After spending a few long years in the basement of the NBA, the Indiana Pacers have become relevant again.

Reported financial foes and low attendance aside, the Pacers have a strong, young core of players that give them a bright future. If the 2011-12 season is played, finishing higher than eighth in the Eastern Conference, which is where they finished this past April, will be the team’s main goal.

The road ahead is not all sunshine and butterflies for the Pacers, though, as the future of their front office remains largely undecided.

Larry Bird, still very much revered in Indiana, insists that he will step down as the team’s president next summer. David Morway, who has acted as general manager since 2009, and the remainder of the team’s decision-makers are currently working under one-year contracts.

Then there’s Kevin Pritchard, who signed on with the team just prior to the lockout as director of player personnel.

Owner Herb Simon may have a clear vision of how he wants the team’s front office to look in the coming years, but from the outside looking in the picture is very cloudy.

An additional possibility came into play Thursday morning when Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Simon would love to hire Pacers legend Reggie Miller to succeed Bird as president.

Even without other possible candidates, the situation in Indiana has gotten very interesting, very quickly. There are six parties with a significant stake in how this will all play out over the next year and we’ll analyze them one-by-one.

Herb Simon

To Simon’s credit, he has remained dedicated to the team despite a lot of red ink in the books.

As Wojnarowski pointed out in his piece, Simon has always gravitated towards hiring people that both he and the state of Indiana are comfortable with. Miller, having spent 18 years in the Pacers, obviously falls right in line with that thinking.

Those that question why Simon would court Miller as his top personnel man despite Miller’s lack of experience aren’t well versed on the owner’s past. He and former GM Donnie Walsh hired Bird as the team’s coach back in 1997 when the ‘Hick from French Lick’ didn’t have a lick of coaching experience.

Bird then moved into the front office, another new role for the Hall of Fame forward.

Simon isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith for someone he likes and respects.

Aside from his personal relationship with Miller, there are other angles to this courtship. For one, the hiring of No. 31 as team president would be a significant public relations boom. The city of Indianapolis hasn’t loved the Pacers as much lately as they did when Miller was the figure-head of the franchise. It isn’t an exaggeration to call Conseco Fieldhouse the ‘House That Reggie Built.’ Putting him at the forefront once again would undoubtedly be received positively by the casual fans that the Pacers badly need to start buying tickets once again.

He’s still young enough that the team’s current players will listen to what he has to say, but he’s also far enough removed from the game and old-school enough to avoid an Isiah Thomas-like relationship with guys like Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and Darren Collison.

Larry Bird

Bird wanted to step down after this past season, but opted to sign a one-year deal as a favor to Simon. Remaining the team’s president for another year also gives him the ability to further shape an up-and-coming team.

After drowning in a salary-cap flood for several years, the Pacers will have money to spend regardless of how much the league’s financial model changes during labor negotiations. In many ways, that is what makes his job so appealing -- a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done.

Bird is still fiercely competitive and even though he is resolute about stepping down in 2012, I find it hard to believe that he’ll completely remove himself from basketball forever. I have this image of him in my head from this past March when he looked like he was going to be sick as he watched the Pacers battle the Bulls in overtime.

It was a regular season game, albeit one with meaning for the Pacers, who were still looking to end their playoff drought at the time, but showcased just how much fire still burns in the 54-year-old’s heart.

Down the road, I could see him returning to the game, and perhaps the Pacers, as a consultant of some kind if he’s allowed to spend a majority of the year at his home in Florida.

David Morway

He hasn’t been shy about his interest in taking over as team president next year, but early indications are that Simon isn’t leaning his way. Of course, that could all change if the Pacers continue to improve and Bird makes a glowing recommendation upon his departure.

I said this prior to Bird and Morway re-upping with the team for another year, but it is imperative that the team’s current plan of action remain in place. The tandem has worked tirelessly to break down a team doomed with Ron Artest and Stephen Jackson post-brawl and things have finally started to shift positively.

Starting fresh with entirely new decision-makers could set the team back a bit if the incoming executives don’t agree entirely with the path Bird and Morway have taken, or if they feel the need to put their own stamp on the roster.

