Pacer Pre-Draft Workouts - includes final list as of 6/19

[greenway84]

A After spending several days at the NBA's predraft camp in Orlando, Fla., last week, Indiana Pacers officials will start working out potential draft picks at Conseco Fieldhouse later this week.

The Pacers have the 11th and 41st picks in the June 26 draft. Team officials have said they need to address the point guard and post positions, but they also haven't ruled out taking the best available player, regardless of position, when it's time for their pick.

The Pacers will bring in players who are projected around their picks, meaning players such as UCLA's Russell Westbrook and Kevin Love, Texas' D.J. Augustin and Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan likely will work out at the fieldhouse.

For more, please follow this link to get the rest of the article.



Edited thread title to keep this a general thread about any reports we see of who the Pacers are working out. - Scoot

Another edit by count55 on title

[mizzoupacers]

Key word: "likely." Wells is simply guessing here who the Pacers will bring in. Hey, I can guess as well as he can.

Pretty soon now we should start reading reports of who the Pacers actually have brought in for workouts. Those are the articles that I'm waiting to read.

[Wizop]

the Pacers have always been super secret about workouts but I hear that this year will be different and they are going to give the press some access.

[APerna]

It seems as though they will definitely bring in Lawson, I hope to get some news tomorrow.

[PR07]

I think I read somewhere that Koufos has a workout with us too, but I'm not positive on that.

[DannyGranger]

by bringing in guys like Westbrook, Love, Jordan, and Augustin; we can come to the conclusion that the Pacers are finally doing something right and addressing the PF/C and PG positions and not the swingman position like we have been doing for the past 3 years. Out of that group, I would love to get Kevin Love. I saw some of his clips on ESPN, and he looks ready! He can play with his back to the basket and he can also step back and shoot the mid range jumper

[Bucky O'Hare]

It seems as though they will definitely bring in Lawson, I hope to get some news tomorrow.

I'm fully on the Lawson bandwagon. I'd love to trade #41 & cash to a team looking to dump a late 1st rounder and pick him up. I think he's a much, much better bargain in the 20's than Augustin in the lottery.



They're both listed at 5'11", but Lawson is the much better athlete; bigger, stronger, faster, more explosive...etc.

I'd settle for a big man at #11 (Randolph, Love, Speights, Arthur Jordan) and Lawson in the 20's, via the above aforementioned moving up.

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

[quote="Bucky O'Hare"][/quote]
Couldn't agree more Bucky.

[PR07]

If we can acquire a late first round pick and acquire Ty Lawson, I'm all for it. However, his lack of true PG skills concerns me to invest any more. He may be an awesome athlete, but so is Marcus Banks. Lawson may have Augustin as an athlete, but where he doesn't have him is leading and running an offense.

[Bucky O'Hare]

If we can acquire a late first round pick and acquire Ty Lawson, I'm all for it. However, his lack of true PG skills concerns me to invest any more. He may be an awesome athlete, but so is Marcus Banks. Lawson may have Augustin as an athlete, but where he doesn't have him is leading and running an offense.

Huh? Are we talking about the same Ty Lawson?

Here are his strengths' and weakness' from Draft Express....

Strengths:

• Quickest player in college basketball?
• Strength
• Ball-handling skills
• Changing directions/Hesitation moves
• Pushing tempo
• Transition play
• Putting pressure on defense
• True point guard
• Court vision
• Unselfishness
• Passing on the move
• Assist to turnover ratio
• Creating his own shot
• Hands in passing lanes
• Ball-pressure
• Upside

Weaknesses:

• Size
• Perimeter shooting
• Off dribble shooting
• Mid-range game
• Defensive potential
• Leadership skills in clutch
• Experience/Consistency
• Decision making
• Finishing in traffic

[PR07]

Draftexpress can say whatever it wants. I've seen Lawson play numerous times. He's awesome in a fastbreak game, but I never came away that impressed with him in a half-court game. His A/TO ratio may be exceptional, but his decision making is questionable at times, and he has tendency to get wild. He's also never really seemed to be the leader on the floor that the PG position often requires.

