http://www.nba.com/pacers/news/news_draft_040622.html
Shaq, T-Mac Out of Reach,
but Bird Stays Aggressive
By Conrad Brunner | June 22, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pacers are out of the superstar business for the time being, but that doesn’t mean they have become inactive in the NBA offseason marketplace.
Team President Larry Bird said Tuesday there are players he’d like to move up to acquire in Thursday night’s NBA Draft. The Pacers have the last pick in the first round, No. 29 overall.
Bird
“If you have an opportunity to move up and get a player that you’re really after I think you’ve go to do that,” he said. “There’s a couple of guys out there this year I’d love to move up and have the opportunity to select ’em. … If I can’t get up there and get the guy I want, we’ll just take our 29th pick and select a guy and maybe do something later.”
Though Bird didn’t identify the players he’s after, he acknowledged Oregon guard Luke Jackson as a player he admires. A 6-7, 215-pound guard-forward with strong perimeter skills, Jackson has been favorably compared to Brent Barry and Mike Miller.
“I like Luke Jackson, yeah,” Bird said. “He’s a good player. If you like Chris Mullin, you like Luke Jackson.”
Though the Pacers had been mentioned as a possible destination for either Tracy McGrady or Shaquille O’Neal, that no longer appears to be a possibility. McGrady is close to being traded to Houston. The price for O’Neal, which reportedly begins with Jermaine O’Neal, is prohibitive.
McGrady
“No question, when you’ve got a player like Tracy McGrady out there you try to pursue it, see what it’s going to take to try to get involved,” Bird said. “We really didn’t get down to detail. We just asked them what they would like and really didn’t throw any names out there. The price was really too high for us.”
There were reports Tuesday that the Orlando-Houston deal might’ve run into a roadblock. Steve Francis, the key player the Rockets were sending to the Magic, said he did not want to play in Orlando. The entirety of the deal reportedly would send Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando in exchange for McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and possibly Reece Gaines.
The New York Post reported the Pacers offered Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender and Jeff Foster to Orlando.
“My personal opinion is they might’ve gotten a better deal from us,” said Bird. “Taking nothing away from the guys that have been traded, I like our guys. I know our guys are talented and they’re hard workers. But when you go after Tracy McGrady you’ve got to give up something and the price was just too high.”
O’Neal
Asked if the Lakers’ O’Neal was being pursued, Bird smiled.
“With Shaq, Kathy Jordan (the franchise’s Vice President of Communications) and myself playing, we’d be all right,” he said. “Obviously, everybody would like to have Shaq on their team. There’s no question about it. We talk about it here and there but the price is very hefty.
“It is very difficult (to make a deal for a superstar). When you’re talking about the numbers of a Shaq or a Kevin Garnett, you’ve got to not only package one or two players but sometimes three and four. Their name looks good until you put it up on the board and see what you have left. It makes it very difficult. … I like Jermaine O’Neal. He’s young, he’s really just getting a taste of the playoffs. Everybody would like to have Tracy and Shaq but we’re very happy with Jermaine here and his surrounding cast. What we have to do is try to get the cast better so we can move further in the playoffs.”
In his first full offseason as the Pacers’ President of Basketball, Bird has taken an aggressive posture in the marketplace.
“We won 61 games last year. I’m pretty pleased about that,” he said. “But obviously we’ve got to get better. Detroit’s a better team than we are and we just have to get better. We were close but we have a long way to go. So we’ll be trying to improve our team till the start of the season and maybe during the season next year. We’ve got to get better somehow.”
Harrington
Harrington, who cherishes the opportunity to become a starter, reportedly has asked the Pacers for a trade.
“There’s a lot of interest in Al,” Bird said. “We’re not really shopping a whole lot of guys. We get calls on Ronnie. We get calls on just about everybody we have. They want us to give our good players away and not give us much back. So we’re not really shopping Al. I wish Al was happy here and I hope everybody else is happy. But sometimes a change of scenery will do both teams good.”
Should the Pacers stand pat and use the No. 29 pick on Thursday night, Bird said he’d prefer to take a player with college experience.
“I ain’t going to guarantee you, but it’s probably going to be a kid that played some college ball,” he said. “I’d rather have a two, three, four-year guy than a high school player.”
