Pacers Notebook: What to do with final roster spot?
By CHRIS GOFF
ISL Correspondent
The Pacers don’t have much left to spend in free agency to round out their roster. They have $2.15 million of their mid-level exception remaining and the option to sign guys for the veteran’s minimum.
Based on the team’s internal budget, they are only about $2.7 million away from hitting a hard cap. That’s the luxury-tax threshold, set at $71.748 million in total salary.
So far, they have 14 players, including small forwards Paul George, Danny Granger, Chris Copeland, Solomon Hill and Gerald Green, power forward David West, centers Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahinmi and Miles Plumlee, shooting guards Lance Stephenson and Orlando Johnson, and point guards George Hill, C.J. Watson and Donald Sloan.
By that listing, because Copeland is stretched defensively and on the glass, the Pacers are the weakest at power forward on the depth chart. They could use someone with size and the ability to threaten on both ends, especially the latter because Plumlee won’t score.
Here are several candidates who could play the 4 position off the bench next season for less than $2 million: Ivan Johnson (who IndySportsLegends.com has confirmed as being on the Pacers’ radar), Chris Wilcox (who has extensive experience), Kenyon Martin (who wants to return to the Knicks, and they seem mutually interested), Drew Gooden (the Bucks recently used their amnesty provision, making him an unrestricted free agent after he clears waivers), DeJaun Blair (but he’s small and ineffective defensively) and Jared Jeffries (who would work as depth).
While most of those players are looking for more sure playing time next season, the Pacers “are in play for a championship,” as one agent put it. That’s good news in a market where more and more guys value being on a contender.
