Pritch Slap: Day One of the Pacers Free Agency

Kevin Pritchard. Photo Credit: Michael Conroy/AP.

Yesterday wrapped up Day One of the NBA free agency. Well, they can do what's called "legal" tampering, which means GMs can discuss and negotiate with players they're interested in about the possibility of playing for them without facing a fine. The transactions aren't official until July 6th.

That takes me to Kevin Pritchard and the Pacers. Despite some pessimism from a certain columnist, I was confident Pritch could bring in some decent-to-solid guys. It was said that Pritch wanted to shake up the roster, and so far, he's off to a good start. I realize the Pacers are a small market team, so the odds of them getting the likes of a Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, or a Kemba Walker are slim at best. However, with a free agency pool this deep and having an idea of how Pritch operates, I knew he could-- and would-- bring in some solid guys.

T.J. Warren.

Let's go back to draft night. The day of the draft, he traded for small/power forward TJ Warren and their second round pick from the Phoenix Suns for...basically peanuts, but literally, Phoenix received cash in return. I understand they wanted to clear cap space and the Pacers had the room, but wow, talk about a "Pritch Slap". Hey, I'm not complaining, he along with the two who signed yesterday-- whom I will mention shortly-- fulfill three needs: youth, scoring, and shooting.

TJ is a capable 20 and 5 guy, averages about 1.5 in steals, who's a good shooter, can create his own shot, and has All-Star potential when healthy. For me, his signing meant the end of Bojan "Bogey" Bagdanovic (he signed with the Utah Jazz yesterday) who surprised me during his two years in Indiana, but I do think TJ's an upgrade in certain aspects. 

Although Bogey proved to be a decent scorer (18.0 points per game last season) who can create his own shot-- two areas where he surprised me, I thought he would be a mere shooter when he first signed-- I think Warren is better in this area and in rebounding, plus he's younger, whereas I'll give Bogey the edge from three-point range.

Malcolm Brogdon.

Now, on to the guy who most are raving over: Malcolm Brogdon. They traded their first and two second round picks to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Malcolm. A versatile, two-way player, Malcolm can play both guard positions and is a member of the rare 50-40-90 club (50% or better in FG, 40% or better in threes and 90% or better in free throws). He's only the eighth player in NBA history to accomplish such a feat, joining the likes of legends such as Kevin Durant, Larry Bird and Steve Nash.

More than likely he will be the team's starting point, taking over for the recently retired Darren Collison. I'd like to see more facilitating from him, but I do consider this an upgrade as well, particularly on the defensive end. He can also make things easier for Vic (Oladipo) in terms of ball handling duties. I love this move; I really do, especially considering most people didn't expect the Pacers to get him. I just think on paper, at least, they gave up too much. Aside from that, I'm definitely looking forward to him and Vic in the same backcourt.

Jeremy Lamb.

Last but not least, they landed former Charlotte Hornet Jeremy Lamb. I view him as a player who's trending; his shooting and overall game has improved the last two seasons. I think he will be a good holdover until Vic returns, and will be an instant scorer off the bench. He and Malcolm will effectively help with the scoring load until then and afterwards.

This was just the beginning of the free agency period, but I think the Pacers are off to a great start. They wanted to get better shooting and scoring, and they did just that, while not losing stride defensively, and getting younger in the process. Not to mention, these guys seem to be team-oriented players. This is going to be fun; especially when Vic returns.