Mark Monteith of the Indianapolis Star reports that the Pacers know what they want to do, they just don?t know if they?ll be able to do it. They want to trade Austin Croshere, but they don?t know what they can get for him? but here?s what they?re looking for:

1) They want a player whose salary is close to the $7 million that Croshere will be paid this year.

2) They want a player with only one year left on his contract.

3) They want a player who can contribute to the team.

They would love to get rid of the $40 million left on Croshere?s contract in order to free up money to sign their free agents next year. Monteith admits that it is a tall order to fill, and the Pacers may have to settle for #1 and #2 or settle for no deal at all. "The climate is not good," Pacers president Donnie Walsh said. "People are afraid to take on long-term contracts when they do a deal."

The Pacers will have six big free agents next season, and all of them are ahead of Croshere in playing time. Freeing up Croshere?s contract will help them to afford to resign Jermaine O?Neal, Reggie Miller, Brad Miller, Jeff Foster, Ron Artest and Jonathan Bender.

Croshere would like to stay in Indiana, but does not want another season buried on the bench. Any deal involving Croshere probably won't occur until after Aug. 1, when he loses his base-year compensation status. If Croshere is moved before then, the trade value of his salary is only $5.25 million. It is the full $7 million after that, which means the Pacers can either get a better player in return or take a larger salary off another team's payroll.

Walsh said many teams like Croshere?s game, but not his contract. "A lot of teams are trying to get a lower payroll next year," Walsh said. Walsh said some teams are hesitant to trade for a long-term contract because they are eager to clear salary space for next season's free agent class, which looks to be much stronger than this one.