With Bird out the door, Morway becomes the likely holdover. Reports linking Miller to the Pacers haven’t excluded Morway entirely, but when it comes down to it he’s clearly a safer candidate for the job than Miller.

This opens up a number of possibilities. Morway could shift to president, allowing Miller to ease himself into the front office as GM for a few years. Miller could also come in as president right away, but delegate more responsibility to Morway than the general manager has had under Bird.

Morway is one of the main reasons why the Pacers have become such a forward-thinking franchise and been able to turn things around. Bird isn’t leaving because Simon wants him to leave; he’s doing so on his own accord. Morway, as Bird’s right-hand man, should be given the ability to continue transforming the franchise back into a title contender.

Donnie Walsh

Whispers that Walsh could be interested in a return to Indiana began long before Wojnarowski mentioned him as a partner with Miller in running the Pacers.

Walsh still has strong ties to the state having built the team into a model franchise during his two decades in the front office. The issue with him becomes his age and health. He turned 70 earlier this year and while all indications are that he’s feeling great currently, he’s absolutely no spring chicken. Avoiding the grind of an entire season might be good for him, but there is believed to be interest in a return on both sides for a reason.

He’s extremely competent and would be a perfect mentor to Miller, who he plucked as the franchise’s eventual savior in the 1987 NBA Draft.

The belief is that Simon wants to pair Walsh and Miller in some capacity, but the unknown opinion is that of the former shooting guard. If the Pacers want Miller to take the reigns, would he rather have Morway or Walsh grooming him? It’s not out of the question that he could have both, but that would require one of the two executives to accept a role lesser than probably desired.

Kevin Pritchard

The Pacers made a surprising move this summer when they hired Pritchard to work underneath Bird and Morway. The job is a step down for the 44-year-old, who was fired as general manager of the Portland Trail Blazers hours before the 2010 NBA Draft.

Pritchard was the main decision-maker in Portland for three years and spent more than five years with the franchise. Shortly after Indiana hired him, his name popped up in rumors about Toronto’s general manager position.

Simon likes his Indiana roots, but in my gut I don’t think he has a future with the team. He’ll help Bird and Morway hunt in free agency and then likely move on to greener pastures where he won’t have to report to two superiors.

Reggie Miller

Of all the parties involved, Miller has the most to lose should he return to the Pacers. His word is still Gospel in Indiana even though he’s had very little to do with the franchise since his retirement.

He has a pretty nice arrangement with TNT as a national analyst and could lower his standing with Pacers fans should his decisions not go over well on the court or in the court of public opinion.

With that said -- who better to guide the franchise back into title contention than the player that led them to their only NBA Finals appearance?

If Miller the executive is like Miller the player, than he would be fine with having a consigliore or temporary boss in Indiana’s front office. He happily conceded to young stars like Jalen Rose and Jermaine O’Neal in the second half of his career. That would be best for the Pacers, who can’t afford many missteps over the next three or four years.

The Verdict

The most difficult part of this debate is the length of time we’ll have to argue it. The final decision won’t come for at least eleven months and an extended lockout would truncate the period in which Bird and Morway have to make free agent decisions and Simon needs to find at least one replacement.

Assuming Simon’s flirtation with Miller is mutual, the best case for the Pacers would be to bring the future Hall of Famer on slowly. Critics don’t think he would make a good executive because they bash his ability as a broadcaster. That isn’t a fair comparison and a mentor on the job would help the former sharpshooter along.

Ideally, the Pacers would bring in Miller and pair him with Morway in interchangeable roles. The job titles would be irrelevant because they would work hand-and-hand on decisions, perhaps with Morway making final calls in the beginning.

That pairing could work for a year or two, allowing Simon to measure how qualified Miller is to lead a team as outright president while also giving Morway a chance to have more responsibility.

Where does Walsh fit in?

The easy solution would be for Simon to bring him into the fold in a lesser role, perhaps one as an adviser/consultant. If things don’t work out with the Miller/Morway pairing, Walsh can slide into a more prominent position.

Until next July, more candidates will certainly emerge and others will drop out of the running.

Let the debate continue…