically its ownership, approaches the 2010-2011 luxury tax issue. Recent history says they will do what they can to get avoid the tax. But clearing salary will be difficult and Indiana will have a tough time finding takers for contract dumps. They face two separate issues that preclude teams from wanting to take on salary: (1) the declining, Leaguewide basketball-related income and salary cap structure, and (2) the rapidly approaching, much-ballyhooed and long-dreamt-about summer of 2010, the year for which many teams have been specifically clearing space to lure big fish free agents like LeBron James, Dwyane, Chris Bosh, Dirk Nowitzki and Carlos Boozer.

There are two crucial questions here:

1.    Can the Pacers find a way to avoid the luxury tax for the 2010-2011 season?
2.    Can they do it without severely undermining their opportunities for the following summer?

Hoping the Wound Will Heal

The Pacers are certainly not in an enviable position. The relief gained from the Tinsley buyout, while fantastic emotionally, is limited financially. It continues to be a step in the right direction, however. The team seemed to not understand how to cut their losses, as evidenced by the Artest to Peja to Harrington to Holy-Mary-Mother-of-God-who-gave-them-those-contracts routine.

Tinsley’s buyout may have been a blow to the pride of Bird and the Simons, and I’m sure it gives plenty of Pacers fans heartburn. Still, it was the prudent thing to do. Bird, Morway, et al, face a grueling uphill climb to get a competitive team on the floor while straightening out the finances.

I guess we’ll find out if they’re up to the job.

Eight years ago as a rookie, Jamaal Tinsley averaged 9.4 ppg and 8.1 apg and looked like one of the most promising young players in the game. After a long-term contract extension and a series of off-court problems, however, the Pacers are now viewing the reality of paying him to not play for the team as a relief — even if the actual cap relief of the buyout is minimal.