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Shaq, T-Mac Out of Reach,
but Bird Stays Aggressive
By Conrad Brunner | June 22, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Pacers are out of the superstar business for the time being, but that doesn’t mean they have become inactive in the NBA offseason marketplace.
Team President Larry Bird said Tuesday there are players he’d like to move up to acquire in Thursday night’s NBA Draft. The Pacers have the last pick in the first round, No. 29 overall.
Bird
“If you have an opportunity to move up and get a player that you’re really after I think you’ve go to do that,” he said. “There’s a couple of guys out there this year I’d love to move up and have the opportunity to select ’em. … If I can’t get up there and get the guy I want, we’ll just take our 29th pick and select a guy and maybe do something later.”
Though Bird didn’t identify the players he’s after, he acknowledged Oregon guard Luke Jackson as a player he admires. A 6-7, 215-pound guard-forward with strong perimeter skills, Jackson has been favorably compared to Brent Barry and Mike Miller.
“I like Luke Jackson, yeah,” Bird said. “He’s a good player. If you like Chris Mullin, you like Luke Jackson.”
Though the Pacers had been mentioned as a possible destination for either Tracy McGrady or Shaquille O’Neal, that no longer appears to be a possibility. McGrady is close to being traded to Houston. The price for O’Neal, which reportedly begins with Jermaine O’Neal, is prohibitive.
McGrady
“No question, when you’ve got a player like Tracy McGrady out there you try to pursue it, see what it’s going to take to try to get involved,” Bird said. “We really didn’t get down to detail. We just asked them what they would like and really didn’t throw any names out there. The price was really too high for us.”
There were reports Tuesday that the Orlando-Houston deal might’ve run into a roadblock. Steve Francis, the key player the Rockets were sending to the Magic, said he did not want to play in Orlando. The entirety of the deal reportedly would send Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley to Orlando in exchange for McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and possibly Reece Gaines.
The New York Post reported the Pacers offered Al Harrington, Jonathan Bender and Jeff Foster to Orlando.
“My personal opinion is they might’ve gotten a better deal from us,” said Bird. “Taking nothing away from the guys that have been traded, I like our guys. I know our guys are talented and they’re hard workers. But when you go after Tracy McGrady you’ve got to give up something and the price was just too high.”
O’Neal
Asked if the Lakers’ O’Neal was being pursued, Bird smiled.
“With Shaq, Kathy Jordan (the franchise’s Vice President of Communications) and myself playing, we’d be all right,” he said. “Obviously, everybody would like to have Shaq on their team. There’s no question about it. We talk about it here and there but the price is very hefty.
“It is very difficult (to make a deal for a superstar). When you’re talking about the numbers of a Shaq or a Kevin Garnett, you’ve got to not only package one or two players but sometimes three and four. Their name looks good until you put it up on the board and see what you have left. It makes it very difficult. … I like Jermaine O’Neal. He’s young, he’s really just getting a taste of the playoffs. Everybody would like to have Tracy and Shaq but we’re very happy with Jermaine here and his surrounding cast. What we have to do is try to get the cast better so we can move further in the playoffs.”
In his first full offseason as the Pacers’ President of Basketball, Bird has taken an aggressive posture in the marketplace.
“We won 61 games last year. I’m pretty pleased about that,” he said. “But obviously we’ve got to get better. Detroit’s a better team than we are and we just have to get better. We were close but we have a long way to go. So we’ll be trying to improve our team till the start of the season and maybe during the season next year. We’ve got to get better somehow.”
Harrington
Harrington, who cherishes the opportunity to become a starter, reportedly has asked the Pacers for a trade.
“There’s a lot of interest in Al,” Bird said. “We’re not really shopping a whole lot of guys. We get calls on Ronnie. We get calls on just about everybody we have. They want us to give our good players away and not give us much back. So we’re not really shopping Al. I wish Al was happy here and I hope everybody else is happy. But sometimes a change of scenery will do both teams good.”
Should the Pacers stand pat and use the No. 29 pick on Thursday night, Bird said he’d prefer to take a player with college experience.
“I ain’t going to guarantee you, but it’s probably going to be a kid that played some college ball,” he said. “I’d rather have a two, three, four-year guy than a high school player.”
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