Pacers emphasize long-term vision with upcoming season, Buddy Hield and roster competition

"Our intention is to have Buddy on the team this year and have him be a big part of our group," Pacers GM Chad Buchanan said on Tuesday.

One week before the official start of Pacers training camp, local reporters were invited downtown to the team facility on Tuesday afternoon for the second annual front office reception.

The time allowed for off-the-record conversations with the front office before general manager Chad Buchanan answered questions from the local media for 20 minutes.

“Our building’s got pretty much our entire team in every day working out and playing so there’s a lot of excitement around the building and the staff,” he began. “Obviously our guys are anxious to get going with the season.

“We’re ready to go. Really excited about what’s in front of us and optimistic about this group.”

The Q&A session started off with a question about where things stand with Buddy Hield after contract extension talks have stalled as he enters a contract year, then progressed into questions about the roster makeup, competition for minutes, and both individual and team growth.

Beyond the number one topic of concern — Hield’s status and future with the organization — the overall theme was how every decision is made with the long-term vision in mind.

In fact, “long term” was repeated five times in the first five minutes.

“Buddy is somebody that we love having on our team,” Buchanan said. “We want him on our team this year. The business of basketball comes into play at times. We’ve had talks with him about an extension and those talks are at a halt, I’d say, right now. That’s not to say that they’re done.