The Indiana Pacers have gone through a whirlwind of an offseason so far this year, and Larry Bird has done exactly what he wanted to do from the end of the Pacers’ 2014-15 season. During his season closing press conference, Bird mentioned that he wanted to make some moves to become an up-tempo offense during the 2015-16 season. He also said that he wanted to re-sign shooting guard Rodney Stuckey when NBA free agency opened up.

Both of those goals were met, and Stuckey is set to come back for his second season with the Pacers this season. He is going to be a big piece of what the Pacers are trying to do, and is without question their biggest X-factor heading into the upcoming season.

During the 2014-15 season with Indiana, Stuckey ended up averaging 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. He shot an impressive 44.0 percent from the floor and 39.0 percent from behind the three-point arc, which was his best number from behind the arc in his entire career. That was the biggest knock on him heading into last season, and he proved that he is more than capable of putting in the work necessary to make big improvements to his game.

At 29 years old, Stuckey is still in his prime and will be throughout the entire three-year contract that he signed.

More than likely, Stuckey will resume the sixth man role coming off the bench that he thrived in at the end of last season. George Hill and Monta Ellis will be the starting backcourt, which will make Stuckey the primary scoring option coming off the bench again. He will likely play alongside C.J. Miles, and those two players will be asked to shoulder a large portion of the offensive production for the second unit.

If the Pacers are going to make a run at the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, they are going to need their bench to step up and score big numbers. Stuckey is the best scorer that the Pacers will have coming off the bench, and showed the ability to be a leader on the court as well last season.

Paul George is going to be back at full health for the upcoming season, and that is a big part of the reason why Stuckey wanted to return. He mentioned that George’s presence was one of the big reasons why he chose to sign with the Pacers last offseason.

Needless to say, Stuckey is in for another big season and wanted to re-sign with the Pacers this offseason. He had other offers from teams around the league, but decided to be patient and wait for Bird to make the necessary moves to bring him back. Patience paid off for Stuckey, and he is now set to help begin a new era of basketball in Indiana.

All of that being said, it will be interesting to see how much he improves this offseason. There are always concerns about players who receive big contracts after one rebound season, and that is the case with Stuckey. Even though those concerns do exist, Stuckey has consistently been a hard worker throughout his career and is very enthusiastic about his fresh start with the Pacers.

Expect to see him come through and be the big X-factor that the Pacers need him to be. He seems to fit perfectly with the Pacers’ organization.

Evan Massey is a featured writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.