This trade came about last night, and looking over it, it makes sense for both teams.  The Indiana Pacers will be sending Darren Collison and Dahntay Jones, two guys with expiring contracts, to the Dallas Mavericks for center Ian Mahinmi, who looks to be a decent back up for Roy Hibbert.

Collison was the starter for the majority of last season with the Pacers, so it’s a good move for him to the Mavs as he will probably be the starting point guard there.  The Pacers had already locked up George Hill here in Indiana, so the possibility that they would have the money available for Collison next season was very low.

Dahntay Jones had good moments from time to time here in Indiana, but this past season he didn’t seem to get consistent enough playing time.  He’s a good defender and a streaky shooter.  But the Pacers weren’t going to be using him as much this season, so once again makes sense to unload him.

What this ultimately means for the Pacers at their point guard position is Lance Stephenson has jumped up to the back up position.  This is a guy that the Pacers believe a lot in, so he should get plenty of opportunities to show what he can do.  The time is now for him to do that as the Pacers were point guard heavy, but with AJ Price gone and now Darren Collison gone, Stephenson is going to be the backup. I would think the Pacers might look into some cheap guard they can at least have on the roster.

Picking up a back up center is great as well, so that there’s someone who can come in for Hibbert and perform admirably.  Mahinmi is right around 5 points 6 rebounds a game, but if he can do that as the backup that should be fine.

What do you think about this trade that the Pacers and Mavs put together?

Paul George did make some good improvement during the season, especially with his performance at Dallas where he put up 30 points and hit 7 three pointers tying Reggie Miller’s record for made three pointers.  His scoring average rose from 7.8 points per game to 12.1.  His shooting percentages rose as well and at times he just looked more confident playing out there.

His defense was better as well.  With the length he’s added, he could present a problem with smaller shooting guards.  He got 38 blocks this season and looked to get his hands around the ball a few times per game.

But he also seemed to drop off after the All-Star break.  He was voted in to play at the Rookie Sophomore game, and performed in the Slam Dunk Contest.  But he didn’t have much scoring after the break and didn’t always have a hand on the offensive side.  That’s the biggest area to improve upon is George’s consistency.  With the limited availability through the shooting guard position, George will see lots of time and has to take advantage of that.

Dahntay Jones is another guy who plays at this position, but his minutes seemed to go down as the season wore on.  He had some good performances when he came in to play.  But nothing stands out, which is why I think the Pacers could look very deep at adding this type of player.  Someone who could come off the bench and score at this position.  If the Pacers can find that through the draft or through free agents, this will go a long way.