How good does Collison’s arrival make the Pacers?

Wednesday’s 5 player, 4 team trade which saw Darren Collison and James Posey go to the Indiana Pacers, Trevor Ariza jump from the Rockets to the New Orleans Hornets, Troy Murphy go back home to New Jersey and Courtney Lee jumping ship from the Nets to the Rockets, definitely spiced up an offseason which has been, frankly, dragging since Lebron announced his “decision” and all the free agents that can actually help a team (apart from Allen Iverson) signed up. But how can Wednesday’s trade help the Indiana Pacers? Can they make the playoffs for the first time since 2006 or are they destined for another trip to the lottery?

The arrival of Collison addresses the Pacers main weakness: the point guard spot. With rookie Lance Stephenson not ready to be a full-time starter, AJ Price coming off a serious injury and TJ Ford permanently in Jim O’Brien’s doghouse, Collison provides scoring and defense at the 1 and can grow into the role and make it his own for years to come. Posey’s arrival, while eating into the Pacers cap room for next summer, gives the team a veteran presence off the bench with a winner’s mentality who can defend the perimeter.

The Pacers have a number of players that are either not there yet in terms of development and are firmly in the “potential” category, or players that are over the hill with franchise-killing contracts. But if Danny Granger can rediscover the form that earned him an All-Star appearance in 2009 and can stay healthy, if Roy Hibbert can continue to develop his offensive game, and Brandon Rush can have a breakout year, the Pacers have a core of Granger, Hibbert, Collison, rookie Paul George and second year forward Tyler Hansborough that could do well in a few years.

So will the Pacers make the playoffs this season? While the East has got stronger due to the arrivals of players like Amar’e Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer to New York and Chicago respectively, some teams in the East have got considerably weaker (Cleveland being the obvious example). With teams like Miami, Boston, Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta and Milwaukee considered almost-certs for the playoffs, that leaves teams like the Bobcats, Knicks, Nets and the Sixers fighting for those last two playoff spots.

Wednesday’s trade certainly puts the Pacers in that group with the Bobcats and the Knicks to fight for those last playoff places. If Granger and Hibbert can stay healthy and Collison can continue to build on that excellent rookie season he had while deputising for Chris Paul, the Pacers have a chance. I’m not saying they will win a playoff series, because they probably won’t and it will be a few more years and they will need to sign a couple of effective free agents next summer, but the Pacers are definitely on the right track with a nice young core to develop.

Brown has Bobcats going in the right direction

Last Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic proved one thing: that the Magic are no longer guaranteed to destroy the Charlotte Bobcats every time they meet. It used to be that Dwight Howard would teach Emeka Okafor a lesson, and remind the ‘Cats that they are small time and can’t compete with them. Now the Bobcats are right in the playoff mix and previously to the Orlando game, had won nine straight games at home. Howard only posted 10 points on 4-11 shooting, as well as 20 boards and 7 blocks against Bobcats centers Nazr Mohamed and DeSagna Diop. Behind an impressive performance by DJ Augustin (22 pts) and a game-tying layup by Stephen Jackson, the Bobcats managed to force overtime before eventually succumbing to the Magic.

Suprisingly, the Bobcats are the best team of 2010. Starting with a 9-1 record to start the year, including a six game win streak, the Bobcats are currently sitting at 21-22 and eighth in the East, and even occupied fifth place in the conference last week. They are on course for their first ever trip to the postseason, having been to the lottery every summer since entering the NBA as an expansion team in 2004.

What has been the reason for the Bobcats transformation from doormats to playoff contenders? Having a Hall of Fame coach in Larry Brown helps. Having had success at previous stints in Detroit and Philly, Brown has done what he does best since taking over at the beginning of last season: trade half the roster away and start over. The likes of Emeka Okafor, Jason Richardson, Adam Morrison and Sean May have left Charlotte and replaced by veterans who play Brown’s style of ball: Boris Diaw, DeSagna Diop, Vlad Radmanovic and Raja Bell (before they were traded to the Warriors for Stephen Jackson).

November’s trade for Jackson has transformed the fortunes of the Bobcats completely. Unhappy at the Warriors, many thought that Captain Jack would clash with Larry Brown, who is infamous for arguing with difficult players such as Allen Iverson in Philadelphia and Stephon Marbury in New York. But that hasn’t happened: before he came to the team, the Bobcats averaged just 82.4 ppg and shot 39.4 from the field. Since his arrival, the team’s offense has skyrocketed and they’re now putting up 97.7 ppg and shooting 46.6 percent. In the month of January, Jackson is averaging 24.6 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 3.7 apg. The 31-year-old guard/forward scored a career high 43 points in a big win against the Rockets on Jan. 12. Jackson was also recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week.

Another player who is benefitting under Brown is Gerald Wallace. “Crash” and Jackson are being mentioned in All-Star chatter and Wallace in particular, could be named to the East team, backing up Lebron at small forward. Wallace has been described as the “glue” of this Bobcats team, performing a similar role to what Tayshaun Prince did when Detroit won a championship with Brown in 2004. Wallace supports the scoring threats (Jackson, Raymond Felton) as the do-it-all player for the ‘Cats. Wallace’s transformation into an all-round player has helped his career: no longer just a big dunker, Crash is “crashing” (pardon the pun) the boards, averaging 11 rebounds (5th in the league), along with averaging 18.5 ppg.

How far can the Bobcats go this season? There has been talk of them being the fifth best team in the East, this I think is untrue. I can see them reaching the playoffs for the first time in their history, but as the 7th or 8th seed. They are not going to get out of the first round, as they are not going to beat Cleveland, Boston or Orlando in a series. But when the All-Star reserves are announced on Thursday, I think Gerald Wallace will be named in the roster. Danny Granger is injured a lot, Igoudala and the Sixers are worse than the Bobcats so Wallace could become the first player in franchise history to make the All-Star team.