Pacers Summer League: Midpoint Report and CRAZY FA signing period.

So the Pacers have won one and last one so far in the Orlando Summer League. We welcomed Oklahoma City to the NBA by spanking them in the first game, and lost to the Demetris Nichols led Chicago Bulls yesterday. Early Calloway has been the most impressive non-contract player on the team and is probably the only guy with a snowball’s chance in hell of making the actual roster other than Williams and Graham. Still, the games have been pretty sloppy so far, and even Calloway committed his fair share of turnovers in the Chicago game. Because the Pacers have a lot of guaranteed money thrown at Travis Deiner, Calloway probably will either sign with another team with serious PG woes or go back to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants next year. If something happens to TJ Ford’s spine again, he’d be a decent player to back up Jack and Deiner and fill up a roster spot. His defense is much better than Deiner’s although Deiner is probably a better floor general and maybe a better shooter.

Summer League Box Scores:

Game 1 vs. Oklahoma City
Game 2 vs. Chicago

There have been a windfall of deals in the NBA recently. Let’s recap some of the minor deals.

-Orlando, one of the most overrated teams in the NBA, signed one of the most overrated free agents on the market in Michael Pietrus. Defense is really Pietrus’ only overwhelming quality, on the offensive end he’s a poor man’s Stephen Jackson. Terrible shooter, very low basketball IQ. Via ESPN.

-Golden State has made an offer to one of my favorite free agents, the floor running, rebounding, shot blocking, crazy dancing Ronny Turiaf of the LA Lakers. The deal is for 4 years, 17 million dollars. The Lakers do have time to match this deal. Via Real GM

-Golden State has also apparently signed Cory Maggette, who is supposedly a pretty good player, but playing for the Clippers, who really knows? Via Real GM

-And, for the big news that you probably know already: Elton Brand has apparently pulled a Carlos Boozer and instead of joining Baron Davis in LA, has agreed to terms to play for the Philadelphia 76ers. A lot of this was the work of David Falk, the most cunning agent in the NBA who got Brand the payday that the market dictated. From a Pacer fan’s perspective, this deal sucks, as it undoubtedly bumps Philly up a tier over us assuming Brand doesn’t get injured. It’s going to be a long, hard road to the playoffs next year.

Rookie/FA Camp Cuts

The Pacers have been conducting their Rookie/Free Agent Camp for the last few days in preparation for the Orlando Summer League that beings today. They have parted ways with Tyrelle Blair, local favorite Pete Campell, and Anthony Lever-Pedorza. Recognize the first part of the last name on the last guy? Yep, he’s the son of former Nugget and Maverick Lafayette “Fat” Lever, who has the best nickname out of any NBA player in history.

Googling “Fat Lever” will get you:

Fat Lever Himself

Some Confederates making fun of fat Union soldiers. Huh? We still kicked your ass.

And, of course, Fat Levers themselves.

Kind of a shame to see Pete Campbell go, even though there was no way possible this guy was making the Pacers. Earl Calloway, who played well in the D-League last year, (taking phenoms such as Keith Closs off the dribble, no doubt) has gotten public praise from Jim O’Brien, along with former Pacer Courtney Sims and former NBA player Josh Davis, who played for O’Brien in Philadelphia. Truth is, we have a pretty solid rotation without any of these players, and I can’t see anyone on this roster except Stephen Graham and Shawne Williams making the cut for the regular season. No word on if Roy Hibbert or Brandon Rush will play the two summer league games we are in after the 9th of July, which is when the trade becomes official.

Oh, and one other kind of interesting thing about summer league. Our first game is today at 3 pm against Oklahoma City, making the Pacers the first team to play against OKC since they moved from Seattle. The unnamed team will be wearing that stupid “NBA OKC” as a generic alternative to the Sonics jerseys. The logo basically looks like the “DRAFT NY” logot he NBA uses for the draft every year, except for a lamer city. Hopefully the Pacers whip up the Okies quite well, maybe all the way back to Seattle?