[cdash]

If we dont get Augustin or Westbrook at #11, I'd just assume try and trade for an established point guard.

[greenway84]

If we dont get Augustin or Westbrook at #11, I'd just assume try and trade for an established point guard.

I agree. I might even go so far to say I would rather do that anyway and then pick a big with our #11. Two PGs I like and think would could obtain are Hinrich and Nelson. I mean Augustin is just going to turn out to be Nelson anyways. If we can do a Tinsley DIogu package for him I'm definatly down.

[mizzoupacers]

I honestly don't see too much difference between Augustin and Lawson. I think that if Lawson had not been hurt much of last season, he would be close to even with Augustin on most people's draft boards. As is, it already sounds like Lawson is moving up a bit based on what he did at the draft camp.

Mike Wells is now writing definitively that Augustin will be one of the players included in the Pacers' first workouts/evaluations.

link

Elsewhere on the Star's Web page Wells writes that Lawson told him he has a workout scheduled with the Pacers.

link

Still nothing definitive in there about Westbrook, Love, Jordan...just that the Pacers will be working out players "such as" them.

[Scoot McGroot]

Compliments of Mike Wells at the Indystar.com again.....

You can never say the Pacers didn't give players that went to high school or college in the state a chance to workout for them.

Butler's Mike Green and Notre Dame's Rob Kurz will work out with the Pacers at some point before the draft.

IUPUI guard George Hill, Western Kentucky's Courtney Lee and Xavier's Stanley Burrell, all Indianapolis high school players, are also expected to work out for the blue and gold. All those players are likely second round picks, if they get drafted at all.

The Pacers invited Eric Gordon and D.J. White to work out for them, but both players turned them down for different reasons.

Gordon is projected to be gone by the time the Pacers pick at No. 11 and White's people believe he'll already be off the board by the time Larry Bird and Co. pick at No. 41. White could end up working out for the Pacers at some point later.

I'll check back with you guys Wednesday after talking to the first group of players, which includes Texas' D.J. Augustin, working out for the Pacers.

http://blogs.indystar.com/pacersinsider ... ore_l.html

[count55]

Update 6/3/08

know it's not Wednesday yet, but I figured I'd drop in and give you another update on players expected to workout for your Pacers.

Georgetown's Roy Hibbert, Kansas' Darrell Arthur, UCLA's Russell Westbrook, Texas A&M's DeAndre Jordan, Memphis' Chris Douglas-Roberts and Louisville's David Padgett are all on the list of players the Pacers plan to work out. It's slipping my mind right now, but one of the Lopez brothers from Stanford is also scheduled to workout. Pacers officials are still trying to schedule a workout with UCLA's Kevin Love.

D.J. Augustin, Stanley Burrell, Jamar Butler, Sasha Kaun, Ty Lawson, Aleks Maric are scheduled to workout Wednesday.

[count55]

In looking at some of these local names, I could see George Hill getting a look at #41 (if we don't draft a PG at #11), and Stanley Burrell getting an invite if he's undrafted.

Hill looks intriguing, as he played very well in the Orlando pre-draft camp, exhibiting comfort at the point guard position. His combine results (taken for whatever they're worth) aren't too far off Derrick Rose's for height and BP. (No, I'm not comparing them as players...simply saying that there's doesn't seem to be a glaring physical deficiency that would limit Hill in the NBA.) On the whole, he's gotten a very positive buzz.

Burrell looks like an undersized, limited two, but he does appear to be able to play some defense. Given that we're going to have to fill some slots at the min, he might not be a bad candidate.

[mizzoupacers]

Mike Wells wrote

Chris Douglas-Roberts

Woo-Hoo!!!

Glad to see David Padgett in there too, I view him as a possible second-round steal.

[count55]

Mike Wells wrote

Chris Douglas-Roberts

Woo-Hoo!!!

Glad to see David Padgett in there too, I view him as a possible second-round steal.

I had originally intended to bold that and make some smart ass remark about how happy you'd be, but I forgot.

[mizzoupacers]

Well it's the thought that counts.