Pacers Looking Forward to Free Agency Next Season

Team Prez Larry Bird will have just over $30 million to spend on free agents next summer, and he tells the Boston Globe that he’ll be a careful shopper (assuming there isn’t a lockout, of course): “Now that ‘The Decision’ is done and the five teams that maneuvered salary cap space the past few years to attract premium free agents have nearly finished retooling, Pacers president Larry Bird can prepare for next summer, when his club will be nearly $33 million under the cap … Bird has waited for his turn to make a splash, realizing that teams are built on free agency just as much as through the draft these days. The Pacers want back in this game, and next summer Bird wants to make Indiana matter again. ‘It’s been a while since we’ve been in the playoffs but what I’m trying to do is get a core of young guys to move this franchise forward,’ he said. ‘After next year we’ll be around $30 million and hopefully we can build it from there. Our goal right now is to give these young players experience and see what happens in the collective bargaining agreement … Obviously, there’s a lot going on, and a lot of players want to get their deals done before the collective bargaining agreement,’ Bird said. ‘We’re hoping the salaries come down, but you never know. We’ve got a lot of expiring contracts and we’re going to look at everything [next] summer.'”