2006–07 Indiana Pacers season

2006–07 Indiana Pacers season
Head coach	Rick Carlisle
General manager	Larry Bird
Arena	Conseco Fieldhouse
Results
Record	35–47 (.427)
Place	Division: 4th (Central) Conference: 10th (Eastern)
Playoff finish	did not qualify
Local media
Television	FSN Indiana
Radio	WIBC

The 2006-07 Indiana Pacers season was the team's 31st in the NBA, and the 40th year of the team's existence. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 41-41 output from the previous season. However, they came six wins shy of tying it, finishing 35-47.^[1]

Draft Selections

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	School/Club Team
1	17	Shawne Williams	F	United States	Memphis
2	45	Alexander Johnson	F	United States	Florida St.

Season Summary

During the Summer of 2006, the Pacers lost Peja Stojakovic, whom they had just acquired in a trade from the Sacramento Kings during the previous season, in free agency to the New Orleans Hornets. Because of this, they were granted a trade exception by the NBA, which they used to re-acquire former Pacer Al Harrington from the Atlanta Hawks. They also pulled off two separate trades with the Dallas Mavericks, giving up established veterans Anthony Johnson and Austin Croshere for unexplained reasons. These two trades were disappointing to Pacers fans, who were confused by the trades and saw them as one-sided in the favor of the Mavericks. In June 2006, once-promising talent Jonathan Bender announced that he was retiring from the NBA at the age of 25, due to his struggles with knee injuries. The Pacers had traded All-Star big man Antonio Davis to acquire Bender in 1999 when he was an 18-year-old rookie with great potential, but his constant injuries had prevented him from ever developing.

When the regular season finally started, the Pacers had a significantly different roster than they did at the end of the previous season. The Pacers hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, and were a borderline playoff team. In January 2007, the Pacers pulled off another major trade, this time with the Golden State Warriors, giving up troubled swingman Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, and other pieces for versatile big man Troy Murphy and unproven swingman Mike Dunleavy as well as some other pieces. This trade was perceived as the only way for the Pacers to finally part ways with Jackson, who had lost the respect of Pacers fans due to his involvement in "The Brawl" and in a shooting at an Indianapolis nightclub. After the trade, the Pacers fell downward in the standings, marked by an 11-game losing streak which stretched from late February to mid-March, and eventually were eliminated from qualification for the 2007 NBA Playoffs. This would be the first time the Pacers missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, and the first of a streak of four seasons of missing the playoffs. Ironically, the perennial basement-dweller Warriors wound up making the playoffs for the first time since the 1993-94 season, and even advanced to the second round by upsetting the first-seeded Mavericks 4-2 in the first round. This left the dwindling community of Pacers fans with a sour taste in their mouths as they wondered how far the team might have gone if the trade in January had not occurred. Thus, coach Rick Carlisle was fired at the conclusion of the Pacers' season in April, and it was announced in May that Jim O'Brien, former head coach of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, would replace him as the Pacers' head coach for the next season.

Roster

Indiana Pacers roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY–MM–DD) From PG 24 Armstrong, Darrell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fayetteville State PF 9 Baston, Maceo 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Michigan SG 6 Daniels, Marquis 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Auburn F 1 Diogu, Ike 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 255 lb (116 kg) Arizona State SF 17 Dunleavy, Mike 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Duke F/C 10 Foster, Jeff 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Texas State SF 33 Granger, Danny 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 228 lb (103 kg) New Mexico SG 5 Greene, Orien 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Louisiana–Lafayette F 32 Harrington, Al (to GSW) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) St. Patrick HS (NJ) C 13 Harrison, David 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Colorado F 1 Jackson, Stephen (to GSW) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 218 lb (99 kg) Butler CC SG 3 Jasikevičius, Šarūnas (to GSW) 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Maryland SF 2 Marshall, Rawle 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Oakland PG 20 McLeod, Keith 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 188 lb (85 kg) Bowling Green St. PF 3/14 Murphy, Troy 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Notre Dame F/C 7 O'Neal, Jermaine (C) 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 260 lb (118 kg) Eau Claire HS (SC) F/C 22 Powell, Josh (to GSW) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) North Carolina State PG 11 Tinsley, Jamaal  6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Iowa State F 4 Williams, Shawne 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Memphis	Head coach Jim O'Brien (Saint Joseph's) Assistant coach(es) Dick Harter (Pennsylvania) Lester Conner (Oregon State) Dan Burke (Portland State) Frank Vogel (Kentucky) Jay DeFruscio (Ursinus) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2008-03-01

Depth chart

Pos.	Starter	Bench	Reserve	Inactive
C	Al Harrington	Jeff Foster	David Harrison
PF	Jermaine O'Neal	Maceo Baston		Josh Powell
SF	Danny Granger	Rawle Marshall		Shawne Williams
SG	Stephen Jackson	Marquis Daniels		Orien Greene
PG	Jamaal Tinsley	Darrell Armstrong	Šarūnas Jasikevičius

Standings

Central Division

Team	W	L	Home	Road	PCT.	GB
Detroit Pistons*	53	29	26–15	27–14	.646	-
Cleveland Cavaliers*	50	32	30–11	20–21	.605	3
Chicago Bulls*	49	33	31–10	18–23	.598	4
Indiana Pacers	35	47	22–19	13–28	.427	18
Milwaukee Bucks	28	54	18–23	10–31	.341	25

^*Qualified for playoffs

Awards and records

• Jermaine O'Neal, NBA All-Star Game

Transactions

January 16, 2007	To Indiana Pacers Troy Murphy	To Golden State Warriors Josh Powell
January 16, 2007	To Indiana Pacers Mike Dunleavy, Jr., Keith McLeod, Ike Diogu and a second round draft pick	To Golden State Warriors Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington

Roster changes

Additions

Player	Acquired	Former team	Position
Darrell Armstrong	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	PG
Maceo Baston	Signed as free agent	Maccabi Tel Aviv	PF
Marquis Daniels	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	SG
Ike Diogu	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PF
Mike Dunleavy, Jr.	Trade	Golden State Warriors	SF
Orien Greene	Signed as free agent	Boston Celtics	PG
Al Harrington	Trade	Atlanta Hawks	PF
Rawle Marshall	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	SG
Keith McLeod	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PG
Troy Murphy	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PF
Josh Powell	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	PF
Shawne Williams	Draft selection	rookie	SF

Subtractions

Player	Departed	New team	Position
Jonathan Bender	Retired	none	PF
Austin Croshere	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	PF
Eddie Gill	Signed as free agent	New Jersey Nets	PG
Al Harrington	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PF
Stephen Jackson	Trade	Golden State Warriors	SF
Sarunas Jasikevicius	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PG
Anthony Johnson	Trade	Dallas Mavericks	PG
Fred Jones	Signed as free agent	Toronto Raptors	SG
Scot Pollard	Signed as free agent	Cleveland Cavaliers	C
Josh Powell	Trade	Golden State Warriors	PF
Predrag Stojakovic	Signed as free agent	New Orleans Hornets	SF
Samaki Walker	Waived	none	PF

References

1. 2006-07 Indiana Pacers