Pacers make a Trade;;;;;;;

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KINGS GET MILLER IN 3 TEAM DEAL
By SportsLine.com Wire Services
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jul 24, 2003, 08:26 Email this article
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SportsLine.com - Not to be outdone by the four-team deal that dominated
the NBA news for two days, the Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and San
Antonio Spurs have agreed to a five-player deal late Wednesday night
that is highlighted by the Pacers signing and trading All-Star center
Brad Miller to the Kings.
Miller, 27, signed what is reportedly a seven-year deal worth nearly $70
million -- ending the free-agent bids by the Utah Jazz and Denver
Nuggets -- and provides the Kings with a 7-footer to help aging center
Vlade Divac and Chris Webber if he has not completely recovered from
spring knee surgery by the onset of the 2003-2004 season.
In return, the Pacers receive forward/center Scot Pollard from the Kings
and Danny Ferry from the Spurs. But Ferry's contract is not guaranteed
next season, so they have a variety of options, including releasing him
outright. It also gave the Pacers enough flexibility to lure away
free-agent point guard Anthony Johnson from the Eastern Conference
champion New Jersey Nets.
And in the middle of all this are the champion Spurs, who have added
considerable depth with 6-foot-8 swingman Hedo Turkoglu and 6-foot-7
shooting guard Ron Mercer, who both are free agents next summer.
Turkoglu can also play point guard behind Tony Parker, which will be
vital in the wake of free agent Speedy Claxton bolting to become the
starting point guard for the Golden State Warriors.
The moves saved the Pacers from losing Miller for nothing and gives them
some bargaining room to re-sign their aging but legendary shooter Reggie
Miller for more than the veteran minimum or an exception. And by the
looks of things, they aren't finished changing their roster.
But the real winner here appears to the Kings, who were favored by many
people to win the title last season only to fall prey to injuries all
season -- the biggest one Webber's knee injury during the third quarter
of Game 2 in the Western Conference semifinals against Dallas. The Kings
still managed to take the series to seven games, but their need for some
young talent up front was apparent.
Pollard is a tough defender and good rebounder, but he has proven to be
injury prone and limited to more of a backup role. He averaged just 14.1
minutes a game in 23 games last season -- the least he has played since
his rookie year.
It stops the bleeding somewhat for the Pacers, but Pollard, 28, is
hardly the answer to replace Miller, who was undrafted, played in Italy
after his senior year at Purdue, and originally signed with the
Charlotte Hornets as a free agent in January of 1999. He also played for
the Chicago Bulls until he was traded to the Pacers in the winter of
2002. He was voted to the All-Star Game by the coaches in 2003.
The Spurs, still smarting from not getting Jason Kidd through free
agency and losing David Robinson to retirement before Claxton left, also
are on the verge of signing veteran Robert Horry from the Los Angeles
Lakers for his experience and defense.
Following a flurry of free-agent signings with the moratorium over July
16, these two days topped it off with seven teams and 10 players moving
during a 24-hour period.



 
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