So...Who Do You Want? Vol. 1

i would like to see us go for Xavier Henry or trade back a few for a Eric Bledsoe with this pick. It’s not a great guard draft but lets be honest in looking to where the Pacers need the most help. With Hibbert/Murph/Granger all a lock and we have McBob/Hansbrough to fill in the 4 we need to address our 1 and 2 guard positions.

Also, is it possible to draft a coach theres quite a few good ones on the market with (Byron Scott, Mike Woodson, Mike Brown) and without (Mark Jackson) that could change the way we should draft a team for their styles…

I honestly wouldn’t be too quick to cast out Aminu falling to the 10th pick. I mean I don’t think it’s likely but I’ve seen crazier stuff happen. I’d honestly trade down for multiple picks. I’m not a huge fan of Hayward, Henry, or Bledsoe (Turnovers). I like guys like Paul George, Dominique Jones, Larry Sanders, and if Avery Bradley can play PG I’m down for him.

falling because he’s a knucklehead. Last thing anyone wants to deal with is another Artest, Beasley, etc…..

I think there is an outside chance that Monroe falls.

Alot of people like Ekpe Udoh, he’s starting to move up in the mock drafts so I’m not sure if he will be there.And I think he plays some at the center at baylor.But if the pacers don’t trade down they have to take the biggest talent regardless of thier position.

Is anyone familiar with Quincy Pondexter?He could be a steal late in the draft.

Us fans seem to agree the Pacers could use help at getting a defensive PF or a franchise PG. These four names continue to be brought up as possible players who could fit either bill:

Greg Monroe, Ekpe Udoh, Eric Bledsoe, and Avery Bradley.

What will happen is we’ll clamor for months on how these four players could really help the Pacers. One of them will be available when it comes time for the Pacers to pick, and inevitably Bird will take someone like Cole Aldrich (the safest player we want least).

I’d love the Pacers to trade out of this pick to accumulate multiple first rounders (It’s been rumored that Memphis has interest in shopping their picks for an impact player. Although the Pacers are in short supply of impact players, if there were someone at pick 10 that Memphis thought could fit that mold, they may be willing to deal.). With two first round picks, Indy could still get a decent defensive PF like Craig Brackins or Jarvis Varnardo, and also get Bledsoe or Bradley to audition for the role of the next uninspiring Pacers PG.

We should do everything we can to move up to the 1 or 2 spot. Personally I think the Nba draft is more based on taking best available person then filling a need. We need a John Wall or even Evan Turner to help granger and hibbert.
If we cant move up I think we take best available person at the 10th pick. Hopefully Monroe or Udoh. Then we can try to trade either ford, dunleavy and or murphy(unless he takes a paycut) and try to get more pics and try to get a bledsoe or an avery. Or a trade for a veteran pg. I also think Tyler needs to be moved to the 3 spot and back up granger.
The roster could look something like this

Aj price/bledsoe
Rush/ D.Jones or a free agent
Granger/Hansborough
Udoh or Monroe/Mcroberts
Hibbert/Foster or a free agent

Then if we have enough cap room maybe we can sign one of the not so big free agents like joe johnson(i doubt it) Lamarcus aldridge, marcus camby, randy foye, ronnie brewer or a tyrus thomas. There is alot of options and some opportunity to make the Pacers take that next step. Lets hope Bird does the right thing
Go Pacers

Ive been looking at the prospects and this is what I came up with.

If Monroe or Udoh are at the 10th pick we take either. Then try and make a trade with MINN or MEMP for another 1st rounder. And pick up James Anderson out of OKST this kid was Big 12 player of the year and averaged 22 points a game. Then with our 2nd rounder we get either pg Greivis Vasquez out of Maryland or Sherron Collins out of KU.

I think we fill almost all our needs, We get tough defensively in the paint with Udoh. We get another scorer with possible superstar potential with Anderson. Then we get a chance to have a decent pg who can grow with either vasquez or collins.

- If monroe or Udoh are not there at 10 or someone awesome that falls. I think we trade back and pick up another 1st rounder. Then pick up Eric Bledsoe from Kentucky and James Anderson out of OKST then with our 2nd rounder we can grab C Jerome Jordan out of Tulsa

1. Trade the pick away with Rush or Hibbert for Darren Collison. He’s virtually a rookie, age-wise and while he provides great insurance for New Orleans’ injury-prone PG, with Paul on the team making so much money, they can’t justify sitting on him. If Paul ever gets healthy, Collison will lose trade value. If Paul doesn’t, well, it’d be smart to keep him, but the Hornets have got to be praying Paul’s knees hold up given how much they’ve committed to him. In short, Collison’s trade value will never be higher unless he becomes New Orleans’ full-time replacement for Paul, in which case they won’t want to trade him anyway.

2. Trade back. As much as I love Udoh and Monroe, I agree with those who say PF isn’t the #1 priority in this draft. PG is, and there isn’t anyone in range. Minnesota might be willing to ship the #16 and #23 for the #10 pick. That would put the Pacers in a position to draft the two guys with the most potential for out-of-nowhere greatness of anyone in this draft (and considering they’re both UK Wildcats, I hate to admit it): Bledsoe and Orton. Orton didn’t get the PT he would’ve gotten on any other team, and in 2-3 years he’s probably an Al Horford-caliber PF, imo. Bledsoe got the PT but not at the right position. He was a bit turnover prone playing off the ball, but from everything we’ve seen, he’s a playmaker. Had he started PG for a different school last year, I bet he’d be a top 15 lock, but since he didn’t, he’s slipped into late first/early second territory.

3. Keep the pick and draft Udoh or Monroe, whoever’s still left. They’re both top 5 talents in just about any other draft, though honestly, I don’t think either will be all-stars any time soon.