Other NBA news:

Most expect Elton Brand to stay with the Clippers and should make the decision very soon. Brand playing Nellieball would just be…ugly.

It’s rumored that the Warriors have now entered the race for Corey Maggette, but do they have any chance of beating out teams like the title contending Spurs and defending champions Celtics?

Extending Danny Granger: What will it take?

Indystar: Danny Granger interested in negotiating contract extension this summer.

Well, all good things come to an end. We knew it was going to happen. Getting the production we’ve been getting from Danny Granger on a rookie scale contract has been quite the steal for the Pacers, but now it’s time to grant Danny a contract extension and give him the payday he deserves. It’s actually a good thing for the Pacers that Danny has brought this up, and it has shown his commitment toward staying with the Pacers for up to five more years. It’s really a no brainer for the Pacers to extend Danny: he’s incredibly talented and his stats have improved quite noticeably his first three years in the league, and he’s been a PR dream for the Pacers in a sea of recent nightmares. The only question is, how much is Granger gonna get?

To best figure out what the Pacers are likely to give Granger, let’s look at some contracts that some of the top tier SF’s in the NBA have signed.

Rashard Lewis: signed 7 year, 60 million dollar contract with Sonics in 2002 going into his 4th year in the league (same years of experience as Danny). He’s currently making even more money with Orlando.

Richard Jefferson: signed 6 year, 78 million dollar contract with the Nets in 2004.

Tayshaun Prince: signed 5 year, 47 million dollar contract with the Pistons in 2005.

Caron Butler: signed 5 year, 45 million dollar contract with the Wizards in 2005.

Josh Howard: signed 4 year, 40 million dollar contract with the Mavericks in 2006.

Gerald Wallace: signed 6 year, 57 million dollar contract with the Bobcats in 2007.

The most time the Pacers can lock DG up for the five year max, we’ll be offering in between 45-60 million dollars a year. A great deal for the Pacers would be to sign DG so a 5 year, 48 million dollar deal similar that that netted by Caron Butler in 2005. That’s an awesome scenario for the Pacers. If Larry Bird gets that done, than it’s an absolute A-plus deal. However, I don’t see that as necessarily happening and the Pacers will probably have to give up more for their rising star. At the absolute worst for the Pacers, the deal would be around 5 years 55 million dollars. While that would still give the Pacers some cap flexibility in the future, the Pacers would be paying Danny much more than Tayshaun Prince, Josh Howard, and Caron Butler are making.

Danny is absolutely key to the Pacers’ future but if he wants over 55 million dollars, I’d challenge him to put up a 24 and 8 season next year and then offer him a larger contract next year in a completely different ballpark. If Danny can do 24 and 8 in a season, then he’s our future #1 option, no doubt, and you offer him #1 option money instead of really good swingman money. Right now, though, it appears that while Danny will be really, really good, we need to have at least one other incredibly talented player at his side for the Pacers to be a successful team in the future. And unless Danny wants to be a paid loser, he’ll have to accept taking exceptional swingman money rather than shooting for a more outlandish deal like the one currently being offered to Elton Brand. DG seems like a team-oriented guy, however, and my prediction is he won’t in any way attempt to wreck the cap.

The Seattle Supersonics have ceased to exist

ESPN: Seattle will move to OKC next year, and the Sonics history and name will remain in Seattle.

Wow, I thought Seattle had at least one more year of the Sonics. The team didn’t get a proper send off or anything. Clay Bennett not only bought the team with the commitment to keep it in Seattle, rid the team of all viable talent to make them unwatchable, and only then levied a relatively unrealistic stadium plan toward the city council (which sealed Seattle’s fate), he didn’t even give the fans one last definitive game to celebrate the franchises’ 41 year tenure in Seattle. Not even one game. That’s unbelievable to me. Bennett has always struck me as more than a typical greedy businessman, he’s as bold and blatant as an 19th century mine baron in the old West, blatantly trouncing over everybody else. As the fan of a team who was almost moved not too long ago, I really feel for the city of Seattle tonight.

