Can we trade up?

[FreeRon]

If we let the guys expire, I'll agree. If we trade them for longer contracts, I'd say there's not a whole lot to be optimistic about. I know expiring deals are valuable, but if a player is worth his contract his team is generally not going to trade him. I can't think of a single deal for any of our expirings that makes sense for both teams.

[Scoot McGroot]

Am I the only optimist here?

Hey, the kids are playing well, since Obie finally developed the sense to play them. I'm liking what I see.

People tend to forget before he got his problem, Hansborough had some nice games.

I think Hibbert/Granger/Hansborough/McRoberts/Rush/Price is a pretty nice young core, with the jury out on Solo.

I think we'll pick up a couple of decent players in the draft. Price is an example that that can be done if you know what you're doing.

We'll have a ton of cap space next year. I think we're on course to be pretty good in a couple of years.

Last year, no.

This year, eh.

This is exactly the same way we finished last year. Hibbert and Rush were played, and they played well. But, how did we fare the next season? Oh wait, that's this season.

Things are looking up. We're accumulating talent. We've got some decent guys. We're a breath away from wiping away our contract/talent mistakes over the years. We're almost there. Just, a top 5 guy would've been nicer than a 9-12 type guy.

[MNPacersfan]

When Rondo worked out in Minnesota I thought he was the best PG prospect out there. It took him about 3 plays to learn his bigs. It was incredible. His instincts as a PG are under-rated. Now once he learned how to drive the lane his passing skills really started to shine. Just look at his assist numbers this season. He's really grown into a top PG. Legitimately.
If he had lesser players around him, he may have developed his scoring abilities even sooner just out of team need.
No matter the teammates, he was going to shine.

[ardthomp]

With where we are positioned to pick now, I would like to see Greg Monroe, Patrick Patterson, or Ekpe Udoh come to Indy.

That would give us Hibbert/Udoh/Hansbrough down low. I think that is a nice start there. Look at what Houston did with Landry and Chuck Hayes. I see a lot of similarities with Udoh/Hansbrough.

I know Udoh is taller than Landry, but he could be quite a bit more effective on the D end with his shot blocking capabilities.

[n_s_s31]

I know I would love for us to take Udoh

[Grang33r]

I know I would love for us to take Udoh

During march madness, i heard a great comparison about Udoh.... Solomon Jones.

He had a decent tournament but he never dominated anything and missed a lot of easy shots. Missing the easy shots downlow in the NBA and he won't get a 2nd or 3rd chance, he'll be sitting on the bench.

[mizzoupacers]

^ Yes, I think Solomon Jones is a good comparison...without looking it up, I think that Jones and Udoh put up similar numbers in their last college seasons, at a similar level of competition (Big East vs. Big 12).

Having watched him play in the Big 12, I think Udoh will be a backup in the NBA. Not really what I'm hoping to see the Pacers get at #10.

[Miller4ever]

I think Udoh has an edge in IQ over Solo. I'd still like to look at PG's.

[Boneman2]

Trade-out, for talent

[Scoot McGroot]

Trade-out, for talent

Yeah, this is definitely the point to offer that Ford/#10 for Devin Harris type deal.

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

I'm not really seeing the Solo comparison for Udoh. He's a much better passer, play-maker, more athletic, more agile, better vision, and better offensive player and he's still improving that area. Solo's offense is limited to hitting the 5-10 ft jumper and gimme's around the basket. Udoh can face up, put the ball on the floor, he has post moves, can finish with either hand, and he can extend out and hit a three on occasion. I think the only comparable attribute is that they both block shots well.

Udoh reminds me more of Lamar Odom.

[mizzoupacers]

He can hit the three on very rare occasion. Like once every five games or so (he made seven 3s total this year). And his pct. on them was abysmal. Basically, he has no business shooting the ball from out there.

OK, Udoh is probably better coming out of college than Jones was--Jones was a late-second-round pick after all. But Lamar Odom? I really, really can't see it. The games I saw Udoh play, he didn't show me much offensive ability. Baylor's guards did most of the scoring; he kicked passes back out to them, and got his points from going after rebounds. Nothing wrong with that, but it sure didn't remind me of Lamar Odom.

I see, though, that some scouting reports (like DraftExpress) laud his footwork, shooting, ballhandling, etc. Again, I didn't see too much of that in the ten or so games I watched Udoh play last year. But hey, the DraftExpress guys may have seen him play more often than I have, and they're probably smarter than I am to begin with.

[Miller4ever]

Lamar Odom's offense isn't really that good...

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

He can hit the three on very rare occasion. Like once every five games or so (he made seven 3s total this year). And his pct. on them was abysmal. Basically, he has no business shooting the ball from out there.