4. If you can’t get Collison or any other promising PG in a trade for the pick, package it with Murphy for the biggest star available, just to sell some tickets and give this fan base some hope. Carlos Boozer in a sign-and-trade, Andre Igoudala or even adding Foster and a future pick to the package and overpay for Joe Johnson if he’s greedy enough to go for a sign-and-trade with his Bird rights max deal from Atlanta rather than trying to sign somewhere for cheaper to play with Wade, Bosh or LeBron.

Out of the guys you’ve listed there, Xavier Henry has the most upside by a long way. He had John Wall-like hype in the recruiting process, and like you said he’s got the build to take it to the rim, and the outside shooting rim. Plus he’s only a freshman unlike Turner. What worries me is that despite being more than capable, he seems reluctant to drive, and seems more than happy to put up a jumper. He also tends to disappear in some games, which is worrying, and in short he has failed to live up to the hype in Kansas. Although in the few Kansas games I watched he played well.

James Anderson is the other SG that intrigues me. He was voted Big 12 player of the year, and is one of the most efficient scorers in the nation last year, despite playing heavy minutes. The guy can go to the rim, and shoot from outside. And to top it off, he was a one-man show, having little support at OK State.

I fully agree with your take on Ekpe Udoh. The guy can score, rebound at both ends, and defend. He was a big part of that Baylor team last year, along with LaceDarius Dunn. I think he could be a 20/10 guy.

I don’t like Whiteside, Bledsoe, Montujenas, Hayward or Davis. Whiteside has bust written all over him. A tall, gangly guy who can only rebound and block shots? D-League Thabeet anyone? The only reason Bledsoe gets mentioned is based on his high school rep. He didn’t do anything in college to justify the #10 pick in the draft. Montujenas – well I don’t know anything about the guy but he is European and they are hit and miss – you don’t know if you’ll get a Dirk or a Darko – or perhaps a Rubio who thinks he’s too awesome to play in a small market. Hayward isn’t as bad as the haters claim, but we go back to the Tyler Hansbrough comparisons in that he’s too small to play the 4, and not athletic enough to play the 3. And besides we’ve already got our franchise player playing the 3. And Ed Davis, like you said, couldn’t even take UNC to the Dance, so yeah. Ed Davis is an idiot for not staying in school.

A couple more points.
Being a Horns fan, I was suprised to see Avery Bradley’s name being banded about. Have you guys actually seen him play or are you just relying on what some guy wrote on the internet? Avery is 6"2, which is just barely a 2 in college, and a 1 in the league, though he does have mad hops. First of all his ball-handling is average at best. His free-shooting was like 45%, which is incredibly crap for a guard. He can play defense but only when he wants to, but his height will limit who he can guard at the pro level. He can’t create his own shot. He can score, but is not consistent. It seems he’s another player going by his HS rep; he can carry the team one night, and he’s invisible the next. In all honesty, he’s got all the athleticism in the world, but I don’t think his game in NBA ready. He shoud have gone back to school, and at this stage I don’t see him able to contribute much to a pro team. If you want to pick a Longhorn, I’d go with Damion James, though he doesn’t seem to be getting much love for some reason.

Second, all of you that want to trade down for multiple first rounders, forget it. If we had a top 5 pick, then yeah, maybe. But at the #10 pick, the talent isn’t good enough(unless of course someone amazingly falls down to us ala Jeryd bayless), to give up multiple first rounders, and if by chance John Wall breaks both arms and both legs, and falls down to us at 10, then we should take him at 10, rather than trading down. No-one would be stupid enough to trade the #16 and #23 for the 10th pick in this years draft. Forget about trading up either, unless we’re planning to give up Danny/Roy. Unfortunately TJ Ford and Troy Murphy doesn’t make any GM’s heart flutter.

Reaching for a PG in this weak PG draft is a big mistake. If Ekpe Udoh is there, I’d take him over Bledsoe or whoever else we might reach for. That cocky guy from Maryland kinda intrigues me if he’s there in the second round though. Getting a bust at PG does nothing for his franchise. But getting a guy like Udoh can help in the development of Roy, who won’t be in foul trouble, from making awkward challenges, because Murph let’s his guy drive right past him. We can start building some frontcourt chemistry. There’s a lot of reasons why we could and should go for a PF with upside, rather than reach for a PG.

In conclusion, I’d like to draft Udoh. Part of that is also that I’d love to see EJ in the blue and gold, after his rookie contract is up with the Clips. The guy can drive to the rim, shoot from the outside, and has great on-ball defense. Plus he’ll put bums on seats and sell jerseys. But if we draft Henry, we probably won’t get to see EJ in the blue and gold. I know I shouldn’t play favorites and all, but that’s why I’m a fan, and not the GM.

Eric Gordan and Ekpe Udoh combo,I like the sound of that.

I still hope the Pacers can move some expirings and also trade down.

I’m starting to like the idea of Paul George and maybe sliding Granger to SG or vice versa. Armon Johnson is intriguing too. Ekpe Udoh would be nice as well as Larry Sanders.

A guy like Lance Stephenson could be a high risk/high reward.

I think there is a lot of value by trading down at this point.

According to ESPN’s Chad Ford, a few players stood out during the combine. Two in particular, were Eric Bledsoe and Xavier Henry. Here’s what Ford had to say about Bledsoe:

Kentucky’s Eric Bledsoe also got a lot of love. He too was shooting well and, when paired with the other top point guards in the draft, looked like the best athlete on the floor.

Ford was impressed with Henry’s character. He said he had one of the better interviews at the Chicago combine.

I have a feeling both will be rising the draft boards once individual workouts begin. Bledsoe could become a good fit at pick #10 instead of a reach – where he currently stands.