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The upcoming NBA lockout casts a dark cloud over the 2011-2012 season, in particular players who are opting for free agency this off-season. One of those players is New Orleans Hornets power forward David West, who has decided to opt out of his contract and will enter free agency whenever the NBA's labor situation is resolved. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, two teams will make a play for West's 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds next season.
One of those teams is the Indiana Pacers.
Two teams that'll be active with David West in free agency: Indiana and New Jersey. For the Nets, especially if they lose Kris Humphries.
Today at 3 p.m. eastern, the Pacers will welcome newly acquired guard George Hill in a press conference. Should the Pacers acquire West, his addition, along with Hill, would make the team better than its 37-45 record last season. Would it make them a championship-caliber team? No. The Pacers have no star players, and a team does not win rings in the modern NBA without stars.
From Tom Ziller at SB Nation:
The team has Tyler Hansbrough and Josh McRoberts at power forward, but West has been a much better performer than either in recent years, and in addition to new point guard George Hill (acquired in a draft day trade with the San Antonio Spurs for Kawhi Leonard, the No. 15 pick), could vault Indiana from "intriguing eighth seed" to "frightful mid-lister."
Again, adding Hill and a player like West certainly improves the team. But, the red flags here are that West is 30-years-old and is coming off a season where he tore his ACL. As Evan Dunlap accurately noted in a recent blog entry for us, adding West would not elevate the Pacers to league-elite status. And if West couldn't win a ring in New Orleans, why would he opt to play in Indiana?
Bottom line here is that using all the newly freed up money on a decent player like West does not move the Pacers closer to contention. In the NBA, one is either competing or rebuilding. Adding David West is doing neither.
New Orleans Hornets power forward David West has decided to opt out of his contract and will thus enter free agency whenever the NBA's labor situation is resolved, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The 30-year-old West averaged 18.9 points and 7.6 rebounds, while shooting 50.8 percent from the floor, last season before tearing his ACL, prompting the Hornets to trade for former Purdue Boilermaker Carl Landry to fill his role in the lineup.
Further, Wojnarowski says, the Indiana Pacers are among the teams "with significant salary-cap space and a strong interest in signing West," according to "league sources." Bearing all these facts in mind, would West fill a need for Indiana? And do the Pacers meet West's needs?
NBA Free Agency Rumors: Pacers Are Buyers In This Market
With NBA Free Agency kicking off the Indiana Pacers are one of the teams in the NBA that has enough salary cap space to be major players. So far, Indiana is a rumored destination for many high-priced players. The Pacers could possibly sign a few mid-tier players with the hope of landing a bigger name next summer, or they could look to add a few key pieces and make a push this season.
Grantland.com's Bill Simmons, an NBA junkie an expert at free agency, listed multiple targets at center for Indiana in his latest column:
Oden is just one player Simmons mentioned as a possible target for Indiana at center. The former high school prep star from Indianapolis could either be traded for Roy Hibbert or paired with him as well.
In addition to Oden, Chris Kaman, Marc Gasol, and Nene Hilario were also probable targets.
Dec 06 9:01a by Travis Miller