By Todd Taylor
It’s hard to believe that just four seasons ago, the Indiana Pacers were battling with the Detroit Pistons for what would’ve been its second trip to the NBA Finals in five seasons.
If a few bounces — particularly a Tayshaun Prince block of Reggie Miller that prevented the Pacers from taking a 2-0 Eastern Conference finals lead — went a different way, the Pacers might have had a shot at the Lakers who were, to quote the great Mike Vanderjagt, “ripe for the picking.”
Fast-forward to 2008 and things have never been bleaker for the Pacers. A series of blunders have paralyzed the franchise: The brawl; Ron Artest going AWOL; the horrific trades shipping Artest, Jackson, and Al Harrington out of town; and the inability of Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley to stay healthy.
The once savvy Donnie Walsh has some of the NBA’s most overpaid players on the books. O’Neal is the third highest-paid player in the league and the Pacers were too picky to send him packing before the season started — now it’s probably too late.
Mike Dunleavy and Troy Murphy — who has been a big disappointment — both make more than $8 million per year, making them untradable, teams won’t touch Tinsley with a 10-foot pole, and the Pacers’ only trade bait are players that they can’t afford to send packing if they have any hopes of rebuilding — Danny Granger and Shawne Williams.
Meanwhile, Jackson is having the best season of his career and is a team captain for the Warriors and Harrington and Artest are both playing well.
Walsh recently talked to ESPN The Magazine about the Jackson trade, saying “I didn’t want to trade him; I had to.” Basically, the fans hated him.
So now the Pacers are rid of Artest and Jackson and the team’s attendance is the worst in the NBA. They may have loathed the “brawl brothers” but at least they came out to see them play.
It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Pacers. They aren’t bad enough to have a good shot at a lottery pick, and don’t appear good enough to make the playoffs in the lowly Eastern Conference.
What now?
Good question.
Murphy, Dunleavy, and Tinsley are on the books for the foreseeable future, O’Neal’s injury problems are never-ending, David Harrison and Shawne Williams have both had issues with drugs, Ike Diogu can’t find his place, and Marquis Daniels still has no outside shot.
For fans, the only question is what to root for — losing and a higher draft pick or winning and a shot at getting swept by the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Things would be easier for the Pacer faithful if the team had cashed in on a championship during their impressive run of 15 playoff appearances in 16 seasons, which came to a screeching halt last season.
Inevitably, the Pacers will be spending the rest of the decade “rebuilding.”
Luckily for Hoosiers, college basketball within the state is at an all-time high with four Indiana schools currently in the Top 25 and the NFL Draft is just 65 days away. Oh wait, the Colts don’t have a first round draft pick … dooh!
