The Indiana Pacers feel that they have a championship roster after making it to the Eastern conference finals and losing to the Miami Heat in seven games and after doing it all without star Danny Granger, the team may decide to trade him this offseason and continue with the roster intact from last year.
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The team won a top seed in the East and was very competitive all season and after signing back David West to a deal, the next big move could be to move Granger. According to Yahoo Sports, talk about moving Granger was hot around the draft and there still are a number of teams that could get involved, as the To LA Clippers, Wizards, 76ers and Spurs are reportedly interested in making a move. The deal is unlikely since Granger had knee issues last season, but if he is looking better now, teams could get in on getting a near-star for their roster.
Granger missed nearly the whole season while dealing with knee issues and the Pacers were able to win their division without him, giving Lance Stephenson a chance to shine, which he did against the Miami Heat in the playoffs and also against the Knicks. The Pacers are already dealing with tough choices ahead with Paul George and an extension and as the Lakers try to chase him, it will be even more important for the team to sign him to a nice deal and that could mean the end for Granger. Last season he averaged less than six points while playing in just five games and that is a far cry from the three straight seasons of averaging 20 points or more from 2008 to 2011, including his average of 25 during the 2008-09 season.
The team has shown it is willing to let the younger players get minutes and head coach Frank Vogel already said that Granger's starting spot is not guaranteed after he missed all of last season and Stephenson developed. George Hill is a prime piece of that puzzle and according to Pro Basketball Talk, he decided to leave the USA basketball team minicamp at the last minute due to a scheduling issue and that might hamper him joining back up going forward, something Hill said that he understood.
Granger missed basically the whole season while dealing with knee injuries and played in just five games, leaving Lance Stephenson to improve mightily and the team had its best season in years while making it to the Eastern conference finals. Granger will be coming back from two serious knee injuries and while he said that he expects to be in the starting lineup when next season picks up, head coach Frank Vogel responded that he "probably" will, which isn't always a ringing endorsement.
Granger is getting older and with his knees looking like problems just waiting to happen, the Pacers need to be ready for the possibility that he won't be 100 percent when he returns and clearly Vogel is ready for that with Stephenson. Vogel has the cache to make a decision like that after getting to the Eastern conference finals and possibly for the beginning of the season, Granger may come off the bench.