In what in perspective seems like minor NBA news, Baron Davis has joined the LA Clippers and will sign with the team soon. http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53351/20080702/spurs_plan_to_make_offer_to_maggette/>Corey Maggette is basically unaffordable for LA now, and has gotten looks from the Spurs, Celtics, and Magic.

In apparent retaliation for losing Baron Davis to LA, the Warriors have offered Clippers star Elton Brand a contract worth about 20 million dollars more than the Clippers can pay him. Oh boy, is a rivarly between the second and third best teams in the West brewing?

Let the overpaying begin…

Some general news around the league:

ESPN is reporting that both the Wizards and the Warriors have offered a max contract to Gilbert Arenas. 6 years, 120 million dollars for those weak knees and somewhat questionable attitude? Such is the culture of current GM summer spending habits. To Gil’s credit, while there are questions about those aforementioned knees, he has played 80, 80, and 74 regular season games in the last three years. Let’s just see if he can sustain that into the postseason next year.

Even Donald Sterling has dove into spending so far this offseason. Donald Sterling, in typical fashion, was outbid by the Kings for none other than the highly coveted Beno Udrih. So what does he do? Take it up quite a few notches and enter the much more expensive bidding war for Baron Davis. Oy vey, Donald. Real GM says that a deal could be reached as early as tomorrow.

So, if the Clips pick up Baron tomorrow, I wonder how this affect their commitment toward the recently opted-out Elton Brand?

Even beyond these big name guys who likely are going to get you more wins but never a title, there are plenty of guys in line to be overpaid this offseason. You know it’s inevitable when ESPN has Desagana Diop as the #5 unrestricted FA. I know it seems unlikely that guys like Diop, Kwame Brown, and James Posey (please look beyond his playoff performance) deserve a huge payday, but in the era in which Adonal Foyle gets locked up for about 46 million, anything is possible. Should be an interesting offseason.

Dog Days of Summer: Orlando Summer League Roster Set

Summer League is among us, and the Pacers roster has been set. After a rookie free agent camp held between July 3-6th, the summer league team will head down to Orlando, FL from July 7th-11th.

Our roster is made up of, well, a lot of random guys who will probably never see time in a regular NBA game. Our notable guys include Stephen Graham and Shawne Williams. I will be watching Stephen very closely, since Shawne’s future with the team seems somewhat in doubt and Stephen did play quite well in limited minutes at some times last year.

Some other interesting guys on the roster:

Earl Calloway, of IU fame and the leading scorer of Pacers’ NBDL affiliate the Fort Wayne Mad Ants last year.

Stanley Burrell- his numbers aren’t amazing, but he went to Xavier and always killed my alma mater, George Washington. I’ll be rooting for him as a fellow A-10 conference supporter.

Pete Campbell- a fan favorite at nearby Butler, can really stroke the three but can’t do much else on an NBA level.

Courtney Sims- played a bit for the Pacers last year, a rail thin big guy from Michigan.

You can check out the biographies of all the summer league players here

Tinsley to be bought out?

Real GM: Pacers will “reportedly” buy out Tinsley if he can’t be traded.

Chances are this will happen. Our PG rotation is now set with Ford/Jack/Deiner and Tinsley’s injury concerns, combined with the fact the fans hate him and we’re trying to garner positive PR, make it pretty obvious that he’ll be gone. He’s untradeable because he’s apparently gained 25 pounds since April. That’s not going to compel any GM’s that he’s committed to revitalizing his career.

It’s a damn shame, too. Bill Simmons once wrote an article during Tinsley’s rookie season alluding to the fact that he could be one of the great future point guards on the NBA. He had the talent, too, but he never had the desire.

Final Thoughts: 2008 Draft

I’ve said my piece on the draft regarding the Pacers, but when it comes to the draft overall, I think there was some good picks and some bad picks worth highlighting. I also don’t think this draft was quite as bad as some of the experts say: I don’t think it is the LeBron/Melo/Wade draft, but it ain’t the 2000 NBA Draft, either. I think it will go down as a possible slightly than average, pretty ho-hum draft that produced a relevant, but not crazy amount, of good players.

