Kevin Pritchard (L) is very different than the man he replaces, Larry Bird. (1070 the Fan photos)

The Indiana Pacers just got very different.

It’s Kevin Pritchard’s job to make sure they also get better.

Much, much better.

On the day Pritchard succeeded Bird as President of Basketball Operations, the contrasts between the two men were stark. Where Bird adopted his usual laconic approach to addressing his decision to step away after spending most of the past 20 seasons with the organization, Pritchard was expansive and thoughtful.

And that was just the first, and perhaps most superficial, difference between the two men.

“It’s just time to go,” Bird said, the closest thing to an explanation he gave for his decision -- and it clearly was his decision, one he made a year ago. “I think we’ve got the right guy to take over and it’s just the right time.”

Whether Pritchard can take the Pacers where Bird could not as a team executive -- the NBA Finals and ultimately a championship -- remains to be seen. But the timing only amplifies the challenge.

Start with The Paul George Decision. Assuming he makes one about whether to exercise his player option for 2018-19, and communicates as much to Pritchard. The new team president faces the prospect of having to rebuild -- although they don’t like to use that particular word -- should George opt to leave, but in the meantime intends to try to convince the face of the franchise that it would be wiser to remain, that his best chance of winning is in Indianapolis, not, for example, his hometown of Los Angeles.

Pritchard said he had a long chat, around an hour, with George during exit interviews last week, and was encouraged.

“We talked about a lot of different things. In every scenario he talked about being here and that’s important,” Pritchard said. “Him wanting to be here is important. He kept coming back to one statement that hits me hard and we all know but he wants to win. I think picking up Lance (Stephenson) late in the year made us a better team, got us into the playoffs. Lance’s energy and having two unique, athletic wings in this business is a luxury and we can build on that.

“We want to win. This organization has gotten to the playoffs I think 22 out of 29 (actually 28) tries. We want successful teams year-in and year-out and that has to do with Paul. The message was he wants to win, the Pacers want to win, we’re on the same page.”

Should George make one of the all-NBA teams, which will be announced later this month, the Pacers will have significant financial leverage because they can offer him a so-called “supermax” extension -- $209 million over five seasons. If George is not selected, their maximum offer would be roughly $179 million over the same term. Other teams could offer $133 million over four seasons.

“It's somewhat important but at the end of the day we want Paul to want to be here,” Pritchard said. “If we can prove and we can show with our actions about what we do in free agency and the draft, I think he’ll get more comfortable. Look, it’s up to me to put a team around him and Lance, him and Myles (Turner) and Thaddeus (Young) and make moves and develop some continuity, as well. That was the big thing when we talked. We kept talking about ‘How do we get back?’ He was in the mode of ‘How do we get back to the Eastern Conference Finals?’ And I thought that was a great sign.”

While Bird wasn’t reluctant to make changes, his activity level was dwarfed by Pritchard’s record during his time in the Portland front office. In the 2006, ‘07 and ‘08 drafts, Pritchard helped engineer eight trades that yielded LaMarcus Aldridge, Brandon Roy, Nicolas Batum and Rudy Fernandez, moves that transformed a maligned team known as the Jail Blazers for their frequent off-court misdeeds into a consistent contender in the West.

The injuries that truncated the careers of Greg Oden, the No. 1 overall pick in 2007, and Roy were beyond Pritchard’s control but he paid the price when owner Paul Allen fired him one hour before the 2010 draft -- but then required him to stay on the job through the night.

“I think you have to be bold in this position but the one thing I’ve learned from Larry is how important continuity is,” Pritchard said. “I think when you say I’ve been a deal-maker or made moves, a lot of them have been in the summer and specifically in the draft. I don’t mind moving up. Once I see someone in the draft that I think can really help us, I want to be aggressive that way.

“Ryan Carr (director of scouting) and our scouts do an amazing job of identifying talend and then it’s up to me to go figure out how to get them. So I like interchanging pieces, I like moving around in the draft. It doesn’t mean it happens every time but I want to be aggressive. I want to be out there and understand all the deals.”

He also differs from Bird in the style of play he prefers for the team. While stopping short of suggesting a return to the “smashmouth” mantra of the Frank Vogel years, Pritchard was very clear about the need to develop more toughness -- mentally and physically.

“I’d like to have a tougher team,” he said. “We won at home. We did a great job at home. What it takes to win on the road is a whole new ballgame. You have to be able to play physical, you have to play tough and you have to amp your game up. Every single player has to be on the court knowing it’s going to be a tougher game and so overall toughness is the one thing I want to add to this team.

“We used to be a hard-hat and lunch-pail kind of a team and that’s what we were known for. I’m not saying get back to that completely because it’s also on the other hand a very skilled league, too.”

One thing that won’t change is the head coach.

Pritchard and Nate McMillan spent six seasons together in Portland, and the strength of that relationship has not waned.

“This sounds a little crazy but I embrace, and I think he did too, hard times,” Pritchard said. “Because when you go through hard times you realize who you want to be in the trenches. I’m telling you 100 percent, Nate is a guy you want in the trenches, all day every day. He stays calm waters, he understands big pictures and as good a relationship as him and I have -- we talk very directly, we talk all the time -- I expect that to expand again. He knows I’ve got his back and I know he’s got my back.”

Pritchard is also a big believer in the difference Stephenson can make over the course of a full season, wants to re-sign free agent point guard Jeff Teague and continue to develop young center Myles Turner.

Perhaps the most significant alignment with Bird, at least during the press conference Monday, was a refusal to use the word “rebuild.”

“It’s semantics,” he said, “but at the end of the day when you rebuild it’s tearing it down. I don’t believe in tearing it down because then you can tear down your culture and you can’t teach guys how to win. Some teams are out of the playoffs seven, eight, nine years. We don’t do that. That’s not what we want to do. We’re not afraid to make adjustments so I’m good with re-tool and maybe rebuild is a little bit of a bad word.”

If George decides to stay, it won’t be necessary. If he does not, get your thesauruses ready, because you’ll hear every synonym in the book.

They won’t say they’re rebuilding, but they will have no other choice.