The Indiana Pacers could have saved several million dollars this summer simply by making no major changes in their front office structure.

Instead, the decisions to hire Larry Bird as president of basketball operations and fire Isiah Thomas earlier this week as head coach will bloat a company payroll in a belt-tightening era in which few teams in the National Basketball Association appear to be turning a profit.

Pacers co-owner Herb Simon considers it worth the added cost.

"My first consideration is what's best for the team and what we put on the floor," Simon said Thursday. "Money is important, but it takes second place to what the basketball people think is best for the team and the fans."

Simon and his brother, Mel, have generally been free spenders with the team. Donnie Walsh, who ran the basketball operations from 1986 until this summer, when he hired Bird, says he has rarely, if ever, been turned down when proposing a personnel move, although he believes he has taken a fiscally responsible approach.

The Pacers, however, have drawn the line at the luxury tax threshold on players' salaries. Teams that exceed it have to pay a dollar-for-dollar penalty. The threshold might not come into play next summer because it's determined by league revenues, but if so the league-set threshold is expected to be about $57 million.