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Whether your are a long standing forum member or whether you have just registered today, it's a good idea to read and review the rules below so that you have a very good idea of what to expect when you come to Pacers Digest.

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Below are the rules of Pacers Digest. After you have read them, you will have a very good sense of where we are coming from, what we expect, what we don't want to see, and how we react to things.

Rule #1

Pacers Digest is intended to be a place to discuss basketball without having to deal with the kinds of behaviors or attitudes that distract people from sticking with the discussion of the topics at hand. These unwanted distractions can come in many forms, and admittedly it can sometimes be tricky to pin down each and every kind that can rear its ugly head, but we feel that the following examples and explanations cover at least a good portion of that ground and should at least give people a pretty good idea of the kinds of things we actively discourage:

"Anyone who __________ is a liar / a fool / an idiot / a blind homer / has their head buried in the sand / a blind hater / doesn't know basketball / doesn't watch the games"

"People with intelligence will agree with me when I say that __________"

"Only stupid people think / believe / do ___________"

"I can't wait to hear something from PosterX when he/she sees that **insert a given incident or current event that will have probably upset or disappointed PosterX here**"

"He/she is just delusional"

"This thread is stupid / worthless / embarrassing"

"I'm going to take a moment to point and / laugh at PosterX / GroupOfPeopleY who thought / believed *insert though/belief here*"

"Remember when PosterX said OldCommentY that no longer looks good? "

In general, if a comment goes from purely on topic to something 'ad hominem' (personal jabs, personal shots, attacks, flames, however you want to call it, towards a person, or a group of people, or a given city/state/country of people), those are most likely going to be found intolerable.

We also dissuade passive aggressive behavior. This can be various things, but common examples include statements that are basically meant to imply someone is either stupid or otherwise incapable of holding a rational conversation. This can include (but is not limited to) laughing at someone's conclusions rather than offering an honest rebuttal, asking people what game they were watching, or another common problem is Poster X will say "that player isn't that bad" and then Poster Y will say something akin to "LOL you think that player is good". We're not going to tolerate those kinds of comments out of respect for the community at large and for the sake of trying to just have an honest conversation.

Now, does the above cover absolutely every single kind of distraction that is unwanted? Probably not, but you should by now have a good idea of the general types of things we will be discouraging. The above examples are meant to give you a good feel for / idea of what we're looking for. If something new or different than the above happens to come along and results in the same problem (that being, any other attitude or behavior that ultimately distracts from actually just discussing the topic at hand, or that is otherwise disrespectful to other posters), we can and we will take action to curb this as well, so please don't take this to mean that if you managed to technically avoid saying something exactly like one of the above examples that you are then somehow off the hook.

That all having been said, our goal is to do so in a generally kind and respectful way, and that doesn't mean the moment we see something we don't like that somebody is going to be suspended or banned, either. It just means that at the very least we will probably say something about it, quite possibly snipping out the distracting parts of the post in question while leaving alone the parts that are actually just discussing the topics, and in the event of a repeating or excessive problem, then we will start issuing infractions to try to further discourage further repeat problems, and if it just never seems to improve, then finally suspensions or bans will come into play. We would prefer it never went that far, and most of the time for most of our posters, it won't ever have to.

A slip up every once and a while is pretty normal, but, again, when it becomes repetitive or excessive, something will be done. Something occasional is probably going to be let go (within reason), but when it starts to become habitual or otherwise a pattern, odds are very good that we will step in.

There's always a small minority that like to push people's buttons and/or test their own boundaries with regards to the administrators, and in the case of someone acting like that, please be aware that this is not a court of law, but a private website run by people who are simply trying to do the right thing as they see it. If we feel that you are a special case that needs to be dealt with in an exceptional way because your behavior isn't explicitly mirroring one of our above examples of what we generally discourage, we can and we will take atypical action to prevent this from continuing if you are not cooperative with us.

