Shawn Marion To Indiana Or Cleveland?

Shawn Marion met with Larry Bird and the Indiana Pacers on Monday and met with David Blatt and the Cleveland Cavaliers last week. The 15-year veteran now has a decision to make between the two teams in the coming weeks.

However, Marion told Bird on Monday that he would like to play for a contending team, and the Cavaliers, with the acquisitions of LeBron James and Kevin Love, are easily considered as a championship caliber team, while the Pacers, with the losses of Paul George to injury and Lance Stephenson to costless agency, are scarcely a playoff contending team.

“…But he [Marion] did say that he would like to be on a contender and try to win a championship. I came away with the feeling that he wants to be on a championship team, a team that’s got a chance to win it,” Bird spoke of Marion. “But he knows that we’re probably not going to do nothing for a while and he has a place here if he wants to come.”

What can the Pacers entice Marion with? For beginners, ‘The Matrix’ could see more minutes in Indiana with the loss of Paul George. In addition, he will receive just a little more than the league’s minimum that the Cavaliers could offer him. Though, the chance to win another championship trounces those offerings from the Pacers.

The Indiana Pacers actually have the choice of spending the $5.3 million disabled player option they will likely receive for George’s injury, but the team is not willing to exceed the luxury tax, leaving them with only $1.7 million to use on Marion.

“We’ll never go over the tax,” Bird told reporters. “My owner’s told me that that’s a place he don’t want to go. We’ll do whatever we can to stay under.”

With Indiana’s unwillingness to go over the tax and extremely insufficient winning promises, Marion will more than likely head to Cleveland for a chance to win another ring. It was reported last week that the 36-year old is indeed leaning toward joining the Cavs.

If Marion’s preferred destination is Cleveland, the Pacers are going to be left without a wing player. Conversely, they can still pursue the likes of Michael Beasley, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Douglas-Roberts, or Hedo Turkoglu, all players who would possibly accept the Pacers’ offer of $1.7 million.