Pacers president Larry Bird is entering the final year of his contract and says that he has a lot more to do.

Bird is entering his second year with full control of basketball operations.

"I said when I took over that we were going to change the culture, and I think we've done that," Bird told the Indianapolis Star. "Now it's putting the pieces of the puzzle together to get the type of team I want here and it ain't going to happen overnight.

"It's a process, and we said it's going to be three years and we feel we're still on course."

The Pacers will have money to spend in the summer of 2011, when the contracts of Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy, Jeff Foster, T.J. Ford and Jamaal Tinsley expire. Those deals have a combined value of $43.1 million.

"It's tough, there's no question about it," Bird said. "Being in a situation like we were against the (NBA luxury) tax and stuff we were dealing with, I think it was a difficult time period. Now we're over that. We're looking forward to a bright future."