Keeping Tabs on the Pacers

by Tom Ziller on May 26, 2008 8:19 AM PDT

Indiana, picking #11, deserves attention over the next month. The Pacers have similar needs as the Kings (point guard, youth in the frontcourt), and they remain the biggest threat in removing Russell Westbrook and/or D.J. Augustin from the board. Via Indy Cornrows , Larry Bird discusses his thoughts on the prospects .

We haven’t had a pick this high in a long time, so we know we’re going to get somebody that can help us. Even though most of the media attention has been on the top two picks – and they’re both going to be great players – those of us inside the league know this is going to be a very deep draft.

In the top 12 to 15 picks, there are some players that probably will be a little better in our league than people think, such as a lot of athletic players that play multiple positions. Even in the 20s, there will be some players that can step in and help teams right away. And like I said, we’re confident we’ll be able to get a solid prospect in the second round. [...]

And who knows? Come draft night, we might even have a surprise or two in store for you.

Is Bird calling out a trade four weeks before Draft Day? Probably not. For whips and goggles, DraftExpress and Chad Ford currently have the Pacers selecting Augustin (with Ford having Westbrook already gone), and the enigmatic NBADraft.net going with DeAndre Jordan at #11.

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Darrell Arthur

scares me a bit. If we’re taking a big man at #12 I would think we want rebounding and physicality. Arthur is way too skinny to play up front in the NBA, and I don’t know if the rest of his game will suffer if and when he bulks up.

As for Draft Express, yeah I’d say they’re enigmatic alright. Eric Gordon to the Kings? That’s one of those mocks where the guy doing it says, “well I made Player X fall this far, and that doesn’t look quite right, but somebody has to take him, guess it might as well be Team Z”

Makes no sense that Gordon would slip to 12 and even less that the Kings would select him. The Two Guard is pretty much the ONLY position we’ve got secured right now.

"When the going gets Weird, the Weird turn professional."
(Hunter Thompson)

by Mucho Moss on May 26, 2008 9:52 AM PDT reply actions

Anyone at #12

scares me a bit, as they will all have levels of risk. Last year almost half of the lottery class did not have “NBA bodies” at the time that they were selected – Durant, Yi, Corey Brewer, B.Wright, Noah and Hawes.

I like Arthur, but he does concern me as it pertain to what kind of shot blocker and rebounder he might be at the NBA level.

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by section214 on May 26, 2008 10:44 AM PDT reply actions

What really scares me is the last time the Kings picked in this range

In 1997 the Kings picked 11th. They picked Olivier Saint-Jean (Tariq Abdul Wahad—I’m perverse and prefer saying his French name even though he converted to islam shortly after joining the kings). I think we remember how well that turned out, and even worse, 2 of the players picked later in that draft were the only 2 real players who became truly productive players over the course of their career. They were Bobby Jackson (3 teams before he hit the Kings) and Scot Pollard (released by Atlanta after less than 2 years). As i said drafting a kid in a weaker draft in a mid lottery position means rolling the dice. That’s sadly the nature of the beast.

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by pookeyguru on May 29, 2008 5:31 AM PDT up reply actions

Sure...

it’s always a roll of the dice, especially once you get past the first three or four picks.

However, Bird isn’t just talking hype in the above quote. There’s an unusual amount of talent and upside deep into this draft, and Brian Westbrook, Joe Alexander, Alexis Ajinca, Marresse Speights, Ryan Anderson (for example) are all guys who I think could be the kind of player that people look back four years later and say “wow… they drafted him THAT late!?”.

I get a little pumped up thinking about them potentially playing in the ol’ purple and black next year.

Darrell Arthur, not so much.

"When the going gets Weird, the Weird turn professional."
(Hunter Thompson)

by Mucho Moss on May 26, 2008 12:24 PM PDT reply actions