You Don't Know Jack: A Pacers Story

[georgiafan]

Nice revenge win some of the young guys played well in garbage time

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by georgiafan

Nice revenge win some of the young guys played well in garbage time

It was a sweet revenge win. Very happy with the way Mudiay is playing, and Ike Anigbogu is just a surprise -- the kid HUSTLES and I love that. We have quite a lot of young talent towards the end of the bench and I'm thinking we might be able to move some guys to shore up my last weakness -- my starting SF.

Glenn Robinson III is a nice, complimentary piece, but I feel his ultimate fate is that of a sixth-man. Starting wise, his production isn't great and though I was hoping Valentine would develop, he's just not. I would like to upgrade that spot and I have the ammo to do it, the problem is finding a realistic/feasible trade.

I spent the last hour and a half sorting through various trade proposals, some ridiculous (the Suns offered me Josh Jackson for Mudiay, Valentine and a 2019 1st -- utterly insane, Jackson is doing well for them and is the perfect defensive compliment to Booker) and others ... interesting.

I hate the idea of trading any of my young guys, "The Pit Crew" as I call them -- that bench depth and youth is very advantageous for me as an organization, but there's no point in having a collection of young talent unless you're willing to play them. Frankly, I don't have enough minutes to go around right now ... I think that might change next year as I expect certain guys not to re-sign in free agency.

But am I willing to pay for likely expensive extensions for Mudiay? That's a question I'm not sure about yet. The season is young, so we'll see what happens, but I am definitely looking around for potential deals if the right offer is made.

[georgiafan]

Yea I think I would make a move for a starting SF also maybe someone that’s a shooter

[trekfan]

Ch. 23

The win against the Wizards was B-I-G. We felt like we had exacted a good amount of revenge against a team we really hated. We didn’t hate them more than the Pistons, though — we saw them the next game, two days later, and they were already 0-2. Their losses were close, but you could sense that the team was beginning to look around at each other, going “Are we doing this?”



The Pistons came into our building looking for a win. They left still looking for that first win.



It was a throwback night, to the late 90s, so we suited up in our classic FloJos while the Pistons went with their teal unis, derided as they were. It was a bad choice for Detroit — they played like the late 90s Pistons, which is to say they played like teal trash. They were slow on their rotations, they were lethargic on defense, and Victor had his way with them in the first quarter — he pulling up from mid-range like he was prime Kobe.







In the second, with the Pistons trailing by seven, we turned on the jets — we went for the kill. McHale was clear that he wanted to bury Detroit before halftime, and we joyously complied. I got to set some fun screen for Jabari and it felt good to knock some Pistons around.







Toward the end of the first half, GROB caught fire — he came up with a steal and a dunk on the other end that absolutely deflated Detroit.







But then Victor one-upped him by forcing the Pistons into a turnover and then, on the inbounds (with just 1.1 seconds on the clock for the half), he drilled a clutch triple that sent the arena into a frenzy and had the announcers drooling over themselves. Victor, statistically, just stuffed the stat sheet and did a little bit of everything; a true example of fundamental Indiana basketball.







Halftime arrived and it was a slaughter — the team let me run free on offense and we were off to the cases.







In the third, we made a concerted effort to get it to Myles — he was being pushed around by Drummond (as Drummond is want to do) and we needed him to stretch the floor, so we let him play a bit of the four to get him on their four. Between Leur and Boban, Detroit had no answers for MT.







We left the building with a fun win … not the best showing for us defensively (we fell apart a bit in the second half), but we left our mark on them.

[Jogo]

Free Denzel Valentine!!

Dude's career is just wasting away on your bench He played 1 minute?

He should at least be a role player, hell maybe even a starter on some team like the Nets or so. You should trade or release him, give him an honest chance to revamp his career again with another team.


Nice win though! Big numbers from your main guys. The team is looking as dangerous as ever.

