Pacers Should Look Into Signing Anthony Morrow

The Indiana Pacers are looking ahead to the offseason now, and free agency is expected to be a fairly intriguing time to keep an eye on them. Indiana knows that they need to make more than a couple small adjustments to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals, and they need to make some big upgrades in order to make it to the NBA Finals. Two of the biggest issues for Indiana this past season was scoring off the bench and perimeter shooting. There are a few free agents out there, but the Pacers will not have the type of money to sign any bigger names.

Apr 4, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Anthony Morrow (3) shoots against Utah Jazz guard Ian Clark (21) during the second half at EnergySolutions Arena. The Jazz won 100-96. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Despite the lack of cap space that the Pacers have, there is one name that makes a lot of sense and would be a perfect fit in Indiana. Anthony Morrow has opted out of his contract with the New Orleans Pelicans, and would add a scorer and perimeter shooter to the roster. He has a career three-point percentage of 42.8% and has been an every night scoring threat for the majority of his career.

Why should Morrow be at the top of Indiana’s free agency targets? Quite simply, he’s the perfect fit for the areas that the Pacers struggled in last season. As mentioned earlier in this article, his three-point shooting ability would immediately come into play for Indiana, and he would force opposing defenses to stretch out to guard him. Also, he has been known to be an electric scorer at times, and he would be asked to do just that off the bench next year.

It is unknown exactly what type of contract Morrow will be looking for this offseason, but he does want to win a championship as well. If the Pacers were to offer him a two-year deal at $2-3 million per year, he would likely accept the deal in a heartbeat. The Pacers need exactly what Morrow brings to the table, and there simply aren’t going to be many free agents out there that will sign for the type of deal that they could get him at.

Overall, there are no guarantees that the Pacers will even show interest in Morrow, but it would be smart to get something done with him early in the offseason. He is looking for a big role on a championship contender, and the Pacers would be able to offer him the minutes that Evan Turner and Rasual Butler will vacate this offseason. There is no doubt that in 15-17 minutes per game, the Pacers could find their consistent double digit bench scorer with the signing of Morrow.