Pacers look to improve

Pacers now must improve on this year
Obstacles include possibly losing player to expansion, having last pick in the draft.

By Sekou Smith
June 3, 2004


After three seasons that ended with a first-round playoff exit, the Indiana Pacers finally broke through this season with a trip to the Eastern Conference finals.

With a core group of players between the ages of 23 and 28 and under contract for the near future, the Pacers' future looks promising.

Add to that the hard lessons learned from their six-game series against the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals and it's clear the Pacers will have incentive to return with force next season.

"You gain the pain of what it feels like to lose, and the memory of, 'OK, we've been there, and we came up short,' " Pacers veteran Austin Croshere said. "You remember that feeling, and it gives you a little more hunger and a little more passion to go further the next year."

But building on a franchise-record and NBA-best 61-21 record will have its challenges.

And whether Croshere, and several other players, return won't be known for at least the next two months.

A lot can change in an NBA offseason -- just ask the Minnesota Timberwolves, who revamped their roster last season after seven straight first-round playoff exits and came within two games of playing in the NBA Finals this season.

The Pacers first have to get through the NBA's June 22 Charlotte Bobcats expansion draft. The Pacers have until June 12 to submit a list of eight players they want to protect, leaving their remaining non-free agents exposed for selection by the league's newest team.

The Pacers exposed to the expansion draft could include Croshere and centers Scot Pollard and Primoz Brezec.

But more important is whom the Pacers will protect.

Jermaine O'Neal, Ron Artest, Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender, Jeff Foster, Fred Jones, Jamaal Tinsley and rookie swingman James Jones make up the core group the Pacers will build around.

But what to do then with Pacers legend Reggie Miller? The Pacers can make sure he doesn't get away by sending money and a future draft pick to the Bobcats to ensure they don't take Miller.

Given Miller's age, 38, reduced role and the fact he has played his entire career with the Pacers, Charlotte's interest wouldn't appear to be very high.

The Bobcats also have made it clear they don't want to take on large contracts, meaning Croshere -- who has three years remaining on the seven-year, $51 million deal he signed after the 2000 season -- probably would not fit into their plans, either.

Each of the league's 29 teams may protect eight players who are under contract or are restricted free agents at the conclusion of the 2003-04 season.

The Bobcats can't select a player from every team so it is possible no Pacer will be taken in the expansion draft.

That leaves the traditional draft on June 24 as the next chance for the Pacers to significantly alter their makeup.

Upgrading the roster that way could prove an even tougher assignment.

The Pacers pick last in the first and second rounds because they had the league's best regular-season record, unless a deal is made to move up.

Historically, that last spot hasn't produced an impact player. But there have been exceptions.

Last June, the Dallas Mavericks selected Josh Howard with the 29th pick. He turned out to be one of the best players in a star-studded rookie class.

With the last pick in the first round of the 2001 draft, the San Antonio Spurs nabbed Tony Parker. Last year Parker helped guide the Spurs to an NBA championship.

But more often than not that last pick nets players such as Dan (2002), Mark Madsen (2000) and Nazr Mohammed (1998) -- role players with slim chances of becoming stars.

In a draft expected to be dominated by teenagers, both domestic and foreign, a steal late in the opening round is a possibility.

Howard was the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year as a senior at Wake Forest, an honor that would have assured him being a lottery pick 10 years ago.

Instead, the Mavericks picked up a gem by staying put and selecting the best available player.

The Pacers might be wise to do the same.