The Indiana Pacers acquired 25-year old SG/PG George Hill from the San Antonio Spurs for the draft rights to SF Kawhi Leonard (1st round, #15 overall), PF Davis Bertans (2nd round, #42 overall) and 27-year old power forward Erazem Lorbek (2nd round pick in 2005, #46 overall). Hill played in 76 games (5 starts) for the Spurs last year and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 11.6 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He has now played in 231 games (55 starts) in his first three years in the NBA and he is averaging 24.6 minutes, 9.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game. I’m thinking that the Pacers made this deal with the idea of starting Hill at shooting guard. If that is the case, I really like this deal for both teams.

The Pacers have been pointing to this season for quite some time. That’s because Mike Dunleavy, T.J. Ford, Jeff Foster, Solomon Jones and Josh McRoberts have all become free agents. I don’t see the Pacers making much of an effort to bring back Ford or Foster. I think they might want to bring back Dunleavy if the price is right. McRoberts has been in and out of the dog house for the Pacers, so I see him leaving as I have a feeling that power forward is a place where they want to improve the team. I could see Solomon Jones coming back if the price is right.

The Indiana Pacers will likely be without starting point guard Darren Collison for the rest of this series due to a severely sprained left ankle. He has played in both games so far in this series and he has averaged 24.5 minutes, 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game. With Collison likely out for the rest of this series, A.J. Price will replace him in the starting lineup. Price has played in 2 games (0 starts) in this series so far and he is averaging 19.0 minutes, 10.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. The Pacers will also have to get T.J. Ford out of mothballs as he will be Price’s backup. Ford played in his first game of this series last night and he worked 9 minutes in which he had 5 points and 1 assist. Collison’s injury is a big blow to the Pacers.

The Indiana Pacers will be without 30-year old SG/SF Mike Dunleavy indefinitely due to a broken left thumb. Dunleavy has played in 54 games (44 starts) so far this year for the Pacers and he is averaging 28.6 minutes, 11.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He is also shooting 40.7% from the floor so far this year and that will be missed. Brandon Rush & Paul George will likely see bumps in P.T. to help replace Dunleavy.

The Pacers finally saw enough of head coach Jim O’Brien as they fired him this morning. The Pacers were only 17-27 (38.6%) so far this season and that’s just not good enough to get the job done. The Pacers were 121-169 (41.7%) in O’Brien’s four years in charge. The Pacers tired of O’Brien’s handling of the younger players, especially Tyler Hansbrough and Roy Hibbert. The Pacers have elevated 37-year old Frank Vogel to O’Brien’s old spot on an interim basis for the rest of this year. Vogel has never been a head coach in the NBA but he has been an assistant coach for 8 years. He could get the full time gig if he can get the Pacers to fight for a playoff spot the rest of the way while using some of the younger players.