The Pacers could easily cut ties with Tinsley, who is working out in Atlanta, by releasing him and paying the remaining three years of his contract. Bird said that's not an option.

"A lot of teams will just cut him a check; we're not like that," he said. "We're going to try and get the best deal for us. We feel as we go forward we'll continue to try and get the best for Jamaal and if it drags on a little bit, then that's what it has to be. We are not going to be cutting big checks (to release) players."

--Team officials have had conversations with swingman Danny Granger's agent about a contract extension, but there doesn't appear to be a pressing need to get a deal done by either side.

"Whether I sign it now or after, it really doesn't matter," Granger said. "That's the way I approach it."

The Pacers have until Oct. 31 to sign the fourth-year player to an extension up to five years. He'll be a restricted free agent, meaning the Pacers can match any offer made to him next summer if a deal isn't reached.

"As we go forward, we'll see what happens, but we'd like to get something done," team president Larry Bird said. "We like Danny as a player -- and we think he's a very good player -- but you never know how these negotiations go. We'd like to (get a deal done) but if it doesn't happen, it's not the end of the world. Danny's very valuable to us and we've told his agent how important he is to this franchise and hopefully, we can get something done."

--Forward Shawne Williams knows he can help the Pacers on the court. He also knows he has to be smarter off the court if he expects to remain with the Pacers.

Williams, entering his third season, said he was "down" after being involved in his third off-the-court incident in less than a year in July.

Williams wasn't charged when a passenger in his car was arrested for marijuana possession, but he knows every incident he's involved in doesn't help his standing with the franchise.

"Nobody wants to be in the paper with bad media or (anything) with what the franchise has been through," he said. "I was down about it, but I have to keep my head up and be a man. I don't feel like I have to prove myself on the court, but I have to stay out of trouble and do what's right."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "All the off-the-court problems have been a disaster for us. It's unfortunate all this stuff has happened. It's something we said we were going to clean up and we're doing that." -- Team president Larry Bird, on the franchise's attempt to fix its image.