2015 Indiana Pacers

Written by Paul Banks of the Washington Times, David Kay and Peter Christian of the The Sports Bank. Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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Indiana Pacers (Last Year: 38-44)

2015-16 Projected Depth Chart:

C: ^Roy Hibbert/Ian Mahinmi

PF: ^David West/*Shayne Whittington

SF: Paul George/Solomon Hill/Damjan Rudez

SG: C.J. Miles

PG: George Hill

NBA Free Agents:

^C-Roy Hibbert (PO)

^PF-David West (PO)

PF-Luis Scola (UFA)

SG-Rodney Stuckey (UFA)

PG-C.J. Watson (UFA)

SF-Chris Copeland (UFA)

PF-Lavoy Allen (UFA)

PG-David Sloan (UFA)

*PF-Shayne Whittington (RFA)

2015-16 Team Salary: Approximately $63.9 million

NBA Offseason Team Needs:

1. Shooting Guard: Rodney Stuckey served as a decent 1-year rental at shooting guard, and while C.J. Miles is a skilled scorer, the Pacers need to find a long-term answer at shooting guard. Unless management is able to get creative, finding a fix will have to come cheap since Indiana doesn’t have much cap flexibility in free agency. The Pacers could also use their first-round pick to address this need as well.

2. Backup Point Guard: After a rough 2013-14 campaign, George Hill bounced back nicely this past season … once he got healthy. The Pacers have juggled between David Sloan, C.J. Watson and A.J. Price as their backup point guard the past two seasons, but with all three guys free agents, Indiana should be looking for an upgrade behind Hill.

3. Frontcourt Depth: David West and Roy Hibbert could both opt out of the final years of their contracts, but should be back in Indianapolis. Still, the Pacers need to find depth up front since Ian Mahinmi is the only other post player under contract for next season. There should be some decent options available when Indiana is picking 11th in the 2015 NBA Draft, and with Hibbert, West and Mahinmi all possibly free agents next summer, selecting a young big might be the smartest move for the franchise. If Hibbert and/or West opt out, this becomes a huge need.