Better working conditions. More opportunity for advancement. Same pay.

No wonder Scot Pollard likes his new job.

The Indiana Pacers center, acquired in last week's trade that sent Brad Miller to Sacramento, had a smile as bright as his bottle-blond hair when he was introduced to the media at Conseco Fieldhouse on Tuesday.

Here in the Eastern Conference, Pollard will see the likes of Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan half as often and won't have to go through the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio Spurs or Dallas Mavericks to get to the NBA Finals.

He also has a much better chance of starting, as opposed to backing up Vlade Divac.

"There're a lot of positives that can come out of it for my career," said Pollard, who began his career in the East with Detroit.

"I don't have to play against Shaq and Duncan every night. Out East there's Ben Wallace and that's about it. Not that it's easy out here, but it's different. It's a different style of play."

Reggie Miller was the Indiana Pacers' first priority as contract negotiations resumed Monday, but Jon Barry could be next in line.

The free-agent shooting guard who played the past two seasons for the Detroit Pistons said he hopes to receive a contract offer in the next few days.

"Right now, our focus is on Reggie," team president Larry Bird said. "We'll try to get Reggie done first."

Barry, 34, visited Indianapolis on July 18 to meet with team officials, and even checked out some Carmel-area neighborhoods.

"I had a great meeting with Isiah (Thomas), Donnie (Walsh) and Larry (Bird)," Barry said. "It would be something I'd love to do. They feel I'm a leader although I'm a bench player."

Barry said Jermaine O'Neal called him early in the summer to sell him on the Pacers and endorsed him to Walsh, the team's CEO.

Coach Gregg Popovich is quick to agree with people around the league who say the Spurs came out ahead when Jason Kidd opted to remain in New Jersey.

"You know, they're right," he said.

"I think it was Malik Rose who said in the paper that when one of the league's premier players is available, you have to make a run at him. That's all we did."

Ron Mercer, one of the new guys picked up during the Spurs' trading and signing spree, is quick to agree with Popovich's final assessment.

"This is great; it's the best opportunity I've had since I've been in the league," Mercer said during a telephone conversation. "I'll be playing alongside Tim Duncan, and you can't turn down a chance like that. I'm just glad to be a part of this championship team."

Ron Rothstein wasted little time assuming his duties as the newest member of Isiah Thomas' coaching staff.

Moments after the combined Indiana/Philadelphia summer league team wrapped up a victory Wednesday, Rothstein huddled with second-year guard Fred Jones.

Jones said it was definitely a coach-player talk.

"I just met him but he already knew about me and my game," Jones said. "He obviously did his homework before he got here, because he was pointing out several things that I've heard from some of our other coaches. He also mentioned a couple of other things that I hadn't really thought about, so it was good to get a different perspective."

That's exactly what Rothstein, 60, will bring to the Pacers. He spent last season as a consultant with the Miami Heat. Before that, he spent three seasons as coach and general manager of the Miami Sol of the WNBA, coaching the franchise to a 48-48 record before it folded last fall.

Rothstein's 17-year history with Thomas is what led him to the Pacers. His lifelong love of basketball is what keeps him feeling young. Rothstein replaces Brendan Malone, who left after three seasons for a similar position with the New York Knicks. Rothstein's contract has not been finalized.

Now that they've engaged in some enforced wheeling and dealing, the Indiana Pacers are in a better position to re-sign Reggie Miller.

And, by the way, they plan to do just that.

Miller is the franchise's all-time leading scorer, probably its most popular player ever and a likely Hall of Famer. But he's coming off one of the least effective seasons of his 16-year NBA career and turns 38 in August.

For those who question the wisdom of bringing him back instead of another younger guard, Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh has a ready answer.

"Teams aren't built on cold logic," he said. "There's something inside a team that binds it together. Reggie stands for a lot of the things I like on this team. If we have a player who's played as great as he has, then we should make every effort to bring him back."

It is expected that Miller will accept a cut in pay from his $12 million salary each of the past two seasons. The size of that cut will have great influence on how much money the Pacers have left to make other moves.

On the surface, it appears as if two-time NBA Executive of the Year Geoff Petrie did it again.

But that doesn't mean there won't be mixed feelings.

On Thursday, the Kings consummated a three-team sign-and-trade deal that brings center Brad Miller to Sacramento and sends Scot Pollard to the Indiana Pacers and Hedo Turkoglu to the San Antonio Spurs via Indiana.

For Kings power forward Chris Webber, it was tough to deal with the loss of Turkoglu and Pollard.

"I'm going to miss Hedo," Webber said. "He's like my little brother, him and Gerald (Wallace). I can't imagine our team without Scot and Hedo. ...

"But I trust Geoff. He's gotten us this far. Yes, it's the talent. But he's had a lot to do with it."

Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh understands the negative vibe rising from the streets and filtering through the media. But he asks for more time.

Time for Scot Pollard and Anthony Johnson to show what they can do in a new environment.

Time for him to make other additions and trades.

Time for emotions to settle.

Walsh presented a defensive and at times defiant posture Thursday during a news conference to confirm his team's three-way trade with Sacramento and San Antonio.

Brad Miller, an All-Star in his only full season with the Pacers, goes to Sacramento for Pollard and Hedo Turkoglu. Turkoglu and Ron Mercer go to San Antonio for Danny Ferry's non-guaranteed contract, which can be released or used in another trade.

The result is the Pacers traded Miller for Pollard and maintained the financial flexibility to try to re-sign Reggie Miller and perhaps another free agent.

Walsh also confirmed the addition of Johnson, a six-year veteran who backed up point guard Jason Kidd in New Jersey the past two seasons.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich finally got his man when the Spurs signed Rasho Nesterovic earlier this month.

Spurs general manager R.C. Buford finally got his man when Hedo Turkoglu joined the team Thursday.

"I've been following Hedo since he was 17 years old and playing for the Turkey World Team," an ebullient Buford announced during a news conference at the team's practice facility.

The Spurs completed the three-team trade package that brought Turkoglu and Ron Mercer to the Spurs, sent center Brad Miller to Sacramento and center Scot Pollard and forward Danny Ferry's one-year non-guaranteed contract to Indiana.

In addition, Buford announced the signing of forward Robert Horry.

Horry has a two-year deal for $5 million and $5.5 million with the first year guaranteed, Mercer has one year left at $6.75 million and Turkoglu has one year remaining at $1.995 million.

"This uses up our cap space," Buford said. But he added that the Spurs can still re-sign guard Stephen Jackson.

"Nothing precludes us from signing Jackson, we have retained his Early Bird rights (meaning he can be signed even if it puts the team over the salary cap)."

The possibility of signing Reggie Miller remains a long shot for the Nets, who can only offer him a $1.5 million contract. But it remains something the team would love to have happen.

"You're talking about something that's personal, because I love Reggie Miller," Nets coach Byron Scott said. "I spent time with him in Indiana so I know him as a person and as a basketball player. I would love to have a Reggie Miller on the team. Is it something that's going to happen? Probably not. Now we're talking about wish lists."

Scott said he had his sales pitch for Miller ready -- it's basically an appeal for Miller to come to the Nets for less money just as Karl Malone left Utah for less money to join the Lakers -- but said he hadn't talked to Miller yet and wasn't sure if he was going to. Nets president Rod Thorn would not say whether he had talked to Miller or his representatives, but did say the Nets' chances are slim.

"I think Reggie Miller has been a great player in his time in the NBA, a tremendous clutch player," Thorn said. "I have the utmost respect for him. I do not see him signing with any team for the $1.5 million exception. I think he will return to Indiana."