INDIANAPOLIS — Sounding nothing like a man on the verge of stepping aside, Larry Bird detailed an exhaustive list of things to do — draft preparations, free agency, summer league, roster analysis, etc. — in a press briefing Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The most important piece of unfinished business, however, involves meeting with owner Herb Simon to discuss Bird's future as the Pacers' president of basketball operations. The two have not yet scheduled that sit-down, though Bird is anxious for a resolution.
"I'd do it today if Herbie was here," Bird said. "We've got kids coming in working out, we've got the draft, we've got free agency and then we've got summer league all wrapped up in less than a month. So obviously I want to sit down with Herbie and get this done as quick as possible.
"I don't like this. It'd be easier for everyone if I just signed a three-year deal, but we're on a handshake deal, and we always will be. It's hard coming in here not knowing the answers. I'm being as honest as I can be with you, but sometimes I don't have the answers."
The NBA Executive of the Year, and the first to win that award as well as MVP and Coach of the Year, Bird executed a three-year plan to get the team back to respectability that concluded with a return to the playoffs in 2011, ending a four-year drought. He strongly considered stepping down then but returned after meeting with Simon, who urged him to reconsider.
That fourth year was Bird's best. He swung trades for George Hill and Leandro Barbosa and signed free agent David West, bolstering the roster as the Pacers posted the fourth-best winning percentage (.636) in their NBA history, earned the third seed in the Eastern Conference playoff bracket and advanced to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2005.
Indiana beat Orlando 4-1 in the first round but fell 4-2 to Miami in the conference semifinals.
"I love my job, I love my players, what can I say?" Bird said. "I'm disappointed with how we ended; we had them down 2-1, and we're up eight at halftime (in Game 4) and we're playing good, then all of a sudden LeBron (James) and (Dwyane) Wade decided they were going to take over the series.
"We see the weaknesses. Every step you go in the playoffs it gets tougher and tougher, and they expose your weaknesses. We know what we've got to do as a franchise to get better."
Bird said he intends to continue building a deeper, stronger second unit. He was disappointed in the bench's performance against Miami and believes more help is needed. Lacking a marquee superstar on the roster, Bird's plan is for the Pacers to overcome individual brilliance with collective strength.
"We had a pretty good bench there for awhile but they weren't as consistent as I would like," he said. "I think we need to continue to build on that. If you look at the playoffs, especially against Miami, we really didn't get the type of play we needed to compete with them, especially from our bench. Our starters did pretty decent but for us to be successful in a small market, we've got to have a better bench."
Their are six free agents to deal with. The two biggest are restricted free agents Hill and Roy Hibbert, young starters considered integral to the team's short- and long-term plans. There are four unrestricted free agents, all reserves: Barbosa, Lou Amundson, A.J. Price and Kyrylo Fesenko.
The Pacers have just one pick in the June 28 NBA Draft, No. 26 overall. Bird said he would consider packages to either move up to acquire another young talent or move out to add a veteran, as he did last year when he traded the draft rights to No. 15 pick Kawhi Leonard to the Spurs in the package for Hill.
Bird also placed a high priority on player development because much of the Pacers' room for improvement lies in the growth of Paul George, Hibbert, Hill and others that could be in line for bigger roles next season including Lance Stephenson and Jeff Pendergraph.
"If you look around the league, you see some teams getting older, you hear 'bout guys wanting to be traded all the time," he said. "For our franchise, we can't take a step back. We've got to keep taking steps forward, and we're in a position to do that. We've got to get better and as we go on the next few years, these kids have got to grow along with the franchise.
"We got great support in the playoffs from our fans; our kids were excited about that. They could feel the excitement in the air, but we've got to build on that. We've got to build our fan base and drive the revenues, and as a team, we've got to get better."
Bird might need some assistance accomplishing all of his goals. There has been discussion of a front-office restructuring that would modify Bird's role while leaving him in charge. But there seems to be little possibility he will not return in some capacity.
"I love my job," he said. "Obviously, we went through some tough times, and now we're reaping the benefits of what we saw three or four years ago. . . . I wouldn't want to sign a four- or five-year deal because I'm getting older, I don't know long I want to do this, but I do love my job and what we have to do is find out which direction we want this franchise to go."
On Bird's watch, that direction has been forward.
