Fantasy Team Preview: Indiana Pacers

Categorized as: Author: Patrick, Fantasy Basketball, Fantasy Draft Cheatsheet 2007, Indiana Pacers, NBA Basketball, NBA Teams
Posted on: October 1st, 2007

Larry Bird is continuing the tradition of great players becoming disastrous front office executives (see Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas). Instead of working to acquire new players, Bird has apparently placed the Pacers 35-47 record solely on the shoulders Rick Carlisle. The Pacers fired Carlisle in April and replaced him with former Celtics and Sixers coach Jim O’Brien. That was apparently all the change the Pacers could take this off season. But it will help because Jim O’Brien is kind of like Larry Brown, you know, without the track record or the championships.

Larry Legend: Not. Aging. Well.

So, like the Kings, after only winning 35 games and missing the playoffs the Pacers basically bring back the same roster (player ratings from last season without/with turnovers included in parenthesis):

PG: Jamaal Tinsley (73, 112)
SG: Danny Granger (90, 80)
SF: Mike Dunleavy (96, 89)
PF: Jermaine O’Neal (42, 53)
C: Troy Murphy (122, 96)

Bench:
Jeff Foster (189, 168)
Marquis Daniels (275, 295)
Travis Diener (333, 312)
Ike Diogu (298, 314)
Shawne Williams (354, 350)

PG
When not sitting on the sidelines in street clothes or getting in bar fights, Jamaal Tinsley is a decent fantasy PG who can drop some dimes – 7 a game last season – and rack up some steals. Tinsley isn’t what you call a shooter (13 points a game with bad percentages) and as a result the rest of his offensive game doesn’t contribute much, if anything. While Tinsley played in 72 games last season, he averaged only 41 in the previous two. Overall, Tinsley is decent risk if you’re in need of a point guard in the late rounds of a draft. Just make sure you have a plan B.

Watch out for back-up point guard Travis Diener, who was signed from the Magic as a free agent (yes, the Pacers do occasionally sign free agents, as long as they make less than $2 million a year). Here’s what Indy Cornrows expects from Diener:

… expect Diener to provide 5 to 15 minutes of point guard relief and more importantly, knock down open 3-balls.

Alright, that doesn’t sound so great. But remember, Diener will be backing up Tinsley, so there is a decent chance he could be seeing much more than 15 minutes a game this season. Keep an eye on Diener and grab him if Tinsley goes down for any lengthy period of time.

SG
Danny Granger is one-of-a-kind on this Pacers’ team: a durable young player. Granger played in all 82 games in his second season, averaging a line of 14/5/1.4 with nice percentages and over a three a game. There are tons of SG/SF types currently in the league, which puts Granger a little bit under the radar. At 24, he’s a young guy with some potential upside that you can have at the end of a draft.

SF
Everyone versed in fantasy basketball knows about the Mike Dunleavy experience. It’s like dating a really hot girl who comes from a wealthy family, only she treats you like shit, ignores what you have to say, and sucks in bed. If she would just respect you a little more, you’d be dating a knockout, so you treat her like a queen even though she’s out blowing your paycheck on $500 Louis Vuitton handbags every Friday night. You’re miserable, but you’ve made it this far with her, and you are sure she’ll change any day now…

So the potential remains for Dunleavy even after five disappointing years in the league. Unfortunately, he still disappears from games completely. One game he’ll put up a line of 25/8/5 and then he’ll follow that up with 5 point game. That means it not only tough to count on him, but if you’re the type who checks your lineup on a daily basis, he’ll drive you insane.

On the plus side, Dunleavy went from 27 minutes with the Warriors to 36 with the Pacers last season. He’ll contribute to a fantasy team in his own strange way, but the Mike Dunleavy experience isn’t worth the pain that it’ll inflict upon you.

PF
The Pacers decided to keep Jermaine O’Neal this off season rather start rebuilding. While that is bad news for O’Neal, it’s slightly positive for fantasy owners. There is something about a center eligible player who can put up a 20 and 10 with 2.5 blocks a game that brings a big old smile to my face. The knock on O’Neal has always been his durability. Over his career, O’Neal has missed games due to everything short of pregnancy. Since 2004, he’s played in 44, 51, and most recently 69 games. That isn’t great, but at least he’s trending in a positive direction. Knock him down a round or two because of the injury potential, but by the fourth round, the words 20 and 10 and 2.5 will be too tempting to pass up.

C
I recently drafted Troy Murphy in an “experts” league as my second center. I am very nervous about that decision. Murphy’s inconsistency rivals that of Dunleavy. Dude, you’re 6’11’’ – how about more than 6 rebounds a game? Just stand under the basket and let them fall into your hands. If Murphy’s competition for the starting center position was someone other than Jeff Foster, I might be worried about him losing his starting spot.

Bench

Like Danny Granger, Marquis Daniels is a young guy with a lot of talent both offensively and defensively. He’d be a potential sleeper candidate if it weren’t for the fact that he can’t stay healthy. Daniels has never played in more than 62 games a year during his career. Wasn’t Ike Diogu supposed to get a chance to showcase his skills in Indiana? With enough minutes, Diogu can be a scoring and rebounding machine. On this team, he’ll back up O’Neal and won’t be much more than insurance for O’Neal owners. True or false, the biggest news about the Pacers this summer was either 1) Shawne Williams getting arrested on possession of marijuana or 2) Reggie Miller’s possible comeback for a different team? That doesn’t sound like the recipe for a winning off season.

GMTR Draft Predictions
Jermaine O’Neal – 4th
Danny Granger – 8th
Troy Murphy – 10th
Jamaal Tinsley – 10th
Mike Dunleavy – 11+

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