Goodbye, Jamaal!

Maybe a downtown parade would be a bit overboard, but I think a major celebration is in store now that Jamaal Tinsley has departed our fair city. The troubled guard was finally bought out by the Pacers after a lengthy stand-off with the team. The final number is $10.7 million of the remaining two years and $14.7 million left on his deal.

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If you're doing the math at home, that means that the Pacers paid Tinsley over $17.5 million in the past year to play all of zero minutes.

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Tinsley's departure means that Indy can finally move on

It’s hard to believe, but Tinsley spent over eight years in Indianapolis after a Draft Day trade in 2001. While most wouldn’t question his talent on the court, his lack of conditioning and publicized off-the-court issues didn’t exactly enamor him to Pacer Nation. I don't think Tinsley was necessarily a bad guy, just a bad decision-maker that surrounded himself with the wrong people.

Putting an end to the Tinsley era, hopefully is the final nail in the coffin of a dark tenure in Pacers basketball. The Brawl, downtown shootings, club incidents, marijuana use, harboring friends with murder warrants – we can bury all of that along with any faded memories of Jamaal Tinsley.

With a core of Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert, Brandon Rush, and the newly-minted Tyler Hansbrough, hopefully the Pacers have turned the corner both from standings standpoint, and more importantly a character standpoint.

So we bid you adieu Jamaal. If you can fit through the threshold, don’t let the door hit you on the way out.