27-year old point guard T.J. Ford is without a doubt going to pick up his player option for the 2010-11 season as there is no way a team would give him that much money on the open market. Ford played in 47 games (32 starts) for the Pacers last season and he averaged 25.3 minutes, 10.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Because of his size (6′0″, 165 pounds) it always seems as if Ford gets beat up a lot. He has now played in 374 games (303 starts) in his NBA career (7 years) and he is averaging 29.2 minutes, 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. Ford is by far the best point guard the Pacers have so they should just play him until he gets hurt.

Actually, the Pacers are upset with the way that 24-year old power forward Tyler Hansbrough played this year. Hansbrough played in 29 games (1 start) for the Pacers this season and he averaged 17.6 minutes, 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game. He only shot 36% from the floor which is pretty pathetic for a power forward. He needs to improve his game over the summer if he wants to have a bigger role with the Pacers in the near future. 23-year old point guard A.J. Price looks like he has some skills. He played in 56 games (2 starts) for the Pacers this year and he averaged 15.4 minutes, 7.3 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. Look for Price to get more playing time next year than he got this year.

The Pacers only shot 39.8% last night and they were outscored 24-17 in the 4th quarter which cost them this game. Roy Hibbert led the way for the Pacers last night with 29 points and 7 rebounds. Danny Granger only shot 4 of 16 from the floor but he still finished up with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists on 4 of 16 shooting from the floor. Earl Watson was 7 of 9 from the floor as he finished with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists last night. The Pacers finish the year with a 32-50 record.

The Pacers were outrebounded 53-38 last night as the Magic bullied them at Conseco Field House. Rookie A.J. Price led the way for the Pacers last night with 19 points, 1 rebound and 4 assists in 25 minutes off the bench. Mike Dunleavy was also busy finishing with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Danny Granger was only 6 of 19 shooting from the floor last night but he still finished up with 18 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists. The Pacers are now 32-49 on the season.

Danny Granger has been outstanding this season for the Pacers. He has played in 58 games (all starts) this season and he is averaging 36.9 minutes, 24.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. The Pacers would have had a much better record this season if Granger wouldn’t have missed around 20 games this year due to injury.