Oj Mayo to the Pacers

[Wizop]

Morway is on JMV 1070 right now explaining it.

the interview is online as a podcase. http://www.1070thefan.com

basically he said that Memphis went public with a deal that was never final. I'm not clear on the 3:00 business but one report said we were in a queue. Morway says you call before 3:00, all teams tell the league you have a deal, and you get put into a queue for a call back and the deal is not final until you have a lengthy conversation with the league on the second call. while he is vague in his interview about the timing, he's 100% crystal clear in saying New Orleans backed out within minutes and long before the second call.

[lilojmayo]

I am perfectly fine with the deal not going through. I love Mayo's piotential, but enjoy watching our current roster compete night in and night out. We have a great group of players that hustle and over-acheive.

I am ready to see what Lance brings to the table. The longer we wait, the hungrier he will get. Hope he brings the desire to earn a spot once he has an opportunity. He may be as good, and a better fit for this rater than Mayo would have been.

We have played great basketball the last 3 weeks and all the while our best player is still trying to figure out his role. Granger has played pretty poorly (by his standards) over the last several games and we are still winning.

Indiana Pacers president Larry Bird said Friday the team's deal to acquire O.J. Mayo from Memphis fell apart when it was pulled from them two minutes before Thursday's 3 p.m. trading deadline.

"I was on the phone with Memphis. We had a deal with five minutes to go. At two minutes, they pulled the deal, and it didn't happen," Bird said, referring to the 3 p.m. deadline set by the NBA.

"We move on. We had plenty of opportunity to do other deals, but I didn't think it would improve our team. So what we do is wait until the summer. Our plan has always been to take advantage of what we have


http://www.indystar.com/article/2011022 ... xt|Fever|s


First i'd like to say that the Pacers have impressed me this year. They are a lot better than I thought they would be. I had them in the same tier as the Twolves,Kings's of the world before the season and was proven wrong. Last time I checked though they are still 5 games below .500, although playing a lot better of late.

However, Larry Bird said it the best from the quote above your getting a lot better getting OJ Mayo then not getting him. Which is why he said Grizz pulled out at the last minute, which reasonable seems to mke the most sense. OJ doesn't even play for the Grizz sees 20 minutes a night off the bench and still would be the 2nd leading scorer on the Pacers right now behind Granger.

And stop it, Lance Stephenson is a favorite of mine and I believe he will be borderlline all-star in his prime if he ever sees minutes, but he is no OJ Mayo, at least not in the game of basketball

[lilojmayo]

For me, this one falls under "Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don't make."

I think the Pacers could really use someone with Mayo's skill set. And Mayo is very skilled, and the price for him was pretty low.

But...as others have said, he has been trouble everywhere he's been. Most likely, he'd be trouble in Indiana too.

If the Pacers were further along in their development, I'd say take the risk and bring him in. But the Pacers, even with Mayo, would still be years away from being a serious contender. I think that's just too long to be playing around with a time bomb.

I do hope this near-trade shows us that a legit two guard is high on the front office's shopping list. Maybe they will get something done about it this summer.

You never know maybe Larry talks again with Heisley about getting OJ again during draft day. I wouldn't mind seeing OJ in a Pacer jersey, back in the Midwest where his career all began, wouldn't mind it one bit.

Obviously, you aren't going to be a serious contender right now getting a 23 year old OJ Mayo who would be the 3rd youngest player on this roster only older than George and Lance. But it will be a step in the right direction. Especially if Lance and/or George could ever develop, if OJ could develop his PG skills to see PG time when Collison is resting. Then you have Granger who is a proven scorer in the league a big in Hibbert. All you really need is big time finisher at the PF spot and just hope you can resign your players.

[lilojmayo]

Kravitz is an idiot and a hypocrite. In his column in the STAR, he pans the Pacers for not bringing in Mayo. He calls adding Mayo to the roster a "minimal risk" with a potentially enormous return who could have gotten his act together in Indy.

"Minimal risk?" Mayo has been nothing but trouble everywhere he's been. I can only imagine with horror what he might do to this nicely developing young team.

There will be some team somewhere stupid enough to take a chance on Mayo because he's sooooo talented. The history of the NBA and sports in general is littered with the stinking remains of scumbags whose talent not only was ruined by stupidity, but who took teams down with them. Sometimes talent just isn't enough to outweigh the baggage, and Mayo has a a ton of baggage. Jamaal Tinsley anyone?

Kravitz--The STAR's resident doomsayer-is a hypocrite, because if Mayo had joined the team and turned out to be a cancer--as it is almost inevitable he would have--he would have been the first to lambaste Bird and Morway.

