“Case history after case history proved that the size of bank accounts, the size of happiness accounts, and the size of one’s general satisfaction account is dependent on the size of one’s thinking. There is magic in thinking big.” – from The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David J. Schwartz



Before the Pacers’ offseason commenced, team president Kevin Pritchard gave this particular book to all the people in his management group. He wanted to inspire them to shoot for the moon, to attempt things that seemed impossible for a small-market basketball franchise that isn’t a free-agent destination and isn’t inclined to keep its payroll in the top half of the league.



There could be no excuses, even if it remains largely true that small-market clubs have to operate at a distinct disadvantage to their bigger, more monied competitors.



So they swung for the fences, reached out to the representatives of the big-name, tier-one...