Paul George all smiles in OKC – for now.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
— ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Paul George must have been napping in the back of the classroom when funny things Lincoln might have said were discussed.
Every time George speaks, he conveys what is best kept hidden. Over the last 48 hours, we have been privy the the inner-workings of the head and heart of the four-time all-star, and it hasn’t been pretty. Continue reading
Kevin Pritchard introduces three of the many new Pacers to coach Nate McMillan and the media.
Gone are Paul George, Jeff Teague, Monte Ellis, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles, Lavoy Allen, Aaron Brooks and Rakeem Christmas. Those players represent roughly 75 points per game, and played more than half the minutes for the Indiana Pacers last year.
Replacing them are players both familiar and not so much like Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bodganovich, Darren Collison, T.J. Leaf, Domas Sabonis, Cory Joseph,, and others.
When Kevin Pritchard replaced Larry Bird in April as the president of basketball operations, fans and media thought, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
Not so much. Continue reading
Gordon Hayward would have loved to stay in Salt lake City, but there is no chance to win a championship there. Don’t blame Hayward for the rigged game.
Brownsburg native Gordon Hayward made it official tonight. He’s going to become a Boston Celtic.
Who can blame him? Chasing a trophy in Salt Lake City is a fool’s errand. Hayward knew it, so he’s heading east in the hopes that LeBron can’t get to an eighth straight Eastern Conference Finals.
Even John Stockton and Karl Malone – two of the greatest players in NBA history – couldn’t bring a title to Utah, and Hayward is neither Stockton nor Malone.
Paul George announced he would leave Indianapolis a year before he was eligible to become a free agent, so he was dealt to Oklahoma City – an outpost too similar to Indy for him to stay a year from now when his hometown Los Angeles Lakers make their pitch.
The NBA Draft exists as a device to provide small market franchises an opportunity to compete with those in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Chicago. Free agency and a soft salary cap encourages the opposite, and the NBA suffers – or at least the fans in those smaller cities suffer. Continue reading
Which of these two play for the Pacers or Thunder just doesn’t matter, and the NBA is just fine with that.
Paul George for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis. That’s the trade the Indiana Pacers and OKC Thunder agreed to late last night.
Fans in OKC are thrilled, and all but the delusional in Indiana are deflated.
The truth is that neither set of fans should be cranked or despondent because it really doesn’t make any difference. Paul George might help the Thunder win a couple more games, and Oladipo will sell a ton of jerseys because Indiana University basketball fans still love him.
There was no move available for either team that would make them relevant in any discussion about winning an NBA Championship any time soon. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will play in the 2018 NBA Finals – as they have the previous three years. Continue reading
“He’s an idiot!”
That’s what Syracuse basketball coach said yesterday when asked about Tom Crean’s draft night assessment of former Orangeman forward Tyler Lydon.
Lydon was selected 24th in last week’s NBA Draft, and Crean questioned the wisdom of the pick during The Vertical’s draft night webcast, “The whole strength is supposed to be the shooting, things like. … I think he plays hard, I think he tries hard, I don’t think he’s soft. But I don’t think the shot is there. I don’t think the mobility. Guys like him, who are they going to guard?”
Boeheim didn’t like that, and he put Crean on blast, “He’s an idiot. He said he’s not a good shooter. Freshman, sophomore year he shoots 40 percent from 3. That’s pretty good for a young player. I think he had the best shooting statistics at the combine,… It just shows the ignorance and not doing the work, the research, the background check.” Continue reading
This is the only part of the pic on Jim Irsay’s Twitter feed we feel comfortable displaying here.
Jim Irsay lives a good life as the owner of the Indianapolis Colts.
He has virtually limitless wealth, which allows for access to all kinds of fun you and I don’t even know exists.
Best of all, Irsay is completely unbound by consequences that keep you and I on the straight and narrow.
Irsay has no fear of losing his job as he sits at the top of the pyramid. Drug issues, odd comments, strange hires, and bizarre rants have dotted his 20 years as the owner of the Colts.
Let’s not forget that Irsay also gives piles of money to charity, fights back pain that would keep most of us in bed, and built a team that won a Super Bowl. The embarrassing is far outweighed by the good.
As owner, Irsay is bound by only his sense of decorum and fear of shame. More often than not, Irsay wins the day despite a total lack of fear of ever losing his job. Continue reading
Paul George and LeBron James might be teammates, but the deal will take time to put together.
Timing is everything.
In the stock market, prices surge and recede based upon all kinds of conditions – some seen and understood by investors, and some not. Get out at the right time, and pay off your house. Wait too long or pull the trigger too soon, and your kids go to work instead of college.
The same is true when trading pro athletes.
The Indiana Pacers must trade Paul George, one of the 20 best basketball players in the world. He will be a free agent next summer, and he plans to leave the Pacers – likely for the Los Angeles Lakers. General manager Kevin Pritchard can’t just drive George to the airport and wave goodbye.
Pritchard needs to get pieces back that will allow the Pacers to contend for an NBA Championship in four years as LeBron James skills erode with age and the Warriors find it difficult to keep everyone happy. Continue reading
TJ Leaf can flat out play offensive basketball. Pacers fans should focus on that right now.
A Leaf blew into Indianapolis during the first round of the NBA Draft as though it’s already Autumn, and time for training camp to start.
T.J. Leaf will return to his family’s hometown as he begins what Pacers fans hope is a long and prosperous career.
There are some good to great things about T.J. Leaf that I’m trying to focus tonight when there was so much optimism we would see the Indiana Pacers take at least one significant step toward rebuilding.
That’s some good stuff. Continue reading
Paul George might still bring a championship to Indy through what is acquire for him in a trade today.
It’s time.
Finally, it’s time.
The Indiana Pacers need to look realistically at the landscape of the NBA and understand that winning a championship in the next three seasons is a physical impossibility. It cannot be done by the Pacers – or any of the NBA teams not the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Warriors and Cavs are the current beasts, the Celtics are solid and have a ton of first round picks in the next three drafts, and the Lakers appear to be what’s next for soon-to-be free agent LeBron James.
Because of the that, the Pacers need to marshal all resources toward building a beast for four years from now, when LeBron gets creaky, and the Warriors likely unravel. Continue reading
Paul George is headed west – maybe in a year, but he’s headed west.
Paul George’s act grew tiresome as he morphed from basketball player into international brand. It officially outgrew Indianapolis today.
Reports of George’s desire to leave the Pacers for the Los Angeles Lakers when he becomes a free agent next summer have been confirmed, and as a result Pacers fans are ready to usher him out the door sooner rather than later.
George has always had a tone deafness to his play and media comments, but allowing the communication between his camp and Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard that he plans to sign with the Lakers represents a new low for the all-star.
The big question is no longer whether George will move from Indianapolis. It’s now whether George’s value is greatest right now, or immediately prior to the NBA trade deadline in February? What if anything can the Pacers get for an 82 game (plus the playoffs) rental of Paul George? Continue reading