Also please be aware that you will not be given a pass simply by claiming that you were 'only joking,' because quite honestly, when someone really is just joking, for one thing most people tend to pick up on the joke, including the person or group that is the target of the joke, and for another thing, in the event where an honest joke gets taken seriously and it upsets or angers someone, the person who is truly 'only joking' will quite commonly go out of his / her way to apologize and will try to mend fences. People who are dishonest about their statements being 'jokes' do not do so, and in turn that becomes a clear sign of what is really going on. It's nothing new.

In any case, quite frankly, the overall quality and health of the entire forum's community is more important than any one troublesome user will ever be, regardless of exactly how a problem is exhibiting itself, and if it comes down to us having to make a choice between you versus the greater health and happiness of the entire community, the community of this forum will win every time.

Lastly, there are also some posters, who are generally great contributors and do not otherwise cause any problems, who sometimes feel it's their place to provoke or to otherwise 'mess with' that small minority of people described in the last paragraph, and while we possibly might understand why you might feel you WANT to do something like that, the truth is we can't actually tolerate that kind of behavior from you any more than we can tolerate the behavior from them. So if we feel that you are trying to provoke those other posters into doing or saying something that will get themselves into trouble, then we will start to view you as a problem as well, because of the same reason as before: The overall health of the forum comes first, and trying to stir the pot with someone like that doesn't help, it just makes it worse. Some will simply disagree with this philosophy, but if so, then so be it because ultimately we have to do what we think is best so long as it's up to us.

If you see a problem that we haven't addressed, the best and most appropriate course for a forum member to take here is to look over to the left of the post in question. See underneath that poster's name, avatar, and other info, down where there's a little triangle with an exclamation point (!) in it? Click that. That allows you to report the post to the admins so we can definitely notice it and give it a look to see what we feel we should do about it. Beyond that, obviously it's human nature sometimes to want to speak up to the poster in question who has bothered you, but we would ask that you try to refrain from doing so because quite often what happens is two or more posters all start going back and forth about the original offending post, and suddenly the entire thread is off topic or otherwise derailed. So while the urge to police it yourself is understandable, it's best to just report it to us and let us handle it. Thank you!

All of the above is going to be subject to a case by case basis, but generally and broadly speaking, this should give everyone a pretty good idea of how things will typically / most often be handled.

Rule #2

If the actions of an administrator inspire you to make a comment, criticism, or express a concern about it, there is a wrong place and a couple of right places to do so.

The wrong place is to do so in the original thread in which the administrator took action. For example, if a post gets an infraction, or a post gets deleted, or a comment within a larger post gets clipped out, in a thread discussing Paul George, the wrong thing to do is to distract from the discussion of Paul George by adding your off topic thoughts on what the administrator did.

The right places to do so are:

A) Start a thread about the specific incident you want to talk about on the Feedback board. This way you are able to express yourself in an area that doesn't throw another thread off topic, and this way others can add their two cents as well if they wish, and additionally if there's something that needs to be said by the administrators, that is where they will respond to it.

B) Send a private message to the administrators, and they can respond to you that way.

If this is done the wrong way, those comments will be deleted, and if it's a repeating problem then it may also receive an infraction as well.

Rule #3

If a poster is bothering you, and an administrator has not or will not deal with that poster to the extent that you would prefer, you have a powerful tool at your disposal, one that has recently been upgraded and is now better than ever: The ability to ignore a user.

When you ignore a user, you will unfortunately still see some hints of their existence (nothing we can do about that), however, it does the following key things:

A) Any post they make will be completely invisible as you scroll through a thread.

B) The new addition to this feature: If someone QUOTES a user you are ignoring, you do not have to read who it was, or what that poster said, unless you go out of your way to click on a link to find out who it is and what they said.

