Look at the team coming back to the Pacers, it’s not like there will be much change here, especially after George Hill was brought back. David West is here for another year, and maybe with Hibbert on board, the Pacers can work a deal for West to be on a couple of more years to put this team even more in the Eastern Conference battle.  Danny Granger and Paul George will be back as well.

The facts are that Hibbert has improved his game each season, and maybe I’m naive enough to believe that he will continue to improve his game.   His confidence should only grow the more he looks to be a part of the offense. I  know he won’t be the focal point, even though that may actually turn around in this off season, as the Pacers could make him that against the smaller Eastern Conference teams.

He does have that soft touch around the rim, and can expand his shooting out a bit to make the defenses come out and defend.  His defense really makes up for the lapses on defenses the Pacers’ guards have.  He was able to take advantage of the post presence in that first round against the Orlando Magic without Dwight Howard in the middle.

Also, I love the feel he has for the community of Indianapolis, and the state of Indiana. I think he can be that player that people really latch on to, and can be the face of this franchise.  Heck, maybe even as a 30 year-old, I’ll rock a Hibbert jersey. Okay, maybe not that far.  But I will enjoy seeing him back here in a Pacers uniform, just like four years ago when the Pacers brought him aboard the team.  Like his twitter handle says “Hoya2aPacer.”

Mike Dunleavy has done a lot of good for his career with the Indiana Pacers. The team’s guard/forward has returned this season after injury, and has been playing well as he fits great with Jim O’Brien’s system. Dunleavy enters free agency this off-season and O’Brien really wants him to stay.

“One hundred percent absolutely (I want Dunleavy back),” O’Brien told The Indianapolis Star. “I would hate not to have an opportunity to have him on our basketball team.”

Dunleavy has taken a chunk out of the team’s cap space, with $10.6 million per year. Dunleavy will have to take a pay-cut, or leave. O’Brien may also leave, too, as he is on the last season of his contract.

Really, I wouldn’t be surprised or worried if these two end up leaving.