Last night was the NBA Draft and I had a lot of anxiety/excitement built up in anticipation of what the Pacers might do with the 13th and 52nd picks in the draft. And....well, let's just say that I am less than pleased.
|
Before I get too far into my hatred for Larry Bird, I'll say that I like Tyler Hansbrough and I think he will be a decent player, BUT there were so many other players to be picked with the 13th pick in the draft. If anything, we could have traded back and still taken Hansbrough.
Now, commence Larry Bird hate...Larry Bird doesn't have a clue as to what he is doing in the front office and he has made that abundantly clear. Since LB has been in the front office, we have drafted the following players:
2003
James Jones (2nd round - 49th pick) - Solid role player - plays for Miami Heat.
2004
David Harrison (1st round - 29th pick) - Big body, that is about it - plays for Beijing Ducks.
Rashad Wright (2nd round - 59th pick) - Never made the team - played in Germany last season.
2005
Danny Granger (1st round - 17th pick) - Franchise player for Pacers.
Erazem Lorbek (2nd round - 46th pick) - Went overseas, Pacers still have his rights - plays for CSKA Moscow.
2006
Shawne Williams (1st round - 17th pick) - Never got to see his full potential - plays for Dallas Mavericks.
Alexander Johnson (2nd round - 45th pick) - Traded on draft night for James White (signed with Houston at the end of this season) - plays for Brose Baskets in the Basketball Bundesliga
2007
NO PICKS
2008
Jerryd Bayless (1st round - 11th pick) - Traded to Portland on draft night for Brandon Rush (13th pick) and Jarrett Jack - was a reserve in his rookie season.
Nathan Jawai (2nd round - 41st pick) - Traded to Toronto with Jermaine O'Neal for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, Roy Hibbert (17th pick), and Maceo Baston - was a reserves in his rookie season.
2009
Tyler Hansbrough (1st round - 13th pick) - I like Hansbrough's game and I like his hustle, but he wasn't what the Pacers needed at 13.
AJ Price (2nd round - 52nd pick) - Got in trouble for stealing computers on campus his sophomore year of school. Three felony larceny charges and lying to police. That is a great character pick there Larry!
So, looking at all of these picks since Larry has been in the front office, only one is still with the team (minus last night's selections) and that person is Danny Granger. That isn't exactly how you build a team. You can't just hope to strike gold once every six or seven years.
Larry Bird needs to be fired...for real
I can say this: I'M NOT BUYING SEASON TICKETS NOW. I'll still root for the Pacers, but I'm not going to give them my money now. I won't give them any money until Larry Bird is out of the Pacers' front office. Let David Morway and crew do their job.
Comments
Where exactly did I write that "I think we should be getting a future all-star from every draft"?
If you want to have a successful team and really build something, then you have to be able to draft well, which is something the Pacers haven't done in quite a while. Yes, they traded Bayless for Rush, but to say that he was "hugely" better is not an accurate statement. Bayless was buried under quite a few players in that backcourt, where as Rush had the opportunity to play a lot of minutes. Bayless would have had that same opportunity for the Pacers and Rush would have been buried on the bench if he was in Portland, so again, you statement is not accurate.
We got Roy Hibbert out of the Jermaine O'Neal trade as a draft pick and his rookie season was sort of confusing. Jim O'Brien would start him, but most games he played 10 minutes or less. I recently saw him out and about and he looks a lot skinnier than last season, so I will wait to see what he does this year before I make a judgement on him.
Take a look at some of the most successful teams in the NBA and you'll see that most of their success comes from drafting good players. The Spurs are probably the best at this in the NBA. Teams also use free agency/trades to improve their positions, but in order to build, you have to assets, which the Pacers don't really have any of. Would you really trade a superstar from your team for anyone on the Pacers, besides Granger?
Also, where did I write Hansbrough off? I said I liked his game and that I thought he would be a decent player. I also said that they could have traded back to take him a little later in the draft. Trading back helps acquire more assets, which - as you know - helps build a winning franchise.
So I'm sitting at a golf outing on Friday in Columbus, IN and I'm wearing my Cubs hat. This guy comes up to me and says, "Geez, even you guys have a better chance of winning a championship before us now that we drafted Hansbrough"
I don't really see what your problem is with these draft picks. We've got one amazing player in Granger, one complete bust in Williams, and so far the trades last year have worked out in our favor. Everyone that the trading Bayless last year was dumb, but so far Rush has been hugely better. The trade with Toronto has also worked great for us, if for no other reason than it got rid of O'Neal's contract. How well Hansbrough will do remains to be seen. I don't understand the rush to write him off before he even plays a game. You seem to think we should be getting a future all-star from every draft and that just doesn't happen.