To utilize this feature, from any page on Pacers Digest, scroll to the top of the page, look to the top right where it says 'Settings' and click that. From the settings page, look to the left side of the page where it says 'My Settings', and look down from there until you see 'Edit Ignore List' and click that. From here, it will say 'Add a Member to Your List...' Beneath that, click in the text box to the right of 'User Name', type in or copy & paste the username of the poster you are ignoring, and once their name is in the box, look over to the far right and click the 'Okay' button. All done!

Rule #4

Regarding infractions, currently they carry a value of one point each, and that point will expire in 31 days. If at any point a poster is carrying three points at the same time, that poster will be suspended until the oldest of the three points expires.

Rule #5

When you share or paste content or articles from another website, you must include the URL/link back to where you found it, who wrote it, and what website it's from. Said content will be removed if this doesn't happen.

An example:

If I copy and paste an article from the Indianapolis Star website, I would post something like this:

http://www.linktothearticlegoeshere.com/article
Title of the Article
Author's Name
Indianapolis Star

Rule #6

We cannot tolerate illegal videos on Pacers Digest. This means do not share any links to them, do not mention any websites that host them or link to them, do not describe how to find them in any way, and do not ask about them. Posts doing anything of the sort will be removed, the offenders will be contacted privately, and if the problem becomes habitual, you will be suspended, and if it still persists, you will probably be banned.

The legal means of watching or listening to NBA games are NBA League Pass Broadband (for US, or for International; both cost money) and NBA Audio League Pass (which is free). Look for them on NBA.com.

Rule #7

Provocative statements in a signature, or as an avatar, or as the 'tagline' beneath a poster's username (where it says 'Member' or 'Administrator' by default, if it is not altered) are an unwanted distraction that will more than likely be removed on sight. There can be shades of gray to this, but in general this could be something political or religious that is likely going to provoke or upset people, or otherwise something that is mean-spirited at the expense of a poster, a group of people, or a population.

It may or may not go without saying, but this goes for threads and posts as well, particularly when it's not made on the off-topic board (Market Square).

We do make exceptions if we feel the content is both innocuous and unlikely to cause social problems on the forum (such as wishing someone a Merry Christmas or a Happy Easter), and we also also make exceptions if such topics come up with regards to a sports figure (such as the Lance Stephenson situation bringing up discussions of domestic abuse and the law, or when Jason Collins came out as gay and how that lead to some discussion about gay rights).

However, once the discussion seems to be more/mostly about the political issues instead of the sports figure or his specific situation, the thread is usually closed.

Rule #8

We prefer self-restraint and/or modesty when making jokes or off topic comments in a sports discussion thread. They can be fun, but sometimes they derail or distract from a topic, and we don't want to see that happen. If we feel it is a problem, we will either delete or move those posts from the thread.

Rule #9

Generally speaking, we try to be a "PG-13" rated board, and we don't want to see sexual content or similarly suggestive content. Vulgarity is a more muddled issue, though again we prefer things to lean more towards "PG-13" than "R". If we feel things have gone too far, we will step in.

Rule #10

We like small signatures, not big signatures. The bigger the signature, the more likely it is an annoying or distracting signature.

Rule #11

Do not advertise anything without talking about it with the administrators first. This includes advertising with your signature, with your avatar, through private messaging, and/or by making a thread or post.
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Free Agency: Central Division

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  • #1

    Free Agency: Central Division

    Now that the draft is over and because I'm bored, here is what each team should do in free agency, maybe even with some, not many, trade scenarios involved.

    ( ) = signed or re-signed via FA
    * * = traded for

    Cap for 2016 is $67.1M

    Chicago - $64M

    Biggest need: Definite option at the SF spot if Snell and McDermott aren’t the answer, and they need to move Noah or Gasol.

    The good news for the Bulls is the tax threshold is close to $87M, so they can Bird Rights Jimmy Butler into their roster and kind of call it a year. They have a couple of exceptions at their disposal, but that will push them toward the cap. Like Boston, they are a team that is likely to make a big trade.

