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Both former Dallas players, thought to be little more than throw-ins for salary cap purposes when the Pacers acquired Darrell Armstrong in exchange for Anthony Johnson, played their way onto the opening-night roster. Indiana reached the NBA limit of 15 by releasing rookie James White, obtained from Portland on a draft-night trade, and center John Edwards.
"It was obviously an agonizing decision that had to be made," said Coach Rick Carlisle. "In 23 years, I've never been with a team that had this difficult at decision to make on a cut. The good news is we feel like we have some very good players here. The bad news is you hate to let a guy like James White go that has a lot of promise and you know is going to be a good player in this league."
Marshall, a lithe 6-7 swingman considered a defensive specialist, averaged 7.9 points and was second on the team with seven blocked shots in the preseason. Powell, a stocky 6-9 power forward, averaged 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds.
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"Make no mistake, both of these players earned their roster positions with exceptional play a lot of the time and solid play most of the time," Coach Rick Carlisle said. "We're fortunate. When we made the trade with Dallas, Rawle and Josh were really players thrown into the deal to make it work from a cap perspective but we feel like right now they're role-players but they've got a chance to get a lot better.
"I spoke to both of them and told them our expectations are high that they will continue to get better and not just be guys that are 10th, 11th, 12th men but guys that can make their way into the rotation at some point."
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White started the first preseason game but, despite his experience as a five-year college player, struggled to find a groove. He admittedly struggled with rules limiting the use of hands by perimeter defenders and averaged just 3.8 points on .324 shooting in eight appearances. The Pacers acquired White, the No. 31 pick, from Portland in exchange for No. 45 pick Alexander Johnson (who was subsequently traded to Memphis) and two future second-round picks.
"The positive aspect of this is that we feel like Marshall and Powell are two guys that can help us more immediately maybe than James can," Carlisle said. "Larry (Bird) and I sat and talked with James about it. He was very professional about it. He's a kid that's very determined. He's in a good position because he has some guaranteed money and we feel he's probably going to get picked up right away so he'll be off to the next situation.
"There are times when franchises make decisions on cuts based on how much you've invested in a kid. We traded a couple of draft choices, traded up to get James in the draft. In some cases, there would be teams that would keep him just for that reason. The thing that's encouraging from my perspective is this was purely a decision based on winning basketball games. We're fortunate to have ownership that's willing to say, 'Hey, let's do the right thing, basketball-wise.' It's not that James isn't a good player. We just felt that Rawle and Josh could help us more right now."
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Edwards was acquired from Atlanta in the Al Harrington deal but scarcely played or practiced in the preseason due to injuries to his back and groin. The third-year center broke into the NBA by making the Pacers' roster as an undrafted free agent in 2004-05 and signed with the Hawks prior to last season.
"I feel like we know John Edwards pretty well because we had him here his first year," Carlisle said. "The injuries played a little bit of a part in how things went but at the end of the day in his case it was a numbers game."
The Pacers thus will open the 2006-07 season with eight new faces: Armstrong, forward-center Maceo Baston, swingman Marquis Daniels, point guard Orien Greene, Harrington, Marshall, Powell and first-round pick forward Shawne Williams.