The Good:

#4 Pick, Russell Westbrook, Seattle Supersonics: Westbrook should be a solid pro in this league, and while some are saying Seattle took him too early, I think they did the right thing picking up more of a sure thing when they’ve already got a bona fide superstar in the making in Kevin Durant. Westbrook is already polished on both sides of the ball and is a much needed talent infusion to Seattle’s depleted backcourt. He’s no project and he’ll start contributing this year. There are concerns about his bulk- but he’s already fifteen pounds heavier than Monta Ellis, he should be alright in that regard.

#11 Pick, Jerryd Bayless, Indiana (pick traded to Portland): Portland found a great player in Bayless, even though I think there is a great chance this trade can benefit the Pacers as well. Bayless was considered by many to be a top four talent in the draft but slipped most likely due to attitude concerns. However, now he’ll be groomed in Portland, which has quickly transformed itself from a team of bad characters to one of the NBA’s consummate franchises in a short number of years. It’s a low risk, high reward pick for Portland: even if Bayless doesn’t pan out for whatever reason, Portland can ship him elsewhere and still retain their great core of young talent that will have them as title contenders in 2-3 years.

#34 pick, Mario Chalmers, Minnesota and #35 pick, DeAndre Jordan, LA Clippers: Both Chalmers and Jordan were considered by many at one point or another to be lottery picks, Chalmers’ slide in itself is quite surprising. Minnesota got themselves a reliable backup PG at 35, which is really what you want from a second round pick. Jordan, on the other hand, was though to be a late first round pick, but for all the raw talent he has, there are concerns about both his skill and his attitude. Now, he’ll either buck up and become a decent player, or he’ll be out of the league because he won’t get a guaranteed contract since he was picked out of the first round. Very low risk, high reward pick by LA.

The Bad:

#6, Danilo Gallinari, New York Knicks: The Knicks reached on Gallinari, a European prospect with a killer shot but who has poor defensive skills and is pretty unathletic on both ends of the court. Joe Alexander would have been a much stronger step in changing the culture of this increasingly lethargic franchise.

#14, Anthony Randolph, Golden State Warriors: Golden State badly needs a big, so they go out and pick a rail thin project 3/4? Not a great move when you’ve got Mareese Speights on the board, who would have helped their interior right off the bat with his NBA-ready body. I can understand the Randolph pick if you’re a team like the Blazers and could stand to stash young talent in the lottery, but the Warriors are one or two players away from being a great team and should have looked for immediate help.

#26, George Hill, San Antonio Spurs: The Spurs need an infusion of young talent on their team, and they failed to address this by drafting Hill, who, while a personal favorite of mine, is a tweener at the NBA level and probably could have been had in either the second round, or as an undrafted FA. San Antonio has drafted quite well in the past, so this might pan out for them, but right now I am very puzzled by this pick.

Indiana Pacers 2008 Draft Review- Holy Crap

So the draft is done and it is apparent now that the Pacers have indeed traded Jerryd Bayless to Portland for Brandon Rush, Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts. During the draft, we also (under the guise of Toronto, the trade for the 17th pick won’t be official until July 9) picked up big Roy Hibbert, the 7′2” giant from Georgetown.

A lot of Pacer fans all over the internet are still pissed that we traded Bayless. I was incredibly angry when I found out about the trade, but now that I have had a night to sleep on it, I’m not really so sure if I like or hate the trade. In fact, it’s useless to condemn the trade at this point, if it needs to be panned, it will be panned in three years after everything plays out. I’m not rooting against Bayless, but his attitude and his still kinda slight build worry me a bit. He was a great slasher in college, but will he be able to handle the NBA grind and bang toward the rim with the big guys? There are legitimate questions against him, he’s not an anointed son by any means.