    Taj Gibson’s ankle surgery complicates most trade scenarios. It’s not that he was the most likely to be dealt, but he was the insurance policy for Joakim Noah being dealt. For the purposes of this exercise, I’m going to assume Noah and Pau Gasol will not be on the same team next year.

    SF: Tony Snell, Doug McDermott
    PF: Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson Bobby Portis
    C: Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah
    SG: (Jimmy Butler), (Gerald Green)
    PG: Derrick Rose, E’twaun Moore, Kirk Hinrich

    Cleveland - $40.8M

    Biggest need: LeBron to be the best player on the planet and not the worst GM.

    Love is gone. He just is. I doubt very much he has much interest in being the third option AND the scapegoat all at once, again. They didn’t pay a tax last year, so they can get there this year without the “repeater tax” kicking in, and $10.5M of their current cap number is/will be Brendan Haywood’s. That’s a nice trade chip, if any team is willing to help them by taking future first round picks.

    I love it when LBJ mortgages the future of his franchise for NBA finals losses. Among the players in the last 30 years who have tried to exert control over their team’s front office, LeBron is by far the most self-absorbed. He capped out Cleveland with old players past their prime before Miami, while holding the figurative gun to their head, and he capped out Miami with old players past their prime. He’s capping out Cleveland again.

    SF: (LeBron James), (JR Smith)
    PF: (Tristan Thompson), (Brandon Bass)
    C: Timofy Mozgov, Andersen Varejao, Brendan Haywood
    SG: (Iman Shumpert), Joe Harris
    PG: Kyrie Irving, (Matthew Dellavedova)

    If they can remotely find anyone willing to take Varejao’s contract, even if just for spare parts, they could find some depth at PF and SF. Other than that, they will need to find aged veterans willing to take the minimum or Exceptions to fill out their roster. The Haywood chip is a good one though. They’ll need another shooter, one who can guard a SF for those times when LBJ does slip over to the PF spot.

    Varejao, if healthy, is outstanding back up center.

    Detroit - $34.8M

    Biggest need: 3 and D guy at the SF spot. Trade Jennings.

    Kind of a big hole up front. No great option at the SF spot, aside from rookie, Stanley Johnson, Monroe is gone, and Ilyasova has yet to show he can produce before AND after the all-star break in the same season. Next to Drummond, Ilyasova has found his muse.

    They have Brandon Jennings to deal, but teams needing a PG are Houston (loves Beverly next Harden being their primary ball handler), New York (traded to draft Jerian Grant and view Jose Calderon as “great in their system”), and Sacramento (torn between thinking Collison is really a starting PG vs. does Sacremento really want Jennings on that roster—let’s hope so).

    Dallas would be once exception to that, but I’m not sure what Dallas could offer other than a pick. They do have the cap space to not take anyone back.

    SF: (DeMarre Carroll), Stanley Johnson
    PF: Ersan Ilyasova, Anthony Tolliver
    C: Andre Drummond, (Joel Anthony)
    SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jodie Meeks, Cartier Martin
    PG: (Reggie Jackson), Brandon Jennings, Spencer Dimwiddie

    Indiana - $52.5M

    Biggest need: Athleticism or skill at the PF spot.

    West is gone. No worries there. He was a dog the final two years, and his inconsistency put Roy Hibbert in some bad spots on both ends. Hopefully a more fluid offensive system means less Hibbert just posting up and being a punching bag, not that any part of their offense will be centered around him. Hibbert is certainly a trade chip, but not many teams truly need cap relief. He’s on an expiring deal, playing for his next contract. I’d expect him to ride out his tenure with Indiana truly motivated, and the Pacers will regret not resigning him.

    “Going small” doesn’t mean “being small”. It means having options. There will be large parts of many games, if not most, where Paul George and Solomon Hill are on the court with a center and two guards. Again, not that SHill will be an offensive focal point. Retaining Rodney Stuckey is huge because it will mean they retained what was a steal of a free agent signing last year.

