“Veterans Jeff Pendergraph and Lance Stephenson, along with first-round draft pick Miles Plumlee and second-round pick Orlando Johnson (acquired in a draft night trade with Sacramento), are among 13 players on the Indiana Pacers’ rookie/free agent roster, which starts camp Thursday afternoon at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The roster is filled with a number of familiar names: Jarrid Famous, Tyren Johnson and Matt Rogers were all in the Pacers’ training camp last December. Chris Kramer, who played at Purdue, Robert Vaden, who played at Indiana before transferring to Alabama-Birmingham, and Notre Dame’s Ben Hansbrough, younger brother of Pacers’ forward Tyler, are also on the roster.

The Pacers will practice six times before leaving Sunday afternoon for Orlando. They begin Summer League play there Monday, July 9, against Detroit at 5:00 p.m. On Tuesday, July 10, the Pacers meet Oklahoma City at 1:00 p.m.; Wednesday, July 11, vs. Boston at 11:00 a.m.; Thursday, July 12, vs. Utah at 3:00 p.m. and Friday, July 13, vs. Brooklyn at 3:00 p.m.”

That’s the official press release for the Pacers summer roster.  It’s a good chance for guys to showcase what they can do.  Granted, most of those guys won’t end up on the roster.  It’s also good to see that Lance Stephenson and Jeff Pendergraph are getting some work done in the summer.  They are the two guys that are part of the Pacers and can use the work this summer.  They will be pieces to the Pacers puzzle, and need to be on top of their game for this coming season.

He added the scoring punch in the post that I think helped open up Danny Granger’s game.  I think he also helped open up Roy Hibbert’s game as Hibbert could be there to get some help in the post.

West didn’t show any signs of feeling the effects of his surgery and injury from a year ago that worried some people.  He wasn’t quite at the scoring punch he was usually at, but he could lead the team at times in scoring.  He put up 32 points in a late season game against the Sixers.  He grabbed a season high in rebounds against the Bucks with 14.  And he upped his game come playoff time as he averaged 15 points for the playoffs.

The back up in Tyler Hansbrough had a bit of an up and down season as he wasn’t that consistent enough, which is an area that he can improve.  But Hansbrough did show his range as he was able to make some jump shots from around the free throw line.  I think he needs the ball in better positions to score so he doesn’t have to start all the way out on the three point line and drive to the line.  He brings such an intensity to the game, which is great for him and great for the team.  That’s probably the best thing about him, and what he can do for the Pacers.

We can’t forget Jeff Pendergraph, who was brought in the off-season.  Unfortunately, Pendergraph didn’t play much as he was hit with an injury early on, and the roster was limited for a bit.  But Larry Bird stated in his press conference yesterday that he’s very high on Pendergraph and thinks he can make an impact on this team.  I’ll just take Bird’s word about that for now, and see what Pendergraph can do next year.

Next season will be important because it will be David West’s last year of the deal he signed.  I think he might want to stay around longer if the Pacers can afford it and if they do as well or even better than what they did this year.  If he can’t stay around, then the question will become does Hansbrough become the starter?  Or where do you go?  But I look for West to have another good year with the Pacers. I think he’ll get the scoring up and like I said the leadership aspect is so important to this young team. I love where the Pacers are with this position, and think it will be fine next year.