Pacers President Kevin Pritchard Aims To Be ‘Aggressive’ This Offseason

The Indiana Pacers were a doormat for the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. LeBron James and company swept the Pacers in four games leaving a lot of uncertainty in Indiana surrounding the future of perennial All-Star, Paul George.

After being knocked out of the postseason, Larry Bird made a surprising announcement that he’ll be stepping down as the team’s president and former general manager Kevin Pritchard will be taking over. Pritchard intends to be very aggressive in his first offseason as team president, via NBC Sports:

“I think you have to be bold in this position,” Pritchard said earlier this week after being given the team’s president of basketball operations job. “I like interchanging pieces, I like moving around in the draft, I want to be aggressive, I want to make deals.”

The Pacers brass was basically given an ultimatum by George to turn the team into a title contender, or he’s ready to leave Indiana in NBA free agency in 2018. Pritchard will be highly motivated to do so this summer or be forced to consider trading their star if deals to improve the roster can’t be made.

Pritchard believes the team and George are on the same page moving forward, via NBC Sports:

“This team has been to the playoffs 22 of the last 29 years and we want to be successful,” Pritchard said. “The message (from George) was that he wants to win. We want to win. So we’re on the same page.”

It’ll be an offseason filled with rumors and speculation for the Pacers with the Los Angeles Lakers anxious to get their hands on George. Only time will tell if Pritchard and company can put together a championship-caliber roster or cut their losses by trading George this summer or before the NBA trade deadline in February.