Season Preview: 2014-15 Indiana Pacers

I think you are a contender. You might hit some (or a lot of) road bumps defensively with this team and it may hinder your success, but you'll need to adjust accordingly.

Big thing now for you is to try and acquire long term assets any way you can to keep Bron in Indy.

The East is wide open, Miami lost too much with Chandler Gasol Splitter leaving or being traded and the Pacers have the tools to get the job done as I think Indy snatching up Kobe crippled the ECF's Cats/ Hornets.

Gonna be tight all season but then again you do have LeBron and Dirk which I love, Kobe is gonna be the X Factor and once you figure out the strategy (if you even need to) that team is gonna be special.

The question is for how long?

Nice read man.

I really like the moves. James makes an team a contender. I'd give you a slight edge in the East. Also, happy that so many quality players are now playing for East teams   

great read man!

Like already said I like the team on paper but you got the task to get things going.
Will be fun to develope the Sub and Tacs that fit perfectly to your squad.
No doubt, you got the players to make a run but you need to get them work together.

You did what I wanted to do, but could not.. You had way more flexibility than me to surround James with other pieces..
You look like a contender..

Lets go Pacers

In my opinion, Indy is the new favorites in the East. Miami and Charlotte will not be able to handle LeBron when it comes down to it. Even if they do, there's still Dirk and Kobe. I see Indy making the finals.

Definitely a contender in the East, rebounding and depth (particularly in the frontcourt) might be an issue but Lebron/Kobe is going to be a nightmare matchup for us.

A team with a lot of stars and mvp's, i believe that isn't enougth balls for all.
Depend the tactic, if the tactic is wrong, this team can be a problem for indiana GM.
Will see the results i think that can win 60 games.

Your win now bet is clear, and with all this talent it's sure a possibility. Personally I do think you compromised your future a bit with Kobe's signing if he retires, but who wouldn't do it for the chance to wining it all right now?

A team with LeBron needs not much more around to be successful, and although I would have chosen to build with role players around him rather than stars, what you did is just a nice opcion, and most sure the best one.

The only bad thing I see right now it's that there's to much pressure on this team, and that every other team would like to beat this new three headed monster and take credit for it (we already have the first MSG appearance for the new Pacer LeBron inked in red in our schedule). But that shouldn't affect you much. This team is build to contend, and just needs to reach the postseason healthy. You'll have a tough battle with Detroit and Cleveland (and maybe the Bulls too) for the division though, so definitely a fun season ahead in the east, specially in the Central division  

I think the Pacers will definitely struggle defensively, but for this one year, how can you stop this offense? Going to be fun to watch the Pacers gel as a team this year.

I've said this before, but I'll say it again here: Really impressed, not only by the guts it took to make these moves, but by the cap management you used to make it happen. That was some serious number crunching, my friend!

On to Kobe - it's interesting to hear Willy mention that losing Kobe hurt us (Charlotte). We actually never offered Kobe another contract. Kobe, for whatever reason, has really poor handles in this sim and he dropped off significantly in that regard this offseason. I was worried about his ability to handle the rock at SG. What I had considered was giving Kobe half the minutes available at SG and then the backup minutes at SF. But then we traded for Tyreke. He's younger and a much more complete player.

I actually feel like that move improved us, as opposed to sending us the opposite direction.

Plus, I was never going to outcompete that 4 year deal. I was really only open to offering Kobe (and Dirk) one year deals.

Yeah I definitely agree Kobe has a ridiculously low HDL rating, on to my point about losing Kobe weakening your team.

Tyreke has very comparable ratings to Kobe but he isn't as good a FT or 3pt shooter and doesn't have the IQ KB24 has, I think that'll directly affect MKG as I think Kobe helped you against those zone heavy defenses along with Marshall running the show which is now being taken over by a score first PG with a scoring SG whose best asset is driving/ drawing fouls. Getting Amare helped tremendously though. Could go on but don't wana completely highjack the Pacer thread when my other point was they're in the East, a rival, and now have Kobe.

Kobe has always turned the ball over at a high rate in the NBA, so I'm not surprised to see him with a low HDL rating actually.

Love this team. So many stars, so much talent, Indiana is definitely a contender in the East, right up there with Miami and Chicago.