Ordinarily, the bad news doesn't start coming in until the NBA season begins, but it seems the poor Indiana Pacers just can't catch a break right now.

One of the few bright spots in the 2009-2010 season, second round pick AJ Price (7.3 ppg, 1.9 apg, 1.6 rpg in 56 games) fractured his knee cap during a charity game in New York and just underwent successful surgery.  He will be out for 4-6 months.

Let's be honest here -- no one was expecting Price to be the future of the Pacers at the point guard position, but the kid had (has) potential.  Let's just hope Price can recover within 4 rather then 6 months (which would mean he'll miss the start of next season).  And that's not factoring into account the time it will take him to get back into shape and get his legs back under him.  It seems his sophomore season will be a difficult one even before it begins.

If Price is out for part of the season or if he's ineffective when he returns, where does that leave the struggling Pacers?  With Earl Watson likely to leave as a free agent, that just leaves TJ Ford behind.  Who knows, maybe this will be a good thing, something that will allow Ford to find himself again after a shocking season where he screwed up the team's chemistry, looked for his own shot all the time and rarely passed the ball.  This is a contract year for him so the incentives will definitely be there.

Will this also affect the upcoming NBA draft?  Will the Pacers be looking for a point guard more than ever now, or will a trade or signing for forthcoming?  Either way, Pacers fans need to keep expectations in check.  It is highly unlikely that anyone the team gets will be able to turn this franchise around immediately.

With a whopping 87% certainty, the Indiana Pacers surprised no one when they ended up with the 10th overall pick in the next NBA draft lottery.

Let's face it -- no matter what Larry Bird says about how great the 10th pick is, we all know that the Pacers could have done a lot better had it not been for that silly winning streak the team embarked on towards the end of the season.

Case in point -- the No. 1 pick went to the Washington Wizards, who had the 5th best odds of winning the lottery.  Do I need to remind Pacers fans that for a stretch of the second half of the season, the Pacers were in line to be in that position (or even better?).  Sigh...

Complete lottery results below:

Now, instead of dreaming of John Wall and Evan Turner, or even DeMarcus Cousins, Wesley Johnson or Derrick Favors, the Pacers are stuck with a disappointing pick.  It's not the end of the world because there are always a few surprises in the draft, and perhaps the Pacers will get lucky this year like they did in 2005 when they drafted Danny Granger at 17th.  But I cannot help wondering what might have been.

The focus now shifts to who the Pacers will draft with the 10th overall pick.  Most mock drafts have the portion of the draft stacked with athletic big men such as Patrick Patterson (Kentucky), Ekpe Udoh (Baylor), Donatas Montiejuanas (Lithuania), Greg Monroe (Georgetown), Ed Davis (North Carolina) and Hassan Whiteside (Marshall).  However, what the Pacers really need is a solid point guard, and after John Wall, there aren't exactly a lot out there.  The second best PG in the draft may be Wall's back up in Kentucky, Eric Bledsoe, but few have Bledsoe going as high as the 10th pick.

Would the Pacers be better off trading down or packaging the pick for a point guard?  According to Pacers.com, Devin Harris may be available.  Put Harris and Granger together and you might have a pretty decent team, even though both men took a step back last season.

The Pacers also have a couple of second round picks this year (provided Dallas surrenders their pick from the Shawne Williams trade -- at least that was a smart move), but no one is expecting miracles out of a second round pick.  If the Pacers can get a couple of players with those picks who are anywhere near as good as AJ Price was for them last season (though let's not carried away, he's never going to be a star), then I would consider them highly successful picks.

Hopefully, the Pacers can get a quality PG through trading the pick, or strike gold with the 10th pick, as unlikely as that is.  I'd much prefer it if they somehow managed to get Harris for the pick and some expiring contract (please let it be TJ Ford!).

Imagine a starting unit with:

PG Devin Harris (who has a career revival)
SG Brandon Rush (who suddenly wakes up and becomes a solid, consistent player)
SF: Danny Granger (who has a career revival)
PF: Troy Murphy (who suddenly learns how to defend)
C: Roy Hibbert (who continues to improve and no longer fouls every chance he gets)

Then on the bench you have: AJ Price (PG), Dahntay Jones (SG/SF), Mike Dunleavy Jr (SG/SF), Tyler Hansbrough (PF), Josh McRoberts (PF/C), Jeff Foster (PF/C), Solomon Jones (PF/C), and hopefully not TJ Ford (packaged in the Harris deal -- their salaries even match!).

That's a decent playoff team, isn't it?

I finally just finished an in-depth article reviewing the Indiana Pacers' 2009-2010 season, complete with team analysis and player grades.

Check it out by clicking here.

Okay, seriously, I am getting tired of these rumors of the Pacers moving. I really don't think it's going to happen at all. It'll never happen. NEVER! I have so many reasons, so let's start now.

Yes, yes, Indiana has been going to financial troubles and there are those rumors of them that they might be threatened to leave town.

Financial troubles are getting so bad that if Herb Simon can't pay for the team and the building costs by June 30th, it's all over. Everything has to be done in 30-40 days, says Jim Morris.

But I just don't see it happening. I think Indy can get through this. I know they can. I mean, how can you see a professional basketball team moving from the state of Indiana!

Indiana! This is where basketball dreams are made. Indiana is probably one of the top five states for basketball. They had 1,000 people in attendance for a State Finals high school basketball game!

The Pacers have been in Indy for over 40 years! And now people are expecting them to move. Oh jeez. There's a bright future out there. We heard all the rumors. At the beginning of this season, there were rumors of them moving to Vancouver.

They were way off. And now the rumors come up again. Probably a lot of you basketball fans have read Bill Simmons' recent book. He said the basketball H.O.F. should be in Indiana. He thinks Indiana is the best state for basketball.

Which brings me to this: there is no way a professional basketball team will leave Indiana. It's just impossible. I guarantee Herb Simon and Larry Bird will find a way to fix this.

I just know they will. So you guys can just keep going on those rumors. It's not gonna happen!

Plus, if you look at this way: would you pay $15M for Conseco Fieldhouse or $150M for leaving the city and moving to another city, as Indy Cornrows points out. Take your choice. There's another reason, see?

And according to the Indiana Business Journal, the Pacers would be in $147M in debt if they were to leave the city and do all that bullcrap.

Though Indiana has been a struggle for the past few seasons and again this season, just think of what would happen here. Chaos. This team has so many good memories. From Billy Knight to Rik Smits and Reggie Miller to Ron Artest and Jermaine O'Neal, a new future is awaited.

We are seeing a new team. Rebuilding. Next year is the best bet for the playoffs. It's possible. With a new future with building around Danny Granger, Dahntay Jones, A.J. Price, Troy Murphy, Brandon Rush, and Roy Hibbert; there's no way in hell Indy is moving.

Fans will probably help. But I know. I know, the Pacers are staying.

And they always will.