Some have panned Bird for an idiot, but my bright side hopes that he’s trying to build a real team here that won’t be title worthy for the next few years at least. Bayless has the mold of a feature player- but maybe he wasn’t the ideal type of player Bird wanted to build around. There are plenty of stars in the league already (Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, even AI) who are great talents but don’t seem to be the type of leaders who can take their team to a championship. Maybe in Bird’s eyes Bayless is that kind of guy. So what did Bird do? He traded for what could someday be some important parts for a contending team, instead. At least, that’s what I’m hoping and praying for.

Brandon Rush seems to be the ultimate glue guy. I like him as a better shooting, faster, slightly more athletic Derrick McKey. He is a great perimeter defender and has a nice stroke from downtown. He is, by many accounts, the best player at moving without the ball in the entire draft and one of the most NBA ready players in the draft. That’s what I am liking about Larry Bird’s tenure as the head of the Pacers so far: He is getting proven talents instead of say, the Jonathan Benders of the world. Rush however, is by no means a slasher, and doesn’t get to the basket very well. The Pacers will need to surround him with more aggressive players in order for him to be effective in some cases. As alluded to before however, he’s great at coming off screens, and that leads me to Roy Hibbert, who is known to be able to set a monster of a screen.

Roy Hibbert is big (really big, as in 7′2”), sort of unathletic, and known by almost everyone to be a really nice guy. The first thing Roy needs to do in the NBA is not wear those silly long undershirts under his jersey. He does have a nice post game for such a young guy and that will translate well into the NBA because, well, not too many people will be able to block his shots. He should be a decent defensive presence in the league. He’s not too explosive and he doesn’t rebound very well right now. In other words, for him to reach his peak, someone needs to light a fire under his ass. With a little swagger, he’ll be alright. Even without it, he’ll be a decent backup NBA center. He could be a starter in the future, however, and being that he is such a nice guy, I’ll be rooting for him.

As mentioned earlier, we also picked up Jarrett Jack via the Rush trade in this draft. Jack is a hardworking PG, but really has limited talent and craftiness and probably will never be a starting PG anywhere. However, he’s pretty big (6′3”) and he won’t get pushed around by guys like Chauncey Billups. He is a fierce competitor and a tenacious defender. He’s known to be relatively steady on the offensive end but he’s a bit turnover prone. Because he’s much larger and a much better defender than T.J. Ford, he complements Ford very well.

Josh McRoberts, who actually hails from Carmel, Indiana and was once seen as a possible lottery pick, has really tanked since being drafted by Portland. He was a third stringer in the D-League and by many accounts is a jerk and a lazy basketball player. I can’t see him lasting long for the Pacers. He once dated LC from the Hills. That’s probably the most notable thing/person he’s ever done.

So, overall, between Brandon Rush and Jarrett Jack, our perimeter defense has evolved from possibly the worst perimeter defense in the league to pretty damn good. I don’t know too much about Rush, really, but Jack, Hibbert, and T.J. Ford all seem like hard working, easy guys to root for, so the Pacers really are rapidly overhauling their image. McRoberts is known as a douche, but I’ll be surprised to see him in a uniform in November.

Insane Draft…questions still abound

So Jerryd Bayless slipped to the Pacers. Although some mocks reflected this, I in no way saw this happening. It seemed like the best break the Pacers had ever gotten in the draft this side of Danny Granger. It seemed like the best break in the draft any team had gotten in quite a long time.

Then we traded Bayless. To Portland for Brandon Rush (#13 pick), Jarrett Jack, and Josh McRoberts. Or did we? Either way, it has Pacers Digestfuming. I went a bit crazy after the “trade” myself but now I am settling down to it.

Now the way things are going it may have never happened. Other trades in the draft have already been announced by Stern’s lackey that does the second round of the draft, but he hasn’t mentioned the Pacers-Blazers deal. So really no one has any idea about what is going on.

But for at least one measure of certainty, Jermaine O’Neal has confirmed that the Toronto trade is legit, even though the NBA can’t really confirm it until July.