This is my first "fan post" so I appreciate your patience.

Like all most of you, I am a huge fan of the NBA and specifically the Indiana Pacers.   However this is a superstar driven league and the Pacers seem to be caught in the wash.  There is certainly talent on the roster but our top 8 is not noticeably different from some of the bottom feeders in the league.  Which got me to thinking: of the top players in the NBA, which ones did the Pacers actually have a chance at drafting?  I firmly believe that you need top 10 talent (drafted) in order to compete with the elite.  So I finally decided to look it up.  I used this post for this debatable list of the top 30 players in the NBA right now.  I have put where they were drafted and where the Pacers selected in that respective draft.

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1.     LaMarcus Aldridge 2006 2 (17)

2.    Tony Parker 2001 28 (Pacers, 27 – Tinsley)

3.     Joakim Noah 2007 9 (none)

4.     Zach Randolph 2001 19 (none)

5.     Kevin Martin 2004 26 (Pacers 29, Harrison)

6.     Kevin Garnett 1995 5 (Pacers 23 – Travis Best)

7.    Paul Millsap 2006, second round 46 (17 – S. Williams, 31 – J. White)

8.     Raymond Felton 2005 5 (Pacers 17, Granger)

9.     Josh Smith 2004 17 (29)

10. Chris Bosh 2003 3 (none)

11. Steve Nash 1996 15 (10 – Erick Dampier)

12. Al Horford 2007 3 (none)

13. Eric Gordon 2008 7 (11 – Bayless)

14. Blake Griffin 2009, first overall (13 – Tyler)

15. Manu Ginobili 1999 57 (26 – Cummings for Foster)

16. Russell Westbroook 2008 4 (11)

17. Deron Williams 2005 3 (17)

18. Derrick Rose 2008, first overall (11 – Bayless)

19. Kobe Bryant 1996 13 (Pacers 10)

20. Monta Ellis 2005 second round 40 (Pacers 17)

21. Dwyane Wade 2003 5 (none)

22. Rudy Gay 2006 8 (17)

23. Pau Gasol 2001 3 (none)

24. Kevin Durant 2007 2 (none)

25. Amar’e Stoudemire 2002 9 (14, Fred Jones)

26. Dwight Howard 2004 1 (29)

27. Chris Paul 2005 4 (17)

28. Dirk Nowitzki 1998 9 (25 – Harrington)

29. LeBron James 2003 1 (none)

30. Kevin Love 2008 5 (11)

What jumps out to me most is that if you remove the second round picks (Millsap, Ginobili, Ellis) the only players that the Pacers actually had a chance at drafting were Parker, Nash and Bryant.  The Parker pick was pseudo-defendible at the time but of course indefensible at the time.  The Nash/Bryant draft occurred 14 years ago and the draft "strategy" was much different then.  If you want to look at the second rounders you have to point out that they are not even the best players on their respective teams (Williams, Duncan, Curry).

So what does this all mean?  Well the Pacers do have talent but they need to either commit to developing it (hello Paul George) or trade for picks.  As another post mentioned, this is a young team overall and it would be best served by playing it.  I can't stand another season of fighting for .500 only to watch lesser teams draft more talented players.  

All I want is hope.