Rodney Stuckey to Remain a Pacer after 3-Year Deal

Rodney Stuckey, 29, is not going anywhere. A day after the Pacers dumped salary by trading Roy Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird made the call and locked in Stuckey for a fair price for their current sixth man.

Sacramento, Houston and Washington had all been linked to Stuckey in recent free agency rumors. Instead of choosing the money, he decided to stay in Indiana agreeing on a 3-year $21 million contract that includes  a player option in the third year.

That is a nice pay raise for the man who was playing under a one-year veteran’s minimum contract worth roughly around $1 million. Stuckey’s priorities were three-fold this offseason. He wanted his market share value, to play sixth man on and contender and he wanted to stay in Indiana.

Larry Bird had stated his priority back in April that he wanted to get Stuckey re-signed and did not hesitate to lock in the deal a day after the Roy Hibbert trade agreement. Stuckey was a very productive member of the team averaging 12.6 ppg 3.5 reb 3.1 asst per game. Stuckey even requested head coach Frank Vogel to move him back to the 6th man role when George Hill returned from injury. Interestingly, his production in that role paved the way to get a matching contract of reigning sixth man of the year, Lou Williams’ deal with the Lakers.

With Stuckey signed, Larry Bird’s next move might be to bring back Luis Scola who also impressed last season in his role off the bench. Bird already re-signed Lavoy Allen earlier in the week and needs additional depth in the front court. Signing Scola would leave the Pacers with only one roster need remaining, a backup point guard.  The back court combination of George Hill, C.J. Miles, Monta Ellis and Stuckey in the back court is a formidable one for any team to defend. It looks like the Pacers could be contenders in the Eastern Conference far sooner than later.

Next: Pacers Trade Roy Hibbert to the Lakers