I can only imagine what that feels like

[trekfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jogo

Free Denzel Valentine!! Dude's career is just wasting away on your bench He played 1 minute? He should at least be a role player, hell maybe even a starter on some team like the Nets or so. You should trade or release him, give him an honest chance to revamp his career again with another team. Nice win though! Big numbers from your main guys. The team is looking as dangerous as ever. I can only imagine what that feels like

I agree, Denzel needs to go. I really wanted to give Valentine a chance, but he just doesn't work for me. I'm working on trying to find a move for him, I've got a few ideas, but they also involve shipping out other players ... and I'm not sure if I can pull the trigger.

There are a few trades I have worked up, one in particular I like ... but it's tough. Story post to come to explain the options I (currently) have on the table.

As for the team, definitely dangerous, but just as much because of the East's weakened state (there are about 6 teams above .500 7 games into the season and the rest of the conference is treading water fast) as it is about the players.

The West is a bloodbath, though -- the Suns are sitting 0-7 out there and Booker is making noise about wanting to look around for some options. If they don't improve, the Suns might have to trade Booker in order to not risk him taking the qualifying offer in free agency and bolting in the summer of 2020. It's bad in Phoenix right now.

[trekfan]

Ch. 24

In early November, Gramps called me into his office during an off day. We were sitting pretty at 6-1 -- our lone loss a fluke one against the Grizzlies (surprisingly, they started off at 4-3 in their first seven). We were feeling confident and had just torched the Raptors two days before, before getting a bit of a break.

Gramps wasn't usually one for out of the way pleasantries. He had a strict work schedule -- Monday through Friday was his work week and the weekend is when he unwound. He called me in on a Tuesday, before a monster Wednesday night matchup against the Cavs.

Knowing that going in, I wasn't surprised he called me up to talk about work.

I was surprised about why, though.

"You were pretty steamed at the Faried trade," he reminded me as he sat at his desk, chewing away at a stick of Big Red. I could smell the cinnamon in the air as he smacked at it.

"I was," I confirmed. It wasn't a *ucking secret, he was right there in the room with me.

"Well, I've got offers on the table for a few of our guys. Rosas has fielding a few phone calls from interested parties and he thinks we should pull the trigger on one." He spit his gum into the trash can, about three feet away, and it went in perfectly. "I agree with him; we need to shore up some weaknesses."

I took a deep breath, preparing to argue that we, in fact, didn't need to do anything.

But he cut me off. "And I'm placing the call on which offer we accept with you."

That stopped me in my tracks. "Me?"

"You," Gramps confirmed, a wicked grin on his face. "What? Surprised? Why?"

"I'm ... Gramps, I'm a player. I can't be the GM too, you know?"

"Tell that to LeBron," he countered. He leaned back in his chair and put his boots on the desk. "Boy, you're a great player -- plenty of greatness left ahead of you to accomplish -- but you won't always be a player. Eventually, you'll get old like we all do. And I want to make sure you develop a set of skills that don't rely on your ability to shoot."

I was staggered. The idea of my NBA career ending, ever, seemed like a myth ... I was just one year into it. "I'm just 19, Gramps."

"Soon to be 20 -- Bill Gates wasn't much older than you when he founded Microsoft. Hell, I was only a few years older than you when I began." The older man leaned forward and winked. "You can do it; I know you got an eye for things, I've listened to you when we watched all those games."

"But I work with these guys, I play with them ... I can't decide who stays and who leaves!"

"In any venture, you have to make choices, Jack." Gramps took on a kinder tone. "Look, I'm not going to lie; this will be hard. But you need to learn to make this choice, now, so you don't hesitate later in life. You're the star of this operation we're trying to build, whether you like it or not, and being the star, you have responsibilities others don't."

"It's my responsibility to send guys packing?"

"It's your responsibility to guide the front office and ownership with your input," Gramps stated with determination. "You're out on the court. You see the guys in practice. You see them outside it. You know them better than we do, point-blank. That knowledge can help this team win or it can sit there and do nothing." Gramps leaned back in his chair, hand on his monitor. "What's it going to be? You want to choose or have someone choose for you?"

Looking back on it, decades removed from that moment, I absolutely understand what my grandfather was forcing me to do: he was forcing me to understand that the NBA was as much my passion as it was my job. He was giving me a chance to develop skills that would serve me well after my playing career ended. He was hammering home the point that I was a professional and that meant I had to make tough choices.

