The Pacers are sticking behind coach Rick Carlisle and Mitch Lawrence is reporting the club intends to deal Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley. Two players staying, barring a change, are Peja Stojakovic and Danny Granger.

One possible destination for O'Neal is Golden State, in a package starting with Troy Murphy.

"A lot of teams out there like our players," said Golden State GM Rod Higgins.

ESPN is reporting that defending champion Serbia Montenegro will be without star forward Peja Stojakovic at the 2006 World Championships in Japan this summer.

New Serbia Montenegro coach Dragan Sakota said in Novosti, a Belgrade newspaper, that the sharpshooter will not be in Japan.

"He couldn't refuse my call as I didn't call him at all," said Sakota, who also coaches Red Star Belgrade. "The story about his presence in Japan started two months ago when we spoke on the subject.

"But, as I have said, the results are not the priority at this World Championship; working on a new, youthful team is. It will be different for the European Championship in 2007, when we will add some of our big names. That is what I have told Stojakovic."

Donnie Walsh became general manager of the Indiana Pacers in 1986 and is facing an off-season where a lot of insiders expect the team to make some wholesale moves.

"I don't think you ever look at it like you have to blow up the whole team," said Walsh. "Anybody who's looking at that just doesn't understand the nature of a team. And they didn't look at our team this year -- the fact a lot of our problems were related to so many of our guys missing games. One thing I don't do is hold it against a player that he got hurt, which seems to be a fad now.

"If you make two or three changes on a team, that's a lot of change. You need to go and look and see how many teams do that. Not many. Most of the time, they're doing that to go all the way down and get draft choices (in the lottery)."

Larry Bird has already called re-signing Peja Stojakovic a priority for the Pacers this off-season; now Peja's side has said that he would like to remain in Indiana as well.

"There's no question Peja was happy in Indiana," David Bauman said. "He would like to re-sign, and he would like to finish his career as a Pacer."  

"We want to do what's best for the franchise," Bird said recently. "Hopefully, we can get a deal done with him."

Larry Bird likes the talent the Pacers already have and said on Wednesday that the players on the club will either have to shape up or be shipped out.

"They're the ones that have to make the changes," he said. "If they can't make the changes, yes, we have to look to move them."

Despite trade rumours, Bird said he expects to build around Jermaine O'Neal.

"Jermaine O'Neal is our best player on this team. Everybody on this team knows Jermaine's our guy," Bird said. "I can't sit here today and say we're going to pursue to trade Jermaine O'Neal. There's not one time that we ever called anybody and said 'Hey, are you interested in Jermaine O'Neal?'

"I don't know who out there you could trade Jermaine for and get somebody better."

Sarunas Jasikevicius had a disappointing first season in Indiana and he said recently that he miss Israel, but that he is determined to make things work in the NBA.

"I'm missing Maccabi Tel Aviv (his previous team in Israel)," Jasikevicius told the Web site Sport5.co.il. "But even though I love Maccabi very much, my place is here."

"When I came into the situation here, I thought things will be different," Jasikevicius said. "Apparently, things went in the wrong way. I was very glad with my performance at the season's first 50 games. . . . Toward the end of this season, strange things happened here. Things changed. I talked a couple of times to coach (Rick) Carlisle, but he didn't tell me anything. But he's the coach, and he's the one making the decisions.

"It's normal to hear people talking about changes. There are some free agents and I'm sure that some changes will be made."

Jasikevicius doesn't expect to be traded but has a plan just in case.

"I want to stay here, if it will be in the Pacers or any other NBA team," he said.

According to the Indianapolis Star, Pacers president Larry Bird said today he?s not planning massive personnel changes with his roster, but will do so if attitudes and chemistry don?t improve.

?What we have to do is make sure we address what?s happened and why (the fans) are frustrated,? Bird said at a news conference at Conseco Fieldhouse. ?We can?t have it. Our fans are too valuable. We?ve got to have every one of them.

?The players understand that. They?re the ones who have to make the changes. And if they can?t make the changes, yes, we have to move them.?

Peja Stojakovic missed more than half of Indiana's first round series due to injury, but hopes to sign a multi-year deal with the team.

"I liked the organization from the first time I got here," said Stojakovic, who came to the Pacers from Sacramento in a trade for Ron Artest in February. "I was really accepted well. I consider Indiana as my No. 1 option."

Pacers guard Stephen Jackson believes he might have played his final game in Indiana.

"I don't need to be here as much as I get booed when I check in the game," he said. "It doesn't matter to me though. As long as I'm playing basketball and providing for my family and friends I'm cool. I won't be upset if I'm not here. I won't be happy if I leave. It's not my decision."

The Pacers have stated that trading Jermaine O'Neal is not in their set of plans this summer, but that doesn't stop the media from asking the player what he thinks about that possibility.

"Personally, I don't worry about those things," he said early Thursday. "My thought process is to go out and win. As for my future, it is what it is.

"Trades are made every year. I'm pretty sure, if you ask every other player, he's going to say he's not concerned about it. That's the nature of the game. It's like, if you get a younger stud in your position, they're going to trade you out. They're going to move you all. It's not a concern.

"I'm 27 years old and I feel like I'm one of the best in the league," he said. "So if I'm here, I'm here. If I'm not, I'm not. It's just the way it is. I feel like I'm going to make somebody's team -- if it's not the Indiana Pacers, it will be somebody else -- I'll make them a lot better."