In the 2015 NBA free agency the Indiana Pacers have lost their starting center and power forward in Roy Hibbert and David West leaving both those positions to be filled.
Pacers President Larry Bird had some insight on how to use their returning superstar Paul George.
Bird spoke with NBA TV’s Vince Cellini and Greg Anthony on how the Pacers will use George next year.
“He’ll play a lot of the power forward and small forward and he might defend some 2s at times,” Bird said. “Paul is going to play a lot of different positions for us this year. I’m the one that thinks he can play the 4 position. I think the mismatches on the offensive end is far greater than the defensive liabilities sometimes he’ll have against the strength. But I think he can handle it. Paul’s very versatile. He’ll do anything that we ask him to do to try to win basketball games. And he wants to play uptempo. He likes to handle and pass and get out and run a little bit.”
As well the addition of Monta Ellis will help lift some of the scoring load from George, and with the new age small ball in the NBA, having the former Fresno State Bulldog at power forward could be beneficial to the Pacers coach Frank Vogel.
George who returned in April looked good in limited minutes, but with the departures of Hibbert to the Lakers and West to the Spurs, a lot will be asked of him. The Pacers did a terrific job drafting two gems in 11th pick Myles Turner and 43rd pick Joseph Young, who are both doing terrific in the Orlando Summer League.
George’s two way versatility could give him a lot of success at the four position, something Bird used in his Celtics’ days.