    George Hill hopefully continues as a top level PG who can play with or without the ball. That’s a big damn deal.

    SF: Paul George, Solomon Hill
    PF: (Ed Davis), Damjan Rudez
    C: Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahinmi, Myles Turner
    SG: CJ Miles, (Rodney Stuckey)
    PG: George Hill, (Ish Smith), (Donald Sloan)

    Milwaukee - $50.1M

    Biggest need: Veteran SF to nurture their youth. Keep Middleton.

    So young. So long. So athletic. You almost don’t want to do much with this roster other than watch it grow. I know they’re rumored to want Brook Lopez, but he alters how they play and needs touches. Not that I see Pachulia being the answer to a championship team, Miles Plumlee and he could be a great compliment to what they already have.

    I see lineups too where Vasquez is playing off the ball, along with Middleton.

    SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, (Chris Copeland)
    PF: Jabari Parker, John Henson, Johnny O'Bryant
    C: Zaza Pachulia, Mile Plumlee
    SG: (Khris Middleton), OJ Mayo, Rashad Vaughn
    PG: Michael Carter-Williams, Greivis Vasquez, Tyler Ennis




    Players still on the board:

    Joe Ingles
    Thomas Robinson
    Luis Scola
    Greg Smith
    Josh Smith
    David West

    JJ Berea

    Andre Miller
    Rajon Rondo
    Courtside: Featuring Indiana boys' high school basketball
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Free Agency: Central Division

    Originally posted by Jim R View Post
    Now that the draft is over and because I'm bored, here is what each team should do in free agency, maybe even with some, not many, trade scenarios involved.

    ( ) = signed or re-signed via FA
    * * = traded for

    Cap for 2016 is $67.1M

    Chicago - $64M

    Biggest need: Definite option at the SF spot if Snell and McDermott aren’t the answer, and they need to move Noah or Gasol.

    The good news for the Bulls is the tax threshold is close to $87M, so they can Bird Rights Jimmy Butler into their roster and kind of call it a year. They have a couple of exceptions at their disposal, but that will push them toward the cap. Like Boston, they are a team that is likely to make a big trade.

    Taj Gibson’s ankle surgery complicates most trade scenarios. It’s not that he was the most likely to be dealt, but he was the insurance policy for Joakim Noah being dealt. For the purposes of this exercise, I’m going to assume Noah and Pau Gasol will not be on the same team next year.

    SF: Tony Snell, Doug McDermott
    PF: Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson Bobby Portis
    C: Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah
    SG: (Jimmy Butler), (Gerald Green)
    PG: Derrick Rose, E’twaun Moore, Kirk Hinrich

    Cleveland - $40.8M

    Biggest need: LeBron to be the best player on the planet and not the worst GM.

    Love is gone. He just is. I doubt very much he has much interest in being the third option AND the scapegoat all at once, again. They didn’t pay a tax last year, so they can get there this year without the “repeater tax” kicking in, and $10.5M of their current cap number is/will be Brendan Haywood’s. That’s a nice trade chip, if any team is willing to help them by taking future first round picks.

    I love it when LBJ mortgages the future of his franchise for NBA finals losses. Among the players in the last 30 years who have tried to exert control over their team’s front office, LeBron is by far the most self-absorbed. He capped out Cleveland with old players past their prime before Miami, while holding the figurative gun to their head, and he capped out Miami with old players past their prime. He’s capping out Cleveland again.

    SF: (LeBron James), (JR Smith)
    PF: (Tristan Thompson), (Brandon Bass)
    C: Timofy Mozgov, Andersen Varejao, Brendan Haywood
    SG: (Iman Shumpert), Joe Harris
    PG: Kyrie Irving, (Matthew Dellavedova)

    If they can remotely find anyone willing to take Varejao’s contract, even if just for spare parts, they could find some depth at PF and SF. Other than that, they will need to find aged veterans willing to take the minimum or Exceptions to fill out their roster. The Haywood chip is a good one though. They’ll need another shooter, one who can guard a SF for those times when LBJ does slip over to the PF spot.

