Larry Bird May Not Be Such a Bad GM After All

Reports of another possible trash exchange between the Indiana Pacers and the Golden State Warriors are emerging today.

While I'm one of the few people in the world who thought the last swap between the irrelevant teams was actually good for the Pacers, I think I won't be alone in thinking this one to be some sort of a make-up move by God who clearly feels bad for crippling Indy with the 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl.

I'll be a believer if this one goes through!

Oh yeah, the deal. Jamaal Tinsley and Marquis Daniels for Al Harrington and cap filler.

Seriously!?!? That trade sounds worse than the Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown deal.

Why doesn't Larry Bird go ahead and ask for Monta Ellis and Andris Biedrins while he's at it?

I find these reports too hard to believe. As a mild Pacers fan, I'd be in support of them buying out both Tinsley and Daniels. But to get something viable in return is difficult to fathom, too good to be true, and all that.

And what the hell is Chris Mullin thinking? Not the first time I've found myself asking that, so I shouldn't be surpised, but reuniting Stephen Jackson, Tinsley, and Daniels could have scary implications for anyone attending NBA games this coming season.

Larry Bird has done a fantastic job reshaping the Pacers- who you may not realize finished just one game out of the playoffs in 2008- this offseason, his first without Donnie Walsh's supposedly wise advice in his ear.

If the deal for Harrington happens, their rotation next year will look something like this:
PG: TJ Ford, Jarrett Jack
SG: Mike Dunleavy, Brandon Rush
SF: Danny Granger, Shawne Williams
PF: Al Harrington, Troy Murphy
C: Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert

Yeah, that squad won't be challenging the Spurs next year. But it is young, built to run (which is what Head Coach Jim O'Brien's system dictates), and, if Brandon Rush and Roy Hibbert can fulfill their potential and TJ Ford stays healthy, definitely a team to watch in the future.

Another idea: they still have their mid-level exception available, and there is a young, stud free agent power forward with local ties in former Purdue star Carl Landry.

A core of Ford, Dunleavy, Rush, Granger, Landry, and Hibbert would look pretty similar to what the Bulls had two years ago when they were considered to be the next NBA powerhouse, and would be enough to make this apathetic, agnostic fan visit Conseco and church once again.

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