Lets have a civilized thread where each of us posts our top 4 or 5 players we would like to see the Pacers pick at #15.  I am really interested to see how opinions vary as it seems like we are all over the board here.  Name your players in order of preference and why you think the Pacers should pick them. Here's my take:

1.) Jimmer Freddette - Safest pick in the draft if he is there at 15.  He gives us legit scoring punch in the second unit and could be clutch in end of game situations.  Gives Lance more time to grow up before we come to depend on him for minutes at the point.

2.) Marshon Brooks - I love the offensive punch he would bring to the second unit.  PG and Brooks would make an awesome SG rotation for years to come.

3.) Chris Singleton - I like his size at the three spot and his defensive intensity in the second unit.  Let's face it, SOMEBODY on the second unit is going to have to try and impede LeBron James when Granger is resting.  I am not as high on him offensively though. 

4.) JaJaun Johnson - I like him because I am a Purdue homer, just to get that out of the way.  I think he can be an effective post up scorer against other bench players and he is very active on defense.  I think we are bringing back McRoberts, but we will still be thin in the frontcourt.  I consider this the alamo in terms of the Pacers draft choices though and i am seriously considering trading down if JJ is all that is left at 15.

I have read a number of quips and grumblings about the sub .500 Pacers having locked in a playoff spot.  There are many who think that they don't belong.  I myself generally subscribe to the theory that if you win less than half of your games you don't deserve in. 

I believe in this casethough, that this Pacers team, meaning this collection of players and this coach deserve their spot in the playoffs.  Look at the Pacers' above .500 record since Vogel took over.  I think that is a statistically significant sample of games and strengths of opponents.  I would even argue that if Vogel had taken over before the season that this team would be over .500 and may well have challenged for a higher seed.

We have wins against all of the top teams in the standings.  Sure we have been blown out a few times, and sure we have lost to weaker opponents, but the Pacers have showed they can compete with the big boys even on the road.  That combined with a theoretical +.500 record when you project the team's performance back to the beginning of the season and I believe Indy indeed  belongs in the bottom half of the Eastern Conference bracket.

One final note, regardless of how few games it takes the Bulls to eliminate us from the playoffs, this season is a remarkable success.  The front office has fixed the salary situation.  Some of our key younger players have grown up quite a bit.  We get to gain playoff experience, and we get the rights to the earliest draft pick of any playoff team.  I frankly doubt the Pacers could have asked for much better this year.  Congrats to the team, and I am looking forward to seeing at least a few NBA playoff games for the first time in years!

Let's face it, this season is over.  We may make a run and win a few games against softer opponents, but in large part we are now a lottery bound team.  Instead of another thread proposing wild trade ideas, or even proposing sensible ones, lets have a discussion about how to plug the biggest gap on the team.  That would be the soon to be vacant head coaching position.  One could make a sensible argument that it is already vacant.  Forget about chasing titles and moving up the Eastern Conference playoff ladder.  Lets try to figure out who we could bring in that would get the current roster to give 100% every night.

We know roster changes are coming.  We are not just going to let our expiring contracts vanish without recouping something.  It may only be an expiring contract to try and flip next year, but we will get something.  What I want is a coach who can turn a core of Collison, Granger, and Hibbert into a respectable basketball team.  Add Tyler and George to that core and we have talent.  Sure we need more, but it would be a waste with such a good young core and the wrong kind of coach.

Who is available.  Who would come to Indy to coach this team?  Should we pursue someone with an NBA coaching pedigree such as Woodson or Brown?  Should we try and go the ex-player route With someone like Mark Jackson?  A college coach?  What does the rest of the IC community think?

I have been stomping on trade ideas a bit recently, and I thought in good spirit I should put one up thre just to get my fair share of the punishment.  I put this one together after reading about the interest Denver might have in an Iggy centered package for Carmelo.

I firmly believe that our expirings other than possibly the Dampier contract are almost going to be necessary for a team to get Anthony out of Denver.  There are rumors swirling that Denver would consider a package where they got expirings and Iggy.  We need a power forward, and help at the 2 since we would be trading our opening day starter, 1 guy is suspended and on rails out of town, and we don't know if the other will be incarcerated.

So:

Philly would be the recipient of the Carmelo Anthony sweepstakes.

Denver would receive Iggy, and the expiring deals of Foster and Dunleavy.

Indy would receive Kenyon Martin and his 16M expiring deal, plus Evan Turner.

This doesn't free up a roster spot for Rolle, but I think we can do that either by cutting Stephenson or going through with the proposed trade out on hoops world by a Hawks fan that they would give us Crawford for TJ and Jones or Rush.  that one is all smoke as far as I can tell, but if Atlanta called that one in, it ought to be accepted hands down IMO.

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=2bdoojy

The numbers work, and the rumors swirling that that Denver would like Iggy, Philly would consider losing Turner and Iggy to get Anthony, and we have all the 2011 expiring deals actually makes this proposal about 5% realistic.

So our rotation would look like:

PG Collison / Price / Stephenson

SG  Crawford / Turner / (Jones or Rush)

SF Granger / Posey / George

PF Martin / PsychoT / Rolle

C Hibbert / McRoberts / Solo

Thoughts?

[From the FanPosts, thanks indycrr for posting the latest trade rumor involving the Pacers. Don't think it will be the last either. -TL]

Frank Isola reports on a rumored three-team deal out of New York that included athletic big man, Anthony Randolph going to the Indiana Pacers for a first round pick. 

Discuss...  I personally would have loved this trade for us.  If true it does show that Bird and Co are actively looking for a way to get a young athletic PF. I wonder what it would take to sweeten the pot for NY enough to do this. I don't suppose Lance Stephenson would do it. This kind of confirms my suspicions that since things were very quiret that something was probably in the works.

I spent a few minutes doing an honest gut check of what the Pacers might be able to do this year.  So many teams have changed drastically, and it makes it hard to guess wins and losses when so many of these new rosters are unknown quantities.  That being said I made a stab at it anyway.  Essentially I am predicting more of the same.  My projections show us at 37-45 which will likely be out of the playoffs, but with a nice shiny mid to late lottery pick.  I do think it will be a positive year though in some ways, as I believe we will learn what Rush, Hansbrough, George, and Stephenson are capable of looking forward.  We will probably go into the draft needing either a point guard or an athletic power forward.  Any of this sounding familiar?

Anyway here are my predictions against the various teams.  Feel free to nitpick.  I would be shocked if I am off by more than 3 wins though.