dwtaylor1055

To me the PG and Vic situation are different, however, could approach the same status come 21-22 offseason. IMO here are the two differences below: PG(this is not a stab at PG as I am a big fan of his) - PG was going to be the next big thing in Indiana and for the long term success of the Pacers. He went toe to toe with Lebron and Wade during the playoffs in 11-12 when we lost in the 2nd rd and when we met them in the ECFs in 12-13 and 13-14. Yes PG had George Hill, Lance Stephenson, David West and Roy Hibbert as his primary guys to contribute and cannot forget Luis Scola as a solid rotational guy). Hill was not a true point guard, rather a SG playing out of position but was still never the less solid(unless it was in the 4th and he was at the charity stripe, he'd hit one of two every time lol). Lance is lance and had his good and bad days(antics sometime got the best of him especially when he guarded Lebron), David West was a baaaaaad man and loved his game, his 12 footer just shot fad away reminded me a little of Dirk. Roy was a top shot blocker and rim protector in the NBA at his current time but he fell off the face of the earth rather quickly. Yes there will always be a debate about the Granger for Turner trade and maybe this was the start of the fallout between PG and the Pacers idk. PG was winning and winning big some would say during the 3 year stretch of 11-14 until his injury. Could the front office of helped PG more, yes in my eyes. Did PG force his way out, yes he did in my eyes as he felt the team wasn't constructed better and with how they let West walk this also put a sour taste in PGs mouth). There was uncertainty after his injury and his ego got a little large. And for the new article about Anthony Davis coming to Indy, well not sure that would have ever happened cause he was still under contract with NOLA and what would we have given up in return, 5 1st rd picks and say David West? No way. Vic - Questions surrounded what Vic could be all throughout his career prior to arriving in Indy. When he arrived, he put forth the work, effort and turned out to be what everyone thought he could be prior to his injury. He helped formed a bond amongst the team and the chemistry shot out of the ceiling. He became THE guy and became an All Star. Now his supporting cast his first year consisted of Collison, Bojan, Thad, Myles and Sabonis. This is a very solid core BUT this current roster is even stronger. Brogdon(yes injury prone but best PG to be in Indy in quite some time), TJ Warren(guy can flat out score and not afraid to speak his feelings aka Jimmy Butler), Sabonis(all star as we all know) and Myles(top 5 rim protector in the league). The talent is there for Vic IF he is healthy when he returns for the 20-21 season and that is a big if given the fact that Vic's injury is rare. Yes breaking a leg is a big injury, however, IMO Vic's injury is harder to come back from. Vic's last game before the NBA came to a halt looked as if he was right back to his old self. The NBA, especially for small market teams is all about risks and chances. I am on the side of play it safe and have Vic return for the 20-21 season and with a healthy Brogdon, Warren, Sabonis, Myles and with the improvement of Aaron Holiday and hopefully a returning Justin Holiday this team becomes even better. Give me a top 6 depth chart of Brogdon/Vic/Warren/Sabonis/Myles/Holiday over Hill/PG/Lance/West/Hibbert/Scola any day of the week. Yes times have changed and Hibbert wouldn't make it in todays game IMO but the roster construction in my eyes is much better today surrounding our star player with better talent then back when PG was here. Not a knock on the team when PG was here, but in my eyes, more talent is presently on the Pacers roster. So I say all the above to say this, if the two main things Vic is after come free agency is top money and winning big, the Pacers can win big(health can derail anything) and can throw money at Vic. They would have all their top money in Brogdon($20.5 mil), Vic($27.5 Mil), Sabonis($18.5 mil), Myles($17.5 mil), Warren($11.7 Mil) and Lamb($10.5 mil) puts us at approx. $105 mil if Vic was to take around $27.5 mil. You could flip say Myles and say Lamb(yes hes hurt but very affordable to a team looking for salary dump) and find some additional rotation players to improve the bench and still have a top four of Brogdon/Vic/Warren/Sabonis which in my eyes is very solid still. Salary cap for 2020 is projected to be $115 mil with Luxury tax of $139 mil. This is a very very good top 6 group not to mention Aaron Holiday(expecting a big step up come Orlando with Vic out) on a rookie contract still and say adding Justin Holiday back to the mix that is a very solid group of 8 guys(Coach plays a 9 man rotation).

Statistics show that post lockout injuries were much higher, you will see a similar case here in Orlando. Do you want to risk Oladipo's future next year(sure he could get hurt opening night) or even longer down the road for a bubble event in Orlando? Honestly the pacers chances would be the 2nd rd in the bubble, if you add in a hurt Lamb maybe a game 7 in the 2nd rd. THis move is for both the team and Vics best interest for today and the future. This will benefit Aaron Holiday for the future as a primary contributor.

