Deadlines spur actions — and the deadline for both Roy Hibbert and David West to decide on their player options isn’t until Monday, June 29.
The Pacers said they went into the 2015 NBA Draft unsure of their thinking and that it didn’t impact their selection.
There’s a report out the West is opting out and that Hibbert is exercising his option to remain with the team for another year at $15.5 million. Despite numerous inquiries, the Pacers insist, at least publicly, that they have not been informed of a decision.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do,” Larry Bird, the Pacers President of Basketball Operations, said late Thursday evening. “It’s their decision. It’s their choice what they’re going to do. We expect them both to opt in and go from there.”
Expect them to opt in? Bird was asked to clarify that statement.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do. … You should call David and Roy.”
The comments seemed strange but came across as sincere. Bird calls it like he sees it, as he did at his end-of-the-season press conference in mid-April. GM Kevin Pritchard and coach Frank Vogel said they weren’t sure either in speaking with the media over the last two days.
Hibbert is in Los Angeles and his agent, David Falk, is keeping the matter private.
“We are not discussing this publicly,” Falk wrote to VigilantSports.com in an email last week. “We will inform the Pacers first when a decision is made.”
Meanwhile, both West and his agent have not responded to multiple messages sent their way. Until someone is willing to speak on the record or informs the Pacers front office of the route they will take, we patiently wait until 11:59 p.m. ET on June 29th.
And waiting just isn’t any fun.