It may sound weird, but the Indiana Pacers were only three games out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference last season despite missing Danny Granger for 11 games during an important stretch during the season.
Granger signed a huge extension last season, their first round pick Tyler Hansbrough might be something special, and now the team has signed themselves a defensive stopper in Dahntay Jones to man the wing.
Jones will be a Pacer for a very cheap price (four years, $11 million) despite bringing a very forceful defensive presence and a grittiness that I would consider dirty. He did a very good job stopping Chris Paul in the playoffs, and he could bring the same effectiveness against smaller guards like Jameer Nelson or Rajon Rondo who are not strong enough to handle him.
If this team can figure out who they want the point guard to be – TJ Ford and Jarrett Jack are in a battle – and you have a solid line-up of Jones, Granger, Troy Murphy and Roy Hibbert. Off the bench you would have Jack or Ford, Brandon Rush at the shooting guard, Mike Dunleavy at the three, hard-working Hansbrough at the four and an average Jeff Foster (averaged six points and six boards last season) manning the center of the paint.
That’s certainly not a championship contender, but I see no reason why this team can’t make a strong push at a seventh or eighth seed. It’s possible that two of the guys on this team add some hardware to their shelves at home, with Granger having a good shot at Most Improved Player again – I think he can be that good, like 28 points, six rebounds, five assists good – and Hansbrough has to be considered for every award because of his work ethic.
[...] newly acquired Aaron Afflalo or Summer Leaguer Sonny Weems at shooting guard ahead of Smith since Dahntay Jones left for Indiana. Unless, they choose to run a two point guard set with Ty Lawson at point and Chauncey Billups at a [...]