NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get?
The NBA Draft is Thursday night and your Indiana Pacers have the 11th pick. For everyone out there that pays attention, who do you want them to take? If you know a lot who do you want them to take in the second round?
Some possible 1st Round choices for the Pacers:
1.DJ Augustin, PG/Texas. He's probably the best bet for the Pacers. He fills a need at PG and can really play. There is a slight possibility that he goes higher than 11 but I wouldn't bet on it. The only team that make take him ahead of us is Donnie Walsh and the Knicks.
2.Eric Gordon, SG/Indiana. It's a long shot but it could happen. A couple years ago a projected top 5 player fell to the Pacers at #17 so stranger things have happened. If anyone is going to fall in the lottery EJ is probably the guy.
3.Russell Westbrook, PG/UCLA. He's apparently got a promise from a top 10 team so he canceled his workout with the Pacers. It could happen though.
4.Kosta Koufos, C/Ohio State. Unfortunately Larry Bird has a thing for tall white guys. He wouldn't be the worst thing to happen but would be a huge reach at 11. Only Larry Bird would draft him this high.
Possible 2nd Rounders for the Pacers
1.George Hill, PG/IUPUI. If we don't get a PG in the first I can see the Pacers taking him. Great size for a PG, a lot of talent, hometown guy, and the Pacers apparently like him. I hear the Lakers are really trying to get him though.
2.DJ White, PF/Indiana. This is my dream 2nd round pick but I don't know if it'll happen. We could use another PF, especially with the latest J.O. rumors, but the Pacers don't take a lot of IU guys.
3.Sonny Weems, SG/Arkansas. This guy kicked IU's ass in the NCAA tourney this year. He's got good size and good be a decent player.
4.Joey Dorsey, PF/Memphis. Another possibility as a new PF for the Pacers.
Indianapolis Players in the Draft:
1.Eric Gordon, North Central HS (IU). He'll be the top Indy player taken without a doubt. He won't fall out of the lottery. He'll probably be in NY, LA Clippers, or Milwaukee. Slight chance he's a Pacer.
2.Courtney Lee, Pike HS (Western Kentucky). Probably the 2nd Indy player taken. He's a SG with good size who'll probably go late 1st/early 2nd round.
3.George Hill, Broad Ripple HS (IUPUI). From the draft workouts he'll get drafted. There are quite a few interested teams. He'll go in the early to mid 2nd round.
NOTE: If you hate the Pacers, don't post in here. I don't want to hear your lame jokes that have been used over and over again.
The Pacers are talking about trading JO for TJ Ford of the Raptors. So if that goes down, I don't think we will need a Point guard, I'd rather go for big men. Kevin Love would be right up Larry Bird's alley...since he has a man crush on all white players.
I'm not a Gordon fan, he couldn't even get IU far in the tourney at all. He would be a very small shooting guard in the NBA...and he's not a really great shooter.
Dorsey would be a great second rounder...Ben Wallace style, could be a great role player.
joe.shearer : RE: NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get? More..
I don't think it's quite fair to say Gordon couldn't take IU far in the tourney given the circumstances. The entire season got torpedoed the second those charges came out against Sampson.
I'd like to see Gordon come to Indy, and I think the JO/Ford trade going through (or not) would change the draft a bit. I know DJ Augustin is one of the names being tossed about, among others.
I'm more of a "best player available" guy than going for a need (unless you want to trade down to fill your need and get something else in return), so I don't want to say too many names.
randydaytona : RE: NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get? More..
Yeah I don't want that deal with the Raptors, even if it includes their pick. I'd love to have Kevin Love too but he won't be there at 11.
I want to get rid of JO while he still has some reasonable trade value...each year this guy's stock gets lower and lower and his contract gets bigger and bigger. I'm ready for a change at the PF position. TJ Ford would be fine by me...replace our other headache in Tinsley. They said Nesterovich and their 1st round pick (17th) would be added too. We could pick up a solid player at 17.
So I guess Augustin would be a good player to get, if we get rid of Tinsley...since Ford isn't exactly a healthy guy.
DJ Augustine is a good bet, I have also heard something about sending JO to the Kings and we would get Artest back..... I am not sure if that is a good thing or bad... We can't get much worse than we are right now
randydaytona : RE: NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get? More..
Yeah I'm a Ford fan too, he's just more an injury risk than Tinsley and JO. The only guy who gets injured more is Shaun Livingston.
Joe - I agree it's always best to go with the best player available but I think right now we have too many small forwards which there are always a lot of. I'd hate to get another one at 11, well maybe Joe Alexander but that's it. I like what we have at the 2 and 3 - Dunleavy and Granger.
joe.shearer : RE: NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get? More..
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying get a forward, and we do have a couple of good ones, but I'd rather have too many good players than pick some slug just because we need, say, a big man. I'd rather still have those holes in the lineup, trade someone (even if it's in a couple of years) and make something of your team that way.
I believe some variation of that is how Boston fell into the unfortunate predicament they're in now (and biting the bullet on trading away their young star).
randydaytona : RE: NBA Draft - Who do you want the Pacers to get? More..
Good point, I think a lot of us Pacer fans are impatient and want to get back to winning all the time. We are so used to making the playoffs and being a contender. It might be best to get someone who could be a lot more valuable in the next few years.
We need to do something about the point though. You know all these trade rumors are not making Tinsley happy. We'll be dealing with a lot of "injuries" this year if he's our main guy. I really wish that would have turned out better. Tinsley could have been a great player.
Keep Artest as far from Indy as possible...the guy isn't even that good anymore. I don't think he even made the NBA all-defensive team. He's garbage, and has more issues than Sports Illustrated.
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