The Indiana Pacers announced Wednesday that they have made a qualifying offer to restricted free agent guard Fred Jones.

Jones, a 6-2 guard who was the Pacers? first-round pick (14th overall) in the 2002 NBA Draft, averaged 9.6 points per game last season in 68 games. In four seasons with the Pacers, Jones has averaged 7.6 ppg.

By making Jones a qualifying offer, the Pacers will have the right to match an offer sheet should Jones receive one when signings of free agents begin July 12.

As expected, guard Peja Stojakovic opted out of his contract with the Pacers today, and is now an unrestricted free agent.

The free agent negotiating period begins July 1, and teams can start signing players July 12. Pacers officials have said they want to re-sign Stojakovic, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"We are going to see what's out there and listen to what other teams have to say, but Peja is the Pacers to lose," Stojakovic's agent, David Bauman, said. "The contract he signed before was done as a restricted free agent, so he didn't really get a chance to test the market."

Stojakovic, 29, who made $7.6 million this past season, hopes to get a raise and lock in a long-term contract. The Pacers can sign him for up to six years, while other teams can only sign him to a five-year deal.

"Anyone that says it's not about money is a liar," Bauman said. "Peja is going to get his big contract. Peja likes the Pacers because they have a base to build off. . . . Peja is a guy that can give a lot more than what he showed last year."

Marc J. Spears spoke with one NBA executive who said Indiana coach Rick Carlisle is "on thinner ice" than the Indiana Pacers would like the public to believe.

At the recent predraft camp in Orlando, Carlisle and Pacers president Larry Bird were just as far apart as New York coach Larry Brown and president Isiah Thomas.

Despite denials that the Pacers are not interested in shopping Jermaine O'Neal, Pete Vecsey is reporting that he has heard from too many sources that he indeed is available in a possible trade.

In Thursday's papers, O'Neal said that he is committed to making things work in Indiana, but that if things don't finish well at the end of the 2006-2007 season, then a split should be made.

Jermaine O'Neal is vowing that the 2006-2007 campaign will be a 'career year' for him and the Pacers. He plans to lower his weight from 265 to 250.

"I told (Pacers CEO) Donnie (Walsh) after this year, if things don't work out, then I don't feel the need to have this organization, this city, the owners pay my salary," O'Neal said. ". . . If I can't get the job done and I don't have the year (I expect), I shouldn't be here. If I'm training and focusing at the highest level I've ever done and I still can't get the job done, then we have to cut ties.

"Me and Larry haven't had a relationship up until the end of the year when I met with him," O'Neal said. "We were on two totally different pages. I was thinking one thing; he was thinking another thing. We're fine now."

Indiana Pacers guard Sarunas Jasikevicius has elected not to join the Lithuanian national team for the world championships in August, according to the Associated Press.

Jasikevicius' agent, Doug Neustadt, didn't give a reason Wednesday for why his client opted against playing in the tournament Aug. 19-Sept. 3 in Japan.

"He just told me the end result," Neustadt said. "The only thing I know is he's not going to play this year."

Months after announcing his retirement, the Pacers have waived oft-injured forward Jonathan Bender.

Bender, who was forced to retire from the NBA at a young age due to chronically injured knees, played only two games in 2005-2006 before announcing his retirement.

A Raptors official was adamant that the club wouldn?t surrender its No. 1 overall pick for Indiana forward Jermaine O?Neal.

O'Neal has been rumored to be on the market for several weeks now, despite statements made by the Indiana front office.

The Pacers reportedly have discussed a trade with Toronto that would send Jermaine O?Neal to the Raptors for a package that would include the No. 1 pick.

The Pacers, according to Mark Murphy, would likely take Adam Morrison.

Indiana may also be talking with the Timberwolves about a Jamaal Tinsley-for-Ricky Davis deal.

Following the Pacers' second straight tumultuous season, Larry Bird told the media that he thought Rick Carlisle lost control of the team at times.

"We've had a lot of conversations since the season ended, and all of them are optimistic," Carlisle said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. "As difficult as the last few seasons have been, we all think we're a lot closer to being right back in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference than a lot of people think."

Carlisle said he never approached Bird about his comments.

"I've talked to both of those guys (Bird and Walsh) extensively and it never came up," he said. "I didn't bring it up and they didn't bring it up. Our conversations have been constructive and upbeat."