I think with our team being very balanced, I would shoot for the highest ceiling potential. With that being said, if Aminu came I would be happy, however, we aren't getting tons of top 25 talent year in and year out. That is not Archie's plan.

Archie must feel very confident at landing at least two guys, maybe three for 2021 in addition to our commit already. If they land at least two more and TJD goes pro, that leaves two openings. For me I'd like to see us nab Blake Wesley and Trey Kaufman for sure. Anyone after that is a bonus IMO. Both of these kids help fill depth and can play solid minutes right away if needed.

I second this above. I think they will do everything possible to keep a 82 game season if they start around December. Look for a lot of B2B for every team and a few B2B2Bs as well or 3 games in 4 nights may become the normal for the 2020-2021 season.

Where do you slot PG at on this list? Guard or Forward? I am a huge PG fan, however, it would be hard for even myself to slot him in above any of the guys listed above. Now if we are talking about a 2000's to present Indiana Pacers team, I'd say he'd slot in for a spot

Lander makes it official, enrolled at IU for this upcoming fall semester.

I would agree that 37% is respectable. If he can maintain that and improve his mobility, he will succeed. Now TJD on the other hand, we know he can be dominate around the rim. Do we anticipate him stepping away from the basket at all this upcoming season?

Garza will not succeed in the NBA unless he develops some sort of jump shot and or 3pt shot at a min and improving his mobility. In todays game, you need to be able to step away from the rim or near the rim to be relative

Welcome to the board!

It was leaked about him being upset in the very beginning, but IMO the pacers will always be Leary about handing out multiple big time contracts(nature of the business for small markets) so they don't set the franchise back should something go wrong. Pacers upped their offer and both were happy with it. If you are going to have a "BIG 3" in indy, IMO you need three different positional players(Brogdon/Victor/Sabonis). If Brogdon can stay healthy and that's a big IF then I am fine giving those top three annual contracts between $17 mil and $27 mil. Now Myles Turner comes into play right at the same amount as Sabonis is making, he's a play away from the basket type of guy in a centers body that can block shots consistently. In todays game, its critical that a center can shoot the 3pt respectively(35% or so?). If Sabonis and Myles cannot coexist then one has to go. Sabonis needs to become faster to guard smaller PFs and Myles needs to be more physical when guarding other centers.

Agree, life blood is the draft and hitting a home run for the Pacers(aka DG and PG13). With Brogdon I'd like to see some "rest management" here. Not a big fan of it, but if he misses half the season every year due to injuries it certainly isn't helping us. If this current lineup doesn't work, you must move one of Turner and Sabonis. You have another big(Raw but will be good) in Goga behind them that will be ready come time to play backup C when the time comes to flip one of Turner or Sabonis.

Guess Sumner needs more time to see what he truly has. Kid seems to have potential but buried on current depth chart and injuries keep occuring

Sumner?

Vic and Pacers started contact negotiations to get a feel for what it'll take to keep Vic. It'll be hard to keep all four Oladipo($25 mil or max), Brogdon($20 mil per yr), Turner($18 mil per yr) and Sabonis($17 mil per yr) and spread the rest of the money($80 mil given to these four if Victor takes only $25 mi, that only leaves $45 mil for the rest of a team) and have solid depth. Add in TJ Warren at $12.6 mil, Jeremy Lamb at $10.5 mil, Goga at $3.1 mil, McConnell at $4 mil per yr Aaron Holiday at $4 mil and that brings your total to $110.2 mil, leaving approx. $11 mil left to spend. That total is for only 9 players. Seems fine right? BUT look at a depth chart for only those 9 players: PG - Brogdon/McConnell SG - Victor/Holiday SF - Warren/Lamb PF - Sabonis C - Turner/Goga With $11 mil left to spend, your 1st rd draft pick for the 2022 season will take around $3 mil(picking around low 20s) so now you are left with approx. $8 mil to find a solid backup PF(This will be very hard to find IMO). The 1st rd draft pick will not make an immediate impact in 2020 IMO. All of this isn't considering what is happening with COVID-19 and how it'll affect the salary cap in the years to come(Has to lower for the next few years to help offset losses right?). I say everything above to say this, IMO you do not let your best player leave for nothing and the likelihood of trading Victor for two future all stars and getting lucky(ala PG-13 trade) is very slim. You do not let your best player leave in Oladipo. Aaron Holiday can play the PG or SG position, Lamb can play the SG or SF position, Warren can play the SF or PF position. Resign Vic and flip Myles for a starting stretch 4 PF and backup SF(Warren can play PF for small ball and Lamb can play some SG). This allows Sabonis to slide to his natural position at Center and Goga is his primary backup(Goga will get better and will be a potential all star one day IMO). Your depth chart looks something like this post Turner trade which I think would be very solid: PG - Brogdon/McConnell SG - Victor/Holiday SF - Warren/Lamb/2022 1st rd pick PF - Player trade for Myles/2022 1st rd pick C - Sabonis/Goga

If the NBA would have called goaltending like they should have on Lebron two years ago against Vic in the playoffs, we may be talking upset.

