Indiana Pacers Set for the Future, Might Trade Danny Granger

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Indiana Pacers have quietly grown into a title contender in the past two seasons and they proved that to the world by bouncing back from a thumping in Game 3 to beat the Miami Heat in Game 4 and tie the Eastern Conference Finals. Of course, most folks only assume the Heat’s third straight trip to the Finals is inevitable but regardless, the future for the blue and gold is very bright.

A year ago, Danny Granger was by far the biggest name on the Pacers’ roster, but now he’s a distant memory as the likes of Lance Stephenson stole the spotlight in Game 4 against the Heat. Some Indiana fans may not want to admit it, but the Pacers have been better without Granger because they have developed into one of the best in the NBA at playing together as a team.

Sure, the Pacers have a developing superstar in Roy Hibbert, but not only does every single Indiana starter play his role perfectly, each one can step up in crunch time. I mean really, who thought Stephenson would have hit that three-pointer to end the third quarter in Game 4 with Dwyane Wade basically tackling him? And then there was Hibbert, putting back missed shots left and right, including a three-point play with 1:30 to go that sealed the deal for Indiana.

Regardless of whether Indiana wins this series, the Pacers are now set for the future because guys like Stephenson, Hibbert, George Hill and Paul George are only going to get better. The wild cards are Granger and David West.

Granger has one more year left on his contract, but the Pacers could trade him for further depth, considering the team has a solid starting five without him and depth is really their only weakness at this point. West is a starter, but his contract is up at the end of this year, so re-signing him has to be a top priority for Indiana.

However, George is arguably the Pacers’ most important player at this point and his contract is up at the end of next season, so extending him is also a huge priority. Now all of this is easier said than done, but moving Granger would free up quite a bit of cap space considering he’s due over $14 million in 2013. Excluding Granger, the Pacers have 11 players under contract for the 2013-14 NBA season, including all of their starters except West.

If Indiana can re-sign West, extend George and acquire some depth with a Granger trade, the Pacers could be a legitimate title contender for the next half a dozen years, at least. Of course, they could start things off early with an upset of the Heat and then a battle with the San Antonio Spurs for this year’s championship, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.