The 2006–07 Indiana Pacers season was Indiana's 31st season in the NBA and 40th season as a franchise. They began the season hoping to improve upon their 41–41 output from the previous season. However, they came six wins shy of tying it, finishing 35–47.2006-07 Indiana Pacers The Pacers would miss the playoffs for the first time since 1997.

Draft Selections Round Pick Player Position Nationality School/Club team 1 17 Shawne Williams F Memphis 2 45 Alexander Johnson F Florida St.

Season summary During the Summer of 2006, the Pacers lost Peja Stojakovic, whom they had just acquired in a trade from the Sacramento Kings during the previous season, in free agency to the New Orleans Hornets. Because of this, they were granted a trade exception by the NBA, which they used to re-acquire former Pacer Al Harrington from the Atlanta Hawks. They also pulled off two separate trades with the Dallas Mavericks, giving up established veterans Anthony Johnson and Austin Croshere for unexplained reasons. These two trades were disappointing to Pacers fans, who were confused by the trades and saw them as one-sided in the favor of the Mavericks. In June 2006, once-promising talent Jonathan Bender announced that he was retiring from the NBA at the age of 25, due to his struggles with knee injuries. The Pacers had traded All-Star big man Antonio Davis to acquire Bender in 1999 when he was an 18-year-old rookie with great potential, but his constant injuries had prevented him from ever developing.

When the regular season finally started, the Pacers had a significantly different roster than they did at the end of the previous season. The Pacers hovered around the .500 mark for most of the season, and were a borderline playoff team. In January 2007, the Pacers pulled off another major trade, this time with the Golden State Warriors, giving up troubled swingman Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington, and other pieces for versatile big man Troy Murphy and unproven swingman Mike Dunleavy Jr. as well as some other pieces. This trade was perceived as the only way for the Pacers to finally part ways with Jackson, who had lost the respect of Pacers fans due to his involvement in "The Brawl" and in a shooting at an Indianapolis nightclub. After the trade, the Pacers fell downward in the standings, marked by an 11-game losing streak which stretched from late February to mid-March, and eventually were eliminated from qualification for the 2007 NBA Playoffs. This would be the first time the Pacers missed the playoffs since the 1996-97 season, and the first of a streak of four seasons of missing the playoffs. Ironically, the perennial basement-dweller Warriors wound up making the playoffs for the first time since the 1993-94 season, and even advanced to the second round by upsetting the first-seeded Mavericks 4–2 in the first round. This left the dwindling community of Pacers fans with a sour taste in their mouths as they wondered how far the team might have gone if the trade in January had not occurred. Thus, coach Rick Carlisle was fired at the conclusion of the Pacers' season in April, and it was announced in May that Jim O'Brien, former head coach of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, would replace him as the Pacers' head coach for the next season.

Regular season Season standings

Roster

Game log

Player statistics

Ragular season PlayerSF82 57 2,785 381 114 67 61 1,142 34.0 4.6 1.4 .8 .7 13.9PG 81 4 1,275 135 191 70 6 457 15.7 1.7 2.4 .9 .1 5.6C 75 43 1,740 609 57 62 37 322 23.2 8.1 .8 .8 .5 4.3PG 72 72 2,243 240 494 117 25 925 31.2 3.3 6.9 1.6 .3 12.8C 69 69 2,459 661 167 50 182 1,339 35.6 9.6 2.4 .7 2.6 19.4PF 47 2 405 74 16 12 18 138 8.6 1.6 .3 .3 .4 2.9SG 46 3 556 83 22 6 8 180 12.1 1.8 .5 .1 .2 3.9SG 45 4 800 82 57 27 7 320 17.8 1.8 1.3 .6 .2 7.1†SG 43 43 1,529 244 111 46 10 603 35.6 5.7 2.6 1.1 .2 14.0†PF 42 31 1,185 257 66 25 25 467 28.2 6.1 1.6 .6 .6 11.1†PF 42 2 538 140 20 5 15 243 12.8 3.3 .5 .1 .4 5.8SG 41 0 254 44 22 17 4 63 6.2 1.1 .5 .4 .1 1.5SG 40 2 361 29 13 12 5 99 9.0 .7 .3 .3 .1 2.5†SG 37 32 1,186 95 114 33 20 521 32.1 2.6 3.1 .9 .5 14.1†SG 37 1 664 48 111 13 0 273 17.9 1.3 3.0 .4 .0 7.4†PF 36 36 1,208 226 51 25 10 572 33.6 6.3 1.4 .7 .3 15.9C 24 2 190 42 6 5 12 71 7.9 1.8 .3 .2 .5 3.0†PG 22 7 339 22 45 7 2 93 15.4 1.0 2.0 .3 .1 4.2†PF 7 0 64 19 3 0 0 12 9.1 2.7 .4 .0 .0 1.7

Awards and records Jermaine O'Neal, NBA All-Star Game

Transactions

January 16, 2007 To Indiana PacersTroy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Keith McLeod, Ike Diogu and a second-round draft pick To Golden State Warriors Josh Powell, Šarūnas Jasikevičius, Stephen Jackson and Al Harrington

Roster changes

Additions Player Acquired Former teamPosition Darrell Armstrong Trade Dallas Mavericks PG Maceo Baston Signed as free agent Maccabi Tel Aviv PF Marquis Daniels Trade Dallas Mavericks SG Ike Diogu Trade Golden State Warriors PF Mike Dunleavy Jr. Trade Golden State Warriors SF Orien Greene Signed as free agent Boston Celtics PG Al Harrington Trade Atlanta Hawks PF Rawle Marshall Trade Dallas Mavericks SG Keith McLeod Trade Golden State Warriors PG Troy Murphy Trade Golden State Warriors PF Josh Powell Trade Dallas Mavericks PF Shawne Williams Draft selection rookie SF

Subtractions Player Departed New teamPosition Jonathan Bender Retired none PF Austin Croshere Trade Dallas Mavericks PF Eddie Gill Signed as free agent New Jersey Nets PG Al Harrington Trade Golden State Warriors PF Stephen Jackson Trade Golden State Warriors SF Sarunas Jasikevicius Trade Golden State Warriors PG Anthony Johnson Trade Dallas Mavericks PG Fred Jones Signed as free agent Toronto Raptors SG Scot Pollard Signed as free agent Cleveland Cavaliers C Josh Powell Trade Golden State Warriors PF Predrag Stojakovic Signed as free agent New Orleans Hornets SF Samaki Walker Waived none PF

References