Lebron James

[Crossova21]

He's the best in the East right now, so why don't we do what the Texans did when they drafted Mario Williams over Reggie Bush in an effort to slow Peyton Manning down. A point guard won't really help us in defending Lebron and there's no SG that can produce better than Rush, so I think we should draft Earl Clark.

He's about 40 lbs smaller than Lebron but he's two inches taller. Whenever we put Granger on him he gets in foul trouble so why not throw someone else at him. And imagine if Clark develops a jumper...we would be just like Orlando with Hibbert in the middle.

[cdash]

He's the best in the world right now, not just the East, lol.

I just kind of addressed this in the Draft Prospects thread, but I left some stuff out. To recap: I'm all about drafting Earl Clark at #13 if he is there.

One thing I forgot to mention is that we really aren't in a position to worry too much about LeBron. We aren't among the elite teams in the East, so we really just need to focus on getting better in general, not building our team to compete with LeBron and the Cavs.

I like the idea of Clark developing a jumper, but we still wouldn't be like Orlando. To start with, Hibbert is nowhere near the level of Dwight Howard, and he never will be. Howard bails them out on defense with his supreme athleticism and shot blocking ability. Hibbert just does not have that in him, physically. Orlando's small ball approach would get exposed in a big, big way if Howard wasn't the best rebounder on the planet. Hibbert is not a good rebounder, at all. For his size, he is actually a pretty crappy rebounder. We need our power forward to do more work on the glass than Orlando does. Even if we drafted Clark and he did develop a nice jumper, I still don't think he would be as good at stretching the floor as Lewis is. He is one of the best shooters in the game. We also don't have a point forward like Turkoglu on our roster. I love Granger, but I don't want him handling the ball and throwing lobs up to Hibbert.

[mizzoupacers]

Clark is probably the guy I'd like to see the Pacers get as well. I hope he's still there at #13. But he ain't no LeBron equalizer.

[cdash]

Clark is probably the guy I'd like to see the Pacers get as well. I hope he's still there at #13. But he ain't no LeBron equalizer.

Such a thing doesn't exist. And he's only going to get better.

[PR07]

I'd pass on Clark. He disappears for stretchers, and has serious focus issues.

If you want someone for defense on the wing, I'd go for Gerald Henderson.

[fienX420]

Since the athletic testing results, I've changed my mind on a lot of prospects. I would be OK with taking Clark at 13 or lower. I don't think he has a chance at impacting LeBron in a game, but he would have a decent shot at developing into our future PF. I guess the fact that he is compared to Odom should've convinced me earlier, since I think Odom would be the perfect fit in our front-court. But with Clark, we can bring him around while we continue to utilize Murphy.

[Crossova21]

I was just thinking that Clark (outside of T-Will) is the best defensive presence that will possibly be around when we pick and plays a position that we need help at. We need another shot-blocker and Clark is the closest thing available at #13

[xxSnEaKyPxx]

I'd pass on Clark. He disappears for stretchers, and has serious focus issues.

If you want someone for defense on the wing, I'd go for Gerald Henderson.

I'm not sure why everyone thinks he is a good defender. Every Duke/UNC game I watched, he struggled on defense. Not to mention, he is what, 6'4? LeBron's eyes would light up seeing him walk on the floor in an attempt to guard him.

Honestly, I think with Granger/Rush, we have one of the best defensive wing combo's in the NBA in the near future. Granger outplayed LeBron a few times, and if I recall held LeBron to like 12 points or something like that(of course Granger had like 6, but still).

[fienX420]

For comparison's sake, Clark is just about the same height as Emeka Okafor or Amare Stoudamire. He's also currently a very lean 228 lbs., so if he hits the weights, he should be just about ideal physically. Very skilled - needs to work on efficiency. He's quickly becoming my favorite non-PG prospect.

[count55]

Of course, the Texans are 1-5 against the Colts since drafting Mario Williams.

[PR07]

I'm not sure why everyone thinks he is a good defender. Every Duke/UNC game I watched, he struggled on defense. Not to mention, he is what, 6'4? LeBron's eyes would light up seeing him walk on the floor in an attempt to guard him.

Gerald Henderson is 6"5 (measured with shoes at the combine). Mickael Pietrus is 6"5.5 and played some of the best defense I've seen on LeBron to date. It's not an issue at all. As for Henderson's defense, he played some of the best perimeter defense I saw in college basketball this season. He'll get up on your body, has the quickness to slide his feet, and athletically can hang with anyone.

As count alluded to, this whole argument is kind of moot though. You build your team based on what you want to do, you ACT, you don't do the reacting to what other people are doing.

We aren't far along yet with this core, that we need to start worrying about who we can get to defend LeBron. That's kind of a luxury thing. We need to draft a player that can be another piece of a solid young foundation.

[count55]

We should draft Dwight Howard.

[mizzoupacers]

I'd pass on Clark. He disappears for stretchers, and has serious focus issues.

Same thing was true of Rush at Kansas.

I don't think we can get anyone at #13 who doesn't have a few question marks. I'm leaning toward Clark because if he's still around at our pick, he might very well be the most talented guy left in the draft, and at power forward no less, which in my opinion is the Pacers' position of greatest need. But that said, I'm not so sold on him that I'd be disappointed if we took Henderson or a promising pg instead.

[cdash]

^Agreed.

[PR07]

Rush was also a tough player defensively though. Clark has the tools to be a good defender, but I've yet to see anything "tough" about his game. Something the Pacers need.