DT - Buckner(top 5 DT in the league) DE - Houston and Turay(Houston still effective given age and Turay was coming on strong before getting injured last yr) LB - Leonard (top 5 LB easily) and Walker(improving as a solid MLB) CB - Rhodes, Moore(Rhodes only 1 yr removed from being an all pro plus is reunited with his coaches from Minny where he was an all pro for two or three years and Moore is a top 5 a lot CB) S - Hooker is special pending his health and Willis has the tools to be a Antoine Bethea type player overall the defense looks solid, top 15 easily IMO.

QB - Rivers(still two good years left IMO) RB - Mack, Taylor, Hines and Wilkins WR - Hilton, Pittman, Paris, Pascal, Fountain TE - Doyle, Burton You have two playmakers at RB, two playmakers at WR(maybe 3 if Paris stays healthy). We wanted playmakers and Ballard did just that on offense with Taylor and Pittman. Both have plenty of college experience which should/will help transition to NFL easier We still have all our picks in 2021 draft, should we need to move higher up in first rd 1 for a QB, we have the ability to do just that should Rivers not work out this upcoming season.

Ballard has done a great job thus far. Buckner was/is much better than what they could have drafted at pick 13, Pittman will be a starter opposite Hilton almost on day one(ceiling is Brandon Marshall or Kenny Golladay which I’m drooling over cause I love Golladay game). Interesting to trade up for Jonathan Taylor, however, he’s a playmaker and the colts love to run the ball. Him and Mack will be a force at 30 carries per game. If Mack decides to not resign after this year, enter Taylor as the lead back. Blackman pick is solid, recovering from knee surgery, however, can stretch the field and is a ball hawk. Potential starter if Malik Hookers 5th yr option isn’t picked up next year. So far this draft is 🔥🔥🔥. I think they address an OT, CB and DL with there next three picks.

I think if Love IS there at 34 Colts will take him. If Love is not easily a WR and CB with their two 2nd rd picks. Hilton is aging, Campbell needs to stay healthy and if so can turn heads as he gets older, Pascal is solid but not a every down starter, Fountain was turning heads in training camp and preseason last year before a season ending injury and Marcus Johnson(some may say who?, is a spot fill to give breaks to others). You add someone like Pittman Jr, Tee Higgins or Denzel Mims, watch out. Comparisons and ceilings similar to Brandon Marshall and Kenny Golladay for those mentioned. I'd gladly take that for the future! Now onto CBs. Rhodes(1 yr prove it deal, could turn into more or not a wild card), Moore(slot CB for foreseeable future and one of the top slot corners IMO), Ya-Sin(IMO will improve and be similar to a Rhodes type player by the end of 2020), Tell(2nd yr back, wild card) and Quincy Wilson(oozing talent but has not shown in games or practice). Should Rhodes experiment fail, you are left with an opening starting cornerback spot opposite of Ya-Sin. My vote would be Bryce Hall from UVA or if somehow one of Kristian Fulton from LSU or Trevon Diggs Alabama falls. If Fulton or Diggs is at 34, you take one of them and then WR with the 44th pick(depth is really well so drop off won't be too bad waiting 10 more picks for a WR like Claypool from ND, Reagor from TCU or Brandon Aiyuck from Arizona St.

Trey is a good signing both value wise and scheme wise. Plugging him into a Eric Ebron role will do him wonders. FOund a stat, the top Tight End run blockers last year were..... 1.) Burton and 3.) Jack Doyle. So we now have two of the top three TE run blockers according to PFF. Burton gives Rivers a vertical threat(Hunter Henry in LA) and a tall guy to lob some short touchdown passes to. I do not see us taking a TE in the draft unless a top TE falls. I am excited for tonight. I doubt the Colts move up, however, I am excited to see who doesn't go in the first round since we have the 2nd pick on day two. My guess for our pick will be a big body WR or CB/IDL with our first two picks.

Welcome aboard @hoosierfan34!

Here ya in regards to coffee. ☕️

So given the circumstances, it’s more likely Lander stays in 2021 class instead of reclassifying to 2020?

My bet is on Trey K. or Aminu