    Varejao, if healthy, is outstanding back up center.

    Detroit - $34.8M

    Biggest need: 3 and D guy at the SF spot. Trade Jennings.

    Kind of a big hole up front. No great option at the SF spot, aside from rookie, Stanley Johnson, Monroe is gone, and Ilyasova has yet to show he can produce before AND after the all-star break in the same season. Next to Drummond, Ilyasova has found his muse.

    They have Brandon Jennings to deal, but teams needing a PG are Houston (loves Beverly next Harden being their primary ball handler), New York (traded to draft Jerian Grant and view Jose Calderon as “great in their system”), and Sacramento (torn between thinking Collison is really a starting PG vs. does Sacremento really want Jennings on that roster—let’s hope so).

    Dallas would be once exception to that, but I’m not sure what Dallas could offer other than a pick. They do have the cap space to not take anyone back.

    SF: (DeMarre Carroll), Stanley Johnson
    PF: Ersan Ilyasova, Anthony Tolliver
    C: Andre Drummond, (Joel Anthony)
    SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Jodie Meeks, Cartier Martin
    PG: (Reggie Jackson), Brandon Jennings, Spencer Dimwiddie

    Indiana - $52.5M

    Biggest need: Athleticism or skill at the PF spot.

    West is gone. No worries there. He was a dog the final two years, and his inconsistency put Roy Hibbert in some bad spots on both ends. Hopefully a more fluid offensive system means less Hibbert just posting up and being a punching bag, not that any part of their offense will be centered around him. Hibbert is certainly a trade chip, but not many teams truly need cap relief. He’s on an expiring deal, playing for his next contract. I’d expect him to ride out his tenure with Indiana truly motivated, and the Pacers will regret not resigning him.

    “Going small” doesn’t mean “being small”. It means having options. There will be large parts of many games, if not most, where Paul George and Solomon Hill are on the court with a center and two guards. Again, not that SHill will be an offensive focal point. Retaining Rodney Stuckey is huge because it will mean they retained what was a steal of a free agent signing last year.

    George Hill hopefully continues as a top level PG who can play with or without the ball. That’s a big damn deal.

    SF: Paul George, Solomon Hill
    PF: (Ed Davis), Damjan Rudez
    C: Roy Hibbert, Ian Mahinmi, Myles Turner
    SG: CJ Miles, (Rodney Stuckey)
    PG: George Hill, (Ish Smith), (Donald Sloan)

    Milwaukee - $50.1M

    Biggest need: Veteran SF to nurture their youth. Keep Middleton.

    So young. So long. So athletic. You almost don’t want to do much with this roster other than watch it grow. I know they’re rumored to want Brook Lopez, but he alters how they play and needs touches. Not that I see Pachulia being the answer to a championship team, Miles Plumlee and he could be a great compliment to what they already have.

    I see lineups too where Vasquez is playing off the ball, along with Middleton.

    SF: Giannis Antetokounmpo, (Chris Copeland)
    PF: Jabari Parker, John Henson, Johnny O'Bryant
    C: Zaza Pachulia, Mile Plumlee
    SG: (Khris Middleton), OJ Mayo, Rashad Vaughn
    PG: Michael Carter-Williams, Greivis Vasquez, Tyler Ennis




    Players still on the board:

    Joe Ingles
    Thomas Robinson
    Luis Scola
    Greg Smith
    Josh Smith
    David West

    JJ Berea

    Andre Miller
    Rajon Rondo



    Where is Joe Young on Pacers squad?

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Free Agency: Central Division

      Dbl post

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Free Agency: Central Division

        I didn't have a lot of the second round picks on there yet because it remains to be seen who will be regularly active, and they don't impact the salary cap at this point. The one omitted was Whittington.
        Courtside: Featuring Indiana boys' high school basketball

        Comment

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