A general manager chooses his words carefully on the day before the NBA draft, when it's far better to say too little than too much. The draft, of course, is crucial when you have a lottery pick, as the Pacers do this time around, and even more crucial to a small-market team, which the Pacers happen to be. So, you don't want to tip your hand and risk another team cutting in line and stealing your lunch.
Kevin Pritchard, second only to Larry Bird in the Pacers' basketball brain trust, met with the media on Wednesday, the day before the draft. He was as forthcoming as he could afford to be in his 23-minute press conference, but, no, he didn't drop any hints on what they might do Thursday evening with the 11th pick in the draft.
The primary takeaways:
1. The Pacers value talent over need, and are focused on a small group of players.
2. They're confident they'll get a player who can contribute immediately and become a starter in future seasons.
3. They are open to all trade discussions involving the pick.
Pritchard said the game is evolving into a less position-oriented game, with multi-skilled players who defy the traditional 1-2-3-4