I was waiting for this to happen. Just a few days ago, Pacers president Larry Bird said the team has no intentions of trading Danny Granger, who returned to the lineup last week for the first time in over a year. During the time he was out, the Pacers became a dominant team and with the emergence of Paul George as a star player, people wondered what the Pacers were thinking when it came to Granger. Would his return make them even better? Or would the lineup be too crowded and he would be the odd man out and possibly traded. Well even though Bird said they aren’t looking to trade him, his more recent comments seem to cast a bad light on Granger. Hit the jump.

@IamJoeSports

In an interview with the Indianaoplis Star, Bird was quoted:

“He doesn’t work hard enough in the offseason. He’s not a guy who’ll push himself to the brink like a lot of our guys do. He works hard but he doesn’t push himself. That’s why he starts slow every year and he just works his way back. Now this year, he’s been hurt, so it’s a different deal.”

I don’t know how you guys feel, but that damn sure sounds like the beginning of the Pacers distancing themselves from Granger and looking for a way to trade him. Although trashing his work ethic in the media might not make another team too eager to offer a trade for him.