NBA Rumors: Nene Is a Great Fit on the Indiana Pacers

Today, Pacers President Larry Bird is flying down to Denver to meet with Nene and try and persuade him to come to Indiana. His Pacers are equipped to stay in the hunt with the best teams in terms of financial offers, but his task might be to convince the free agent star that he can chase a championship in Indiana. 

Last year, after he took over the team, head coach Frank Vogel really helped the team to make a turn around. The Pacers closed strong and claimed the last playoff spot and then pressed the Bulls much harder than anyone expected. 

Part of the reason they played so well is that they are committed to tough inside play, and that's Nene's game. While he's never attempted more than 717 field goals in a season, the big man has been one of the most consistent scorers inside given the chance.

His career field goal percentage is .563, and last season he led the NBA in that regard, shooting .615. Nene made 71.3 percent of his shots near the basket.

The Pacers had the mentality but not the personnel to score in the paint. Last year they were only 20th in the league with 22.7 shot attempts per game in the protected area, and they were 26th in the league with just .92 points per game with the roll man on the pick and roll. 

It's not that they don't want to score inside, it's that they don't have the guy who can do it. Enter Nene. 

Fortunately they have some of the other personnel to make that work. They have a nice young point guard in Darren Collison who can feed him the ball and they have a nice perimeter scorer in Danny Granger who can open up the court. If they can add a player who can score in the paint like Nene they can go a long way toward building a championship caliber team. 

Certainly they'd still be one big piece away, but they have plenty of money to spend. Part of convincing Nene to stay might be convincing the star that they pan to. According to Mike Wells, one player they are pursuing is Jamal Crawford. 

This could be a case of persuading both at the same time. Certainly a starting five of Collison, Crawford, Granger, Nene and the young Roy Hibbert who broke out last year would be a starting five that is well rounded and could compete with any team in the NBA.

Whether it could compete for a ring though might be another story. That's what Larry Bird will need to convince Nene of.