Less than 48 hours after it was reported that the Celtics would acquire David West in a sign-and-trade with the Hornets, the Pacers swooped in to sign the former All-Star outright.

West landed in Indiana, at least in part, because the Hornets were unable to find a taker for Jermaine O’Neal, who enjoyed the best years of his career with the Pacers.

West will earn more annually under his two-year, $20 million contract with Indiana than he would have received from the Celtics. He was offered a three-year, $24 million deal by Boston with a non-guaranteed fourth season. He will earn an additional $4 million over the next two seasons with the Pacers and can hit the market once again at age 33.

There are obvious concerns about his left knee -- he tore his ACL back in March -- but he has been rehabilitating religiously and the length of his contract keeps the Pacers from potential financial ruin should issues with the knee limit him.

He could even be used as a valuable trade piece as early as next season if he doesn’t work out.

West immediately slots in as Indiana’s second-highest paid player, which seems about right when you consider that he flirted with taking a few million less to play for a championship contender.

The unfortunate reality is that up-and-coming small market clubs like the Pacers have to outbid established, title contenders. Giving West $10 million per year over four or five seasons would have been exorbitant, but two years is close to ideal for the Pacers.

West is the most notable free agent addition for the Pacers since the summer of 2005 when they signed Sarunas Jasikevicius. The Lithuanian guard was far from a success with Indiana, showcasing just how rarely the organization has been a force in free agency. 

The move, however, is much more than just symbolic. He fills an immediate need for a power forward and makes the team better during the opening tip and on the bench. He brings much-needed offense to the frontcourt and will allow Tyler Hansbrough to bring his tremendous energy off the bench. Hansbrough should have an advantage against most second-team big men.

West has averaged at least 18.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on close to 50% shooting from the floor over the last four seasons. Concerns over his left knee aside, he has played in at least 70 games in five of the last six seasons.

He isn’t an above-average rebounder for a power forward as he has a 13.3% rebound percentage for his career and hasn’t been at or above that mark in each of the last three seasons. The Pacers were an average rebounding team last season, with a differential of +0.2 (15th).

For Larry Bird and David Morway, patience paid off.

When news broke that the Celtics were close to acquiring West on Friday night, they could have turned around and thrown money at Carl Landry to avoid getting shut out on the market with Nene’s price rising too high and another target, Jamal Crawford, likely going elsewhere.

Instead, they waited on the complexity of Boston's situation and West became available once again.

He represents an influx of talent that doesn’t change their identity as a team. West is a notorious for being one of the NBA's high-character players and a hard worker. He should also help take pressure off Danny Granger in late-game situations, as well as attention away from Roy Hibbert in the paint since so much of his offense comes from about 15 feet out.

Grade for Pacers: A

Signing with a contender may have given him a greater chance at a deep playoff run, but as mentioned earlier, he can hit the market again following the 2012-13 season in search of the best chance to win a ring.

Grade for West: A-

His $10 million salary leaves the Pacers with roughly $5 million remaining to spend this offseason and that money could be used via trade if reports of a revisited deal with the Grizzlies for O.J. Mayo are correct.

Sources also indicated on Monday that Indiana has decided to amnesty James Posey, giving them an additional $7 million or so in space.

John Hollinger of ESPN.com and Zach Lowe of SI.com have even sparked rumors that Indiana could make a play for Chauncey Billups, who has somewhat unexpectedly hit the market. As Hollinger points out, the Pacers would have to use the amnesty clause on Posey in order to add Billups.

Billups isn’t a natural  fit for the Pacers, who are going to see themselves in a lot more rumors now that they have been aggressive working the phones, have a young, talented roster and some financial flexibility over the next few seasons.