OK, Udoh is probably better coming out of college than Jones was--Jones was a late-second-round pick after all. But Lamar Odom? I really, really can't see it. The games I saw Udoh play, he didn't show me much offensive ability. Baylor's guards did most of the scoring; he kicked passes back out to them, and got his points from going after rebounds. Nothing wrong with that, but it sure didn't remind me of Lamar Odom.

I see, though, that some scouting reports (like DraftExpress) laud his footwork, shooting, ballhandling, etc. Again, I didn't see too much of that in the ten or so games I watched Udoh play last year. But hey, the DraftExpress guys may have seen him play more often than I have, and they're probably smarter than I am to begin with.

Yes. On occasion.

Dunn is a scoring machine and Tweety gets his too so they didn't run much for Udoh, but when he had the ball he showed the ability to make plays. I think other than Monroe, he's the best passing big man in this draft. Pair him with Hibbert and you have the best passing bigs in the NBA. Earlier in the season, he didn't have much of an offensive game but as the season progressed he continued to improve. In the tournament, he showed a face-up game and hit jumper after jumper.

The Lamar Odom comparison is mainly because of his athleticism, play-making ability, vision, ability to finish with either hand, ballhandling, passing, ability to take the defender off the dribble, and his improving shot - right now it extends to mid-range consistently, but he's a hard worker, I have no doubt he can extend it to the three consistently if that's what JOB wants.

Basically what we're looking at is a 6'10 240 big man who you could put in isolation situations, give him the ball, spread the floor with Granger and Rush, and let him either take his man off the dribble, make the pass to the cutter, face-up for the mid-range jumper, or back his man down and go to a post move. And that's only on offense. On defense he's an excellent shot blocker, exactly what you need next to Roy. An excellent rebounder, another thing Roy doesn't excel at that Udoh could help him with. Good basketball IQ. Good work ethic.

The biggest knock on him is his age. He'll be 23 next season, but I see no reason why he can't continue improving. Roy's 23, Price is 23, Tyler's 24, and Rush is 24. He'll fit right in with the core we are building around.

All aboard the Udoh bandwagon!

[mizzoupacers]

Your enthusiasm might very well convince me to hop on the bandwagon by draft night.

I guess I see him purely as a center, someone who would struggle if he had to guard the NBA's mobile power forwards and would have difficulty coexisting with Hibbert on offense. But I could be wrong, and I'm intrigued that you see him as a frontcourt complement to Roy, because the Pacers could use one of those. I'll follow Udoh's draft preparations with renewed interest now.

[Miller4ever]

Udoh! Udoh! Udoh!

If we draft him we have to make some moves at PF. We'll be stuck with Tyler, McBob, Solo (if we re-sign him) Murphy, Udoh, and sometimes Foster. At least some of these guys can play some minutes at C.

[Kuq_e_Zi91]

Udoh! Udoh! Udoh!

If we draft him we have to make some moves at PF. We'll be stuck with Tyler, McBob, Solo (if we re-sign him) Murphy, Udoh, and sometimes Foster. At least some of these guys can play some minutes at C.

Yeah, this is definitely true. This is a reason why I wasn't a fan of going PF in a PG heavy draft, because we could have grabbed Jrue or Lawson and easily picked up a PF this draft. I think back to that silly DUI Lawson picked up before the draft. Bird was reportedly looking at him strongly, but I'm not sure if he had him higher than Hansbrough.

On a related note, I'm honestly concerned about Tyler's injury. It's the kind of injury that sticks with you and I believe there was a case in MLB where it ended someone's career. We haven't heard anything from the Pacers stating they expect him to be back next season. We haven't even heard that he is able to work out and get in the gym. For a guy that relies on his motor, his conditioning is taking a hit right now. He's a long time away from basketball related activities and he's going to have one hell of a road back. Tyler's a tough guy, but I think that might end up being a disadvantage. He only knows how to go one speed, all out. After multiple concussions he's going to be more prone to another concussion, not to mention the damage the ear infection did to his balance. Sometimes you never get over that.

Also, ShamSports has Solo's contract guaranteed for next season. I think we signed him to a two-year deal last summer. For what reason, I don't know.

Hopefully we can move Murph and Foster this summer or before the deadline next season. We need to clear up some minutes for these young guys regardless of if Udoh ends up a Pacer.

[Scoot McGroot]

I don't think that Udoh's ability to face up and take Omar Samhan off the dribble means that Udoh can "isolate" in the NBA level. Omar Samhan is on a bit different level than a Kevin Garnett or, hell, even a Zach Randolph or Al Jefferson or even Troy Murphy NBA level player/defender.

[8305]

Good point but my interest in Udoh is driven more by his length and athleticism. I think the perfect complementary player to go with Hansbrough and HIbbert needs to be more shot blocker and defender than scorer.

All that said watching McRoberts lately makes me wonder if any of the 4's projecting to be available at pick 10 will be better players than Josh?