5 Steps the Indiana Pacers Must Take to Become a Contender in the East

The Pacers are knocking on the door. With a talented young nucleus, an All-Star forward and an energetic and well-liked coach, the Pacers appear ready to make the jump from playoff pretender to Eastern conference contender. 

What will it take for the Pacers to get there? 

Here are five suggestion that will help elevate the Pacers' status as they compete for recognition among the top teams in the East. 

5. Keep the Young Core of the Team as It Is

So far it seems like every player on the roster has been involved in trade speculation. Instead, the front office needs cool it. Slow down on the trade talk Larry Bird, you already have a young and very talented core.

Paul George oozes potential, Collison is one of the league's top up-and-coming point guards and Roy Hibbert is in the process of becoming one of the best and biggest centers. 

If the Pacers want to tinker with the team, adding a topflight power forward or a starting caliber forward would be possibilities, but addition by subtraction, particularly when it comes to the three mentioned above and Tyler Hansbrough, would do more to hurt the team than help it. 

Granger, Hibbert and Collison should be untouchable. 

4. Find More Scoring at Power Forward

Unfortunately the Pacers are flush with cash in a year with few worthy free agents. 

Tyler Hansbrough has played well but would be a more ideal sixth man who can provide energy and effort off the bench.

If the Pacers are going to truly compete they will need more offensive production down low than Hansbrough's 11.2 PPG.

David West or Nene would be the ideal candidates to fill this role.

While Nene seems more highly sought after and less likely to land in Indiana, the Pacers could be an ideal fit for David West.

West would bring scoring in the form of 18.9 PPG and veteran leadership that an inexperienced and poor offensive team such as the Pacers is desperate for. 

Even at 31 and coming off knee surgery, West's ability to spread the floor, hit the medium range jump shot and attack the basket with a wide array of post moves are skills that the Pacers would be unwise to pass up. 

3. Amnesty James Posey

Sorry James, nothing personal, but at 34 you are just not worth the $7.15 million salary you are making, particularly if you are only averaging 4.9 PPG and 3.0 RPG.

Posey didn't play in the playoffs and hardly saw the court during the playoff push. Amnestying Posey would give the Pacers $28.5 million to land key free agents such as David West and Denver's Arron Afflalo or perhaps—and this would be the best scenario possible—both. 

2. Figure out the Shooting Guard Position: Go with Afflalo

Something tells me that with all the talk and action surrounding the Pacers' shooting guard position, Larry Bird and the front office aren't settled on what to do at the off-guard spot. 

The choices are as follows:

1. Overspend and pay $50 million for Arron Afflalo. 

As ESPN's Bill Simmons suggested: "Think about what we watched from Indiana last season: smart, efficient, overachieving, always played hard, very good defensively, and most important, flexible. Wouldn't Afflalo fit in spectacularly with Danny Granger, Darren Collison, Paul George, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Tyler Hansbrough and Rush?"

All true, but $50 million is still a lot of money for a guy who averaged just 12.6 PPG, especially when power forward is a more pressing need.

2. Keep the lineup as is with George starting and newly acquired George Hill coming off the bench.

Can George improve his outside shot enough to be a consistent threat from deep? Having such length and defense would be exciting, but George is still a more natural wing player who is a better slasher than scorer.

3. Insert George Hill into the starting lineup and trade Granger to Utah for Al Jefferson/Paul Millsap allowing George to start at forward.

Such a move would definitely improve the Pacers prospects at power forward, but unless the Pacers are expecting George to up his scoring by about 15 points per game, then it's not the best answer.

Ultimately the best case scenario is probably overplaying for Arron Afflalo, but if George can improve his shot, giving him a chance to show what he's got, works too. 

1. Ride Big Roy Hibbert

Hibbert's stats his first three years in the league: 

2008/2009: 7.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.1 BPG, .7 APG

2009/2010: 11.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 1.6 BPG, 2.0 APG

2010/2011: 12.7, PPG, 7.5 RPG, 1.8 BPG, 2.0 APG

Given the consistent and upward progression of every facet of his game, it's not unreasonable to think that Hibbert could score 18 PPG and 10-plus RPG this season. 

For the Pacers to contend with the Heat, Celtics and Bulls, Hibbert will have to dominate inside against their smaller centers. If the Pacers are going to challenge, Hibbert will have to be the second top scorer, the leading rebounder (that shouldn't even be questioned) and the workhorse that can carry the Pacers down the stretch.

Hibbert is still going to have Granger and should have another free agent forward to pitch in, but this has got to be Hibbert's team.