Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
David West was a trending name across the sports world today after informing the Indiana Pacers that he would opt out of the final year of his contract. He was widely expected to opt into the very comfortable $12.6 million contract that he had for the 2015-16 season. It was a shock to say the least and will leave the Pacers searching for a new leader, but it isn’t a bad thing looking at the long-term picture.
First and foremost, the Pacers will have a lot more money to use in free agency this offseason than they were expecting. Having $12.6 million is a very sizable amount to spend, and it will give Larry Bird plenty of room to make some moves and bring in more talent to the roster.
Losing the vocal leadership and hard-nosed approach to the game that West brought to Indiana isn’t going to be easy. They will have to find a new leader, although Paul George may be ready to assume that role now that he is back from his gruesome broken leg. George Hill also showed much more leadership last year, which is a good sign now that this news has come up.
During the 2014-15 season, West saw a major decline in his numbers and averaged just 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. That is the second reason why this move doesn’t affect the Pacers as much as it would have just a couple years ago. He wasn’t the dominant post scorer that he once was, and simply didn’t have the ability to take games over when needed. West was still capable of knocking down the mid-range jumper consistently at 48.9 percent from the 15-19 foot range.
At 34 years old, West simply doesn’t have much long-term value anymore. There have been quite a few fans wondering if Bird could look to re-sign West on a one or two-year deal for less money, and West is the type of player who would be willing to take a pay cut in order to better the team around him.
Now that West has opted out of his deal, it is time for the Pacers to begin retooling their roster around George. Bird made it clear that he and Frank Vogel would like to see the offense play at a faster tempo next season. West wouldn’t have fit that system very well, and it wouldn’t have given him the chance to play in the type of system that utilizes his skill set to the best of its ability.
Needless to say, this is a very sad thing for the Pacers and their fans to see. West chose to sign with the Pacers over the Boston Celtics when Indiana was nothing and helped build them into a team that made it to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
It is a shame that West was unable to win a title while with the Pacers, but if this truly is the end of the road for him he has won the heart of Indianapolis. There haven’t been many players in the history of the Pacers franchise who have made more of a difference or believed in the team enough to do what West did. Simply having him around the franchise has been special, and it will be tough to see him sign elsewhere if that is indeed what happens.
Despite all of the emotions that are involved in this move, the Pacers can move forward much easier with the decision that West made. He helped the team by making it before the draft, and they can begin focusing on replacing him immediately and getting back to being one of the legitimate title contenders in the NBA.
Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com, and contributes across the NFL, MLB, NCAA and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
