Pacers Introduce New Players and Identity

Farewell “Blue Collar with Gold Swagger”, and hello… to be determined.

On Tuesday, the Pacers introduced three new acquisitions in Monta Ellis, Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger. The trio will be a part of the new uptempo style the Indiana Pacers will look to implement in the 2015-16 season.

Gone are the days of grinding out opponents defensively, keeping games low scoring to always have a chance at victory. The blue-collar days that consisted of feeding the ball down low to big men David West and Roy Hibbert. Those two players are really who prompted this overhaul.

Hibbert had been extremely inconsistent over the last couple of years. I truly think it was a mental battle with Hibbert. When confident, Roy was capable of being an all-star center. When not confident, Hibbert was capable of turning in nights like me, 0 points and 0 rebounds, except he got minutes.

David West was on the decline. He actually did the Pacers a favor by opting out, and that really jump started the uptempo movement. West decided he wanted to take less money to play for a contender…way less…and in doing so, opened the door for the Pacers to make a push at Monta Ellis.

More from Indiana Pacers

• Still Searching for Their Groove, Pacers Take on Struggling Magic Thursday Night
• Pacers Travel to the Nation’s Capital to Begin Four Game Road Trip
• Update on Pacers’ Oladipo’s Serious Leg Injury
• Can the Indiana Pacers Be the Best Team in the Eastern Conference?
• The Magic of Myles Turner’s New Glorious Ponytail

Monta Ellis is a scorer, plain and simple. He’s not the best defender, but is good at getting in passing lanes to create easy opportunities. Ellis has only averaged less than 16 ppg one year in his NBA career, and that was his rookie season when he only played 18 minutes per games.

Ellis will take offensive pressure off Paul George, and give Indiana another guy that can create his own shot.

Jordan Hill and Chase Budinger should fit in nicely as well. Hill gives the Pacers some much-needed size. He can play the 4 and 5 spots. Though he hasn’t lived up to being taken 8th overall by the Knicks in 2009, Hill has put together a couple of solid seasons with the Lakers including his best averages last year of 12 points and 8 rebounds per game.

The Budinger trade baffled most. For starters, he’s making $5 million this season compared to the $1.1 million of Damjan Rudez. Damo was also a fan favorite which surprisingly caused a Twitter uproar when news broke he had been traded. It was really a head scratching trade given Budinger only played a total of 122 games the previous three seasons, before managing a 67 game season last year. Even more worrisome is Budinger only averages 20 minutes per game, and still the injuries have piled up.

Budinger will likely backup Paul George and C.J. Miles as it’s starting to appear the Pacers will go with a smaller starting lineup with George Hill, Monta Ellis, C.J. Miles, Paul George and Jordan Hill. This is just a projected lineup, and the Pacers could look to play Jordan Hill at the PF next to Ian Mahinmi or Myles Turner, but it appears the Pacers may in fact start Paul George at power forward.

The Pacers still have two roster spots opened, but expect those to be mostly roster fillers. My guess is another point guard, and stretch four type player.

Regardless Pacers fans should get ready for a couple new additions to the roster, and a new style of offense. I can’t help but think how Lance Stephenson would have fit in without Roy Hibbert in an uptempo style offense for the Pacers. Too bad, or too good, we’ll likely never know.

Next: Former Colt Jeff Saturday to be Inducted into Ring of Honor