After moving big man Roy Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers to clear up cap space, the Indiana Pacers are moving swiftly to assemble their roster.
According to Shams Charania of RealGM, the Pacers have reached an agreement with their own free agent guard Rodney Stuckey on a deal that’s worth $21 million for over three years, including a player option for the final year.
Bringing back Stuckey was Indiana’s intentions all along. They had strong interest in re-signing him even before free agency began. The Cleveland Cavaliers also had interest in the 29-year-old guard, but they couldn’t pry him away from Indiana mainly because they only had the veteran's minimum to offer. The Orlando Magic registered interest in Stuckey as well, but they probably wouldn’t have been able to give him a large role.
The Pacers gave Stuckey an opportunity last season by signing him to the veteran’s minimum since teams didn’t have much interest in the eight-year player out of Eastern Washington. Stuckey responded by registering a considerably solid season for Indiana. He averaged 12.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and shot a career-high 39.0 percent from three-point territory.
Stuckey played half the season off the bench, earning just 36 starts out of 71 games played. He became the sixth man of the team by providing immediate offense and helped Indiana win a handful of games with his potent scoring.
Now that the Pacers have Monta Ellis as their starting two guard, expect Stuckey to play a permanent sixth man role during the upcoming season. Also with Paul George back in the lineup, C.J. Miles should slide to the small forward position and come off the bench as well.
The Pacers have delightfully boosted their wing positions and will now need to focus on adding a backup point guard. C.J. Watson signed with the Magic, so expect the Pacers to most likely re-sign Donald Sloan to fill the void. Indiana will also need to add a couple big men since they traded Hibbert.