| Mixed Reviews On Draft Night Authored by Andrew Perna - June 27, 2008 - 6:44 pm
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Even with T.J. Ford expected to be in Indiana next season, the Pacers made a very easy decision by taking Jerryd Bayless with the 11th pick after he unexpectedly dropped further than most expected.
The situation seemed ideal for the point-starved Pacers. Let Ford and Bayless share the point while T.J. proves that he’s right for Jim O’Brien’s offense and Jerryd shows teams like the Sonics, Knicks and Clippers that they shouldn’t have passed on him.
Indiana could have then sold Tinsley to the highest bidder, even if the deal was incredibly one-sided, to completely remove him from the equation.
Instead, Bird and Morway decided to hand the Blazers the point guard that they so desperately needed in exchange for Brandon Rush (the 13th pick), Jarrett Jack and Josh McRoberts.
While adding Ike Diogu to the deal was a plus for the Pacers, why trade perhaps the fourth best prospect from this year’s draft class for a shooting guard, a point guard that’s worse than Tinsley and a hometown big man with little NBA experience?
Now Portland is looking like the team of the now, and future, while Indiana is looking around to check if anyone happened to see what they just did.
Picture your two-year old nephew after spilling an entire bowl of cereal. He’s trying to figure out who watched him do it, while at the same time hoping that no one did.
Meet my nephews, Larry and David.
If Bayless becomes an All-Star in Portland watch for falling objects, but the Pacers will look like prophets if Rush is able to outplay the newest Blazer.
However, the Pacers will have to figure out a way to give sufficient time to Rush, Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavy and Shawne Williams – not to mention Marquis Daniels and maybe even Kareem Rush (a free agent).
You can’t play Rush, Granger and Dunleavy all at once, because neither is big enough to play the four, or truly skilled enough to run the point.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Rush. He’s a very versatile player, but why grab a shooting guard when you have two wingmen worthy of playing more than thirty-five minutes a night?
Bayless would have given the Pacers a defensive point guard to mix and match with Ford, who’s quick but doesn’t have Jerryd’s physical strength or defensive prowess. He also would have provided Indiana with insurance in the event that Ford’s ever-present neck issues flared up, no matter how unlikely that may be.
This fall O’Brien will have to figure out how to spread ninety-six minutes between at least five good players. It’s not going to be an easy task, but here’s my stab at what the distribution might look like at the beginning of the season.
Minutes At The Two And/Or Three
Danny Granger – 34-38
Mke Dunleavy – 32-36
Brandon Rush – 14-18
Shawne Williams – 6-10
Marquis Daniels – 2-6
Granger and Dunleavy showed this past season that they deserve, and can handle, playing more than thirty-five minutes a night. While fifteen or so minutes isn’t too bad for a rookie like Rush, Williams clearly deserves more time on the floor. As does Daniels, no matter how badly he’s played in Indiana.
With that said, who knows if Williams or Daniels will even be in town later this summer. And you can’t forget the fact that Jack has played two-guard during his NBA tenure.
At the other backcourt slot you’ll have Ford and Tinsley, for the time-being, while Jack and Travis Diener battle for time.
While they have a glutton of options on the perimeter, taking a look into the paint could make even the most strong-willed person jittery with worry.
With O’Neal halfway to Canada, the Pacers will be featuring Troy Murphy, Jeff Foster, Rasho Nesterovic and apparently Roy Hibbert in the frontcourt. I’m not even going to mention the reported inclusion of Maceo Baston in the Toronto swap. Been there, done that.
Foster is great, but he’s not going to contribute offensively. Murphy can hit a jumper and rebound, but he’s not going to contribute defensively.
Nesterovic is well, he’s Rasho. Some nights he’ll surprise you with his shooting touch and respectable defense, and others he’ll remain firmly planted on the bench with an apathetic look on his face.
Baston won’t get any minutes, even if he lasts through training camp, so that leaves only Hibbert.
Like Rush, I’m not against Hibbert. It’s just that I feel there were a number of better fits for the Pacers when they whispered into Bryan Colangelo’s ear prior to the seventeenth pick. Like perhaps a more athletic, quicker post threat.
Roy is polished, and like Rush he’s NBA-ready, but I have doubts about how he’ll perform in this system. Indiana figures to run even more with Ford at the helm, and I’m not sure how quickly Hibbert will get down the court after collecting a rebound and passing the ball to start the offense.
The Pacers will likely feature Hibbert on offense a decent amount though, as they haven’t had a true center with his offensive abilities in quite some time. His touches will probably come when teams get back on defense quickly and prevent Indiana from starting their offense as early as they would like
It’s safe to say that as much as Indiana has changed in the last week, even more moves will be made before it’s all said and done this summer.
The future is beginning to look bright in Indiana for the first time in quite a while, but some will forever wonder how Bayless would have looked in blue-and-gold.
Andrew Perna is a Senior Writer for RealGM.com and watched Indiana’s draft decisions unfold live at the WaMu Theater on Thursday night. Feel free to e-mail him with comments or questions (Andrew.Perna@RealGM.com) at anytime. |