It's alright to have a resident skeptic and critic to keep a franchise on its toes. But all Kravitz does is criticize, in this case, IMO wrongly.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuNAfIRI5A&feature=related[/youtube]

OJ is a trouble maker, even I can deny that. He has been trouble where ever he has been, and honestly I can see a scenario where he comes and suddenly becomes bff with Lance Stephenson. Which again= trouble.

You said it there will be a team that will take a chance on OJ's talents and make him the 1st or 2nd option with big minutes where ever he gets traded to this off season. OJ is going to reward that team and its fans big time. There has only been 4 active players during their rookie season's to score 1,000 points before the all-star game Shaq, LeBron, Griffin, and Mayo (20.8 ppg at the time) . That is quite some company.

Why not it be your team, and I think Larry BIrd knows this and will revisit the possibility of it this off season.

[Boneman2]

And stop it, Lance Stephenson is a favorite of mine and I believe he will be borderlline all-star in his prime if he ever sees minutes, but he is no OJ Mayo, at least not in the game of basketball

Lilojmayo, In this video OJ was either a junior or senior in high school, when he went head-to-head with an eighth grader named Lance, hence " Born Ready".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOAyUMH2Tng

[paulgeorge24]

After sifting through the posts in this thread, there is one huge thing you guys are missing in regards to Mayo. I've read a bunch of posts saying that he would be too big of a risk for our team when in reality, it was a very small risk.
Firstly, Mayo is still on a rookie deal, getting paid roughly 4 million this season with a TEAM OPTION for next season at a slightly higher rate. If he disappointed us in any fashion, we would have no problems getting rid of him without affecting our cap situation this summer.
Secondly, from what I have read on this board, most of you guys like Hansbrough getting most of the minutes at the 4. By moving Mcbob, you would free up more minutes for Tyler at the 4 while adding a low-risk high reward guy in Mayo.
Also for what it's worth, Morway said they do very advanced analyses and interviews about a player to decide whether or not the player is worth the risk/the chances of a problem.

On a slightly unrelated note in regards to "Why do we need Mayo if George is our 2 of the future?", I think that maybe we view George as more of a 3, someone else mentioned a small lineup with Granger at the 4.

Food for thought. If Bird really does like him, I wouldn't be surprised to see us take a stab again before/on draft day.

[Miller4ever]

Welcome to the boards. Off to a great start.

I tend to agree with you, but I was very on the fence about the deal.

[paulgeorge24]

Welcome to the boards. Off to a great start.

I tend to agree with you, but I was very on the fence about the deal.

Thank you. I was on the fence until I found that his contract allowed this to be a lower-risk than I initially thought. The fact that it didnt get done didnt upset me that much either because of how PG has played recently or at least until last night vs Utah, where everyone played poorly.

[captaincrunk]

^We were geting a 1st back. And you can't really count McRoberts as an asset unless you are talking about his expiring. We would have gotten a big in return to replace him.

No, I'm pretty sure it was giving up a first.

New Orleans was sending a 1st back to Indiana.

Someone would be giving memphis a first, that much is clear.

[captaincrunk]

Uhh....yes. Also, again, what does his dad have to do w/ him?

Uh... Right. Fathers have no relation whatsoever to their children. Ok.

[PR07]

I like McRoberts as much as the next guy, but if the Pacers wanted him bad enough, they could've just signed him back in the offseason.

It was a low risk move to acquire Mayo, and there's no question he has talent. For a team that doesn't have many players who can regularly create their own shot, he would've helped.

[Starkiller]

Uhh....yes. Also, again, what does his dad have to do w/ him?

Uh... Right. Fathers have no relation whatsoever to their children. Ok.

His parents are Alisa Mayo and Kenneth Maurice Ziegler. Mayo did not live with his father while growing up. Ziegler was charged on December 23, 2010 with attempted murder after he hit a police officer with his car in Huntington, West Virginia

Thanks for playing.

[lilojmayo]

I like McRoberts as much as the next guy, but if the Pacers wanted him bad enough, they could've just signed him back in the offseason.

It was a low risk move to acquire Mayo, and there's no question he has talent. For a team that doesn't have many players who can regularly create their own shot, he would've helped.

Not only that, but to add on, what is making the Grizzlies so dangerous now all the fans are saying it is how they have OJ Mayo coming off the bench. We are all calling him the X-Factor, teams that don't have a Jamal Crawford, Manu Ginobili, Jason Terry, and now OJ Mayo coming off the bench where you know they will give you double figures in points off the bench it is such a luxury.

