<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">There are no revolving doors leading into Conseco Fieldhouse, a logical architectural characteristic for a retro building. They would have come in handy, however, during this, the Indiana Pacers' offseason of alteration. Promising change to a disgruntled fan base after last season's 41-41 record and first-round playoff elimination, CEO Donnie Walsh and president Larry Bird have spun their roster through an unprecedented flurry of comings and goings. "You might disagree with what we've done, but you can't say we haven't followed through," Walsh said, allowing himself a laugh over all the atypical activity. Al Harrington, who will be re-introduced at a Fieldhouse news conference today, is one of 11 acquisitions. Seven players, including the retired Jonathan Bender, have been traded or dropped from last season's payroll. Seven others return. The Pacers have 18 players under contract, three more than allowed during the season. With a couple of needs to fill and nearly six weeks to go before training camp, more changes appear inevitable. "We're looking, there's no question about it," Bird said. "I still anticipate things happening (around the league)." The Pacers still have their mid-level exception of $5.2 million and the biannual exception of $1.8 million to spend on free agents, but given the size of their roster and payroll, trades are more likely. "I'm not going to bring our (payroll) number up any more," Walsh said. "We have a month and a half left. We'll see what we can do." Walsh and Bird would like to improve their perimeter shooting, although they're not desperate. Harrington, Jamaal Tinsley, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Stephen Jackson have proven capable of hitting at least 35 percent from the 3-point line, and they think Danny Granger could do the same with experience. Second-round draft pick James White hit 5-of-8 3-pointers in summer league play and Jimmie "Snap" Hunter, who has a partially guaranteed contract, hit better than 40 percent of his attempts in the CBA last season. Walsh and Bird also would like the team to get bigger, but are content with Jermaine O'Neal, Jeff Foster, David Harrison and perhaps John Edwards at center. Regardless of whether they make other moves, Walsh and Bird believe they have a long, athletic, versatile team that can play small, play big, play fast and play slow. They believe it will be improved defensively and have a variety of ways to score. It also might be able to help people forget the anxieties of the past two seasons. "There's a freshness to everything around here," Bird said.</div> Source
