Indiana Pacers: The No. 10 Pick Is Yours For The Taking
While everyone has been focused on the NBA Finals for the past few weeks, the 28 teams that have been watching from home had to be jealous. But even with the NBA Draft less than a week away, there has been surprisingly little chatter from many of the teams. That is, from every franchise except the Indiana Pacers. In one week’s time, the Pacers have basically put every player on the trading block, and made it known that they’re willing to deal.
It’s been well chronicled on the site that Indiana is in need of a point guard, but where do they go to find one? While last year’s NBA Draft crop was point guard rich, this year is definitely lacking. So with a No. 10 pick at their disposal, Indy is reportedly going after the likes of Ty Lawson and Darren Collison (who were ironically still on the board last year when they drafted Tyler Hansbrough at No. 13). While these young PGs are probably available for the Pacers’ pick, getting a veteran (such as Tony Parker) is most likely going to cost them an expiring contract. And it appears the Pacers are okay with that.
While there has been nothing new on the trade front concerning Troy Murphy (and his expiring contract) along with Brandon Rush, the latest news that makes you have to think that Murphy is on his way out of town is that the Pacers are reportedly interested in taking Daniel Orton with the No. 10 pick. If they are going to keep that pick and take Orton, the Pacers must be confident they’ll find their point guard elsewhere.
What do you think? What should the Pacers do?
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June 18th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
SJ says:
First off, fire Larry Bird. Second, get rid of TJ Ford (any way possible). Third, find a new point guard (yes, I advise getting rid of the current point guard before getting a new one… just need to get rid of TJ Ford at any cost). The problem with the Pacers is that they don’t have much to deal with. The 10th pick isn’t that desirable for most teams in this draft. The only player most teams would be interested in trading for is Danny Granger, and the Pacers are not willing to let him go. So, that leaves the slim chance that they will trade some expiring contracts to get a young PG on the roster. Smart move? Maybe, but not if the person they drop is Troy Murphy. He and Granger were really the only two Pacers last year that were consistently good. AJ Price showed some promise, but wrecked his knee. Earl Watson can ball, but doesn’t want to stick with a losing team. Not many choices for the Pacers… but I don’t think getting rid of Troy Murphy is the right move. *MAYBE* if they revamp the entire roster, but as I said before, they don’t have much to wheel and deal with.
June 18th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
DGtheEnigma says:
I honestly have no idea what the Pacers strategy currently is…and neither does Larry Bird.
The current roster wasn’t built to win. It was built on “character guys” (i.e. white guys) that could potentially bring back some fans.
The problem with that thinking is that it’s a cynical approach. Winning brings fans, not if the guys are “good” guys or not.
June 18th, 2010 at 12:50 pm
D.H. says:
Maybe Ron Ron and J-O’Neal want to come back and play… They’re certainly character guys.
June 18th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
SJ says:
I’d take Ron, but not JO. Ron plays with passion, JO plays like he’s about to get injured.
June 18th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
BG says:
unless bird is hiding something great up his sleeve (laughably unlikely) I don’t think we have any option other than trading our pick for a PG. We could try to get lawson, but I don’t see him being a long term starter. I say best case scenario would be trading our pick and possibly dunleavy or other player for collison. He is a double double points/assists threat every game. He’s also a decent rebounder for a PG. I think he could be the answer to many of our problems and a definite upgrade over all of our current PGs combined. This is the move that bird could make to redeem or, for that matter, achieve for the first time, a satisfactory post-player career.
June 18th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
terry says:
Get rid of ford,Obrien,dunleavy,Rush,Foster and bring in Mike Brown and go after Bosh and Parker get rid of Price also just unload except for Hibbert,Granger,Murphy and go after Gordon Heyword and put a little weight on him and put him at point Guard so you get the fans back into it.or shooting guard.
June 18th, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Bizz says:
The Raptors will offer you Jose Calderon for your 10th pick if you’re dumb enough to click the “Accept” button and then “Allow Trade” button lmao
June 18th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
haslem says:
take Ramon Sessions for the No 10
June 18th, 2010 at 5:41 pm
SJ says:
@terry, I don’t agree with bringing in Mike Brown. O’Brien’s a better coach than Brown. I’d be ok with dropping the players you mentioned, though. Also, I’m not for it, but if the Pacers picked Hayward it would definitely bring in fans to fill the seats, since he became a bit of a hometown hero following Butler’s run. I don’t think PG is the right spot for him at 6’9″ 211 lbs. I don’t think it would take that long before people lose the ‘Butler luster’, so it wouldn’t be a lasting impact in the seats… unless he really kills it in the NBA.
June 19th, 2010 at 1:19 am
chief youngblood says:
their taking ed davis
June 21st, 2010 at 1:40 am
Yaba says:
They should go after Carlos Arroyo… first he has the experience (Utah,Toronto,Detroit,Miami) second he is a pass first pg, third he is not going to be that expensive, fourth he can give instant offense if needed (ask anyone who has seen him playing in the olympics and he was in the top 5 in his senior year in college DI).
Or draft Denis Clemente…..all the mock drafts say that he will be there when indiana picks….
They might wanna go international so they can get some instant offense in other positions. Check out Larry Ayuso…..deadly 3 point shooter