OJ since he returned from suspension has played some really good basketball for his 6th man role. His FG% has been horrible, even I can't defend it, but he is starting to hit his 3 ball now went 3-7 from that range last game. Had 6 assists off the bench two games ago. And has really picked it up defensively, it has even shocked me it seems that Tony Allen has rubbed off of OJ. OJ had 4 steals last game and 3 steals the previous game in just 23 minutes of action.

I really do think Larry Bird will try to make a run at OJ again this off season. And for you guys that are saying Paul George is the SG of the future. I say why not develop OJ at the PG slot? Darren Collison let's be honest is just a solid PG, he does take care of the ball well. But is relatively small.
Pacers play a slow pace why not try to use OJ's height and size as an advantage and develop him similarly to a guy like Chauncey Billups or Gilbert Arenas

PG: OJ Mayo 6'4
SG: Paul George 6'8
SF: Danny Grange 6'8

All are athletic and can shoot the 3 ball. It is called matchup problem for the other teams

[Miller4ever]

I know that you don't watch our team because you said we play at a slow pace.

[Scoot McGroot]

I like McRoberts as much as the next guy, but if the Pacers wanted him bad enough, they could've just signed him back in the offseason.

It was a low risk move to acquire Mayo, and there's no question he has talent. For a team that doesn't have many players who can regularly create their own shot, he would've helped.

Not only that, but to add on, what is making the Grizzlies so dangerous now all the fans are saying it is how they have OJ Mayo coming off the bench. We are all calling him the X-Factor, teams that don't have a Jamal Crawford, Manu Ginobili, Jason Terry, and now OJ Mayo coming off the bench where you know they will give you double figures in points off the bench it is such a luxury.

OJ since he returned from suspension has played some really good basketball for his 6th man role. His FG% has been horrible, even I can't defend it, but he is starting to hit his 3 ball now went 3-7 from that range last game. Had 6 assists off the bench two games ago. And has really picked it up defensively, it has even shocked me it seems that Tony Allen has rubbed off of OJ. OJ had 4 steals last game and 3 steals the previous game in just 23 minutes of action.

I really do think Larry Bird will try to make a run at OJ again this off season. And for you guys that are saying Paul George is the SG of the future. I say why not develop OJ at the PG slot? Darren Collison let's be honest is just a solid PG, he does take care of the ball well. But is relatively small.
Pacers play a slow pace why not try to use OJ's height and size as an advantage and develop him similarly to a guy like Chauncey Billups or Gilbert Arenas

PG: OJ Mayo 6'4
SG: Paul George 6'8
SF: Danny Grange 6'8

All are athletic and can shoot the 3 ball. It is called matchup problem for the other teams

Um....no. Collison is a PG. We like that. We don't need a SG to chew up minutes at the PG spot and not actually distribute the ball. Besides, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas, and OJ Mayo are all 3 VERY different types of players. Not really any similarity amongst them.

[Wizop]

the hope is that Lance will develop into the combo guard that can play when Collison's size is an issue. not sure how Price fits in the long run. he sure did a whale of a job against Nash today.

[JeffFosters]

Um....no. Collison is a PG. We like that. We don't need a SG to chew up minutes at the PG spot and not actually distribute the ball. Besides, Chauncey Billups, Gilbert Arenas, and OJ Mayo are all 3 VERY different types of players. Not really any similarity amongst them.

Agreed. Collison is the point for the future and should be. So where did Mayo fit in? I know Rush was leaving, so Mayo would've started for the rest of season (and playoffs). But after that? Where does George play? If he is as good as we all think he is, he'll need to start within 1-2 seasons. And if the 2 is covered, then George is a 3, and so what about DG?

I think the pursuit of Mayo says a lot about Bird's view of the future for this team; one which may not have included DG.

[Indy2thaWindy]

I don't think Collison will be that good. I wanted Lawson before we got Collison and I still do. DC just makes bad decisions on the floor. He's not even a good passer. He's a really good scorer. One of the best at his position, but is that what we want? I don't know. All this recent losing is gettin to me.

I wanted the OJ trade to go through. Why couldn't Larry set the deal up 20 minutes earlier? I know it's not his fault it didn't get done.

And I saw people saying they are glad this trade fell through. Why? McRoberts ain't nothing special. He never will be.

[Wizop]

20 minutes wouldn't have mattered. NO backed out. no way we can trade McRoberts to Memphis without getting a big man back from NO or elsewhere. if fact, deal probably didn't match salaries without second part.