In Larry Bird's press conference today, the Indiana Pacers president denied rumors reported earlier in the day that the Pacers were interested in dealing Roy Hibbert and their top pick to Minnesota for the second overall pick.
"We're not doing that," Bird said flatly when asked about the specific deal with Minnesota.
Considering he was referencing the rumored deal, that comment doesn't mean Hibbert is untouchable and Bird admitted later that no one on the roster is untouchable, but he does like his core group of players .
"I'm not interested in trading Roy," Bird said. "Roy is one of our core group guys."
Of course, any pre-draft trade denials bring back memories of Bird going out of his way to rib Mike Wells about having an erroneous report about the Jermaine O'Neal trade, which of course went through about as Wells reported on draft night. That's why these pre-draft pressers are for entertainment purposes only.
As you might imagine, Bird said he's more interested in drafting the best player available as opposed to a specific position. The needs are plenty so the best player will find a role regardless of what talents they bring to South Pennsylvania Street.