As a 19-year-old kid, though, I thought he was putting me into a corner. And I hated it.

"*uck you," I told him angrily.

He only raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

After wrestling with it for a long minute, I heaved a sigh and nodded. "Show me. Let's ... let's just get it over with."

Gramps nodded back. "Good lad. Take a look at what we've got." He flipped his monitor around.

Three trades were outlined on the screen.

The first was to Detroit. The Pistons were offering us Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard for Denzel Valentine and Mudiay, plus our 2019 1st.

The second trade was a three-way with the Kings and Wizards. We'd send the Kings Mudiay and Valentine, the Kings would send us Bogdanovic and Malachi Richardson, and the Wizards would send the Kings Gortat plus their 2020 1st (with protection) for Willey Cauley-Stein.

The third was to the Mavericks. Dallas would send us Harrison Barnes and Yogi Ferrell for Mudiay and Valentine.

I looked over all of them for a few seconds before I immediately came to a few conclusions.

"You want to upgrade the SF spot, Glenn's spot."

Gramps grunted in affirmation. "Glenn is a true competitor, boy, but he's not giving us more than eight or nine points a night as a starter. That simply won't cut it, especially in light of his average defense."

"He's a no-muss, no-fuss guy, Gramps; he doesn't complain about the shots he doesn't get, he just loves to be out on the floor," I found myself saying. I agreed with him, Glenn could do more, but I wasn't about to sell Glenn out.

"If we get into a series with LeBron or Boston, can we stop their threes from hurting us?" Gramps countered.

Reluctantly, I could only shake my head. "I hate the idea of helping the Pistons ... let them lose. I don't want to play against Mudiay or Valentine for years anyway."

"And the Kings trade?"

"Let the Wizards lose, too -- Bogdanovic isn't that much better than Glenn, Gramps. Richardson might be something, I don't know, but he sure hasn't done much where he is. Sending guys to Sacramento isn't a good look anyway."

Gramps came around his desk and sat in the chair beside me. "Rosas and I liked the Kings trade. He's high on Bogdanovic."

"Dallas is better, for a lot of reasons."

Gramps crossed his arms and looked unconvinced.

I let out another long sigh. "Look, just from what I know -- and it isn't a lot -- Barnes is wasting away on a Mavericks team that sure as hell ain't making the playoffs, which means they're going to be in the lottery. Mudiay, he spent some time in Dallas growing up ... he basically came from Texas once he got to America and Emmanuel loves it there. He talks about it a lot. Sending him there, to backup up Smith or start over Curry, it would be a good move. Barnes is a glue guy, Gramps -- he's got a ring from being that with the Warriors, but he can't carry a team. I think, with him here, he'd be good."

"And Ferrell?"

"Hey, anytime we can get a Hoosier, you won't hear a complaint from me," I told him.

"Rosas doesn't like the Mavericks -- he and Cuban didn't get along," Gramps said with a shrug. "But ... he wasn't much against the deal they offered either. Barnes wants a contract extension before he agrees to any trade, according to what his agent said, so we'll have to commit to him for at least two more years."

"You're trading Mudiay to avoid that, right? You know he's gonna want big money this summer."

Gramps nodded. "I don't mind giving him the money, but he plays two positions we're already strong on, Jack; the one and the two. I don't see why we need to tie up twenty million for a sixth man, that's not fair to him or us ... you're right, he deserves a chance to start. So Dallas it is, unless you got another bright idea?"

"No, no other ideas," I said with sigh. "*hit, I don't like this. We're just now getting on a roll, Gramps -- we could sabotage the season!"

"We're seven games into an 82 game schedule." Gramps took out two pieces of gum and handed me one. "Relax; we'll work it out. It'll take a few days to process the paperwork, so we'll have the team together till then."

I reluctantly chewed my gum and left the office to go work out on the court.

I had just traded a teammate and a friend to a *hitty team, the closest thing he had to a hometown squad, but still ... I felt like an *ss.

It was going to be a rough couple of days.

[georgiafan]

Interesting to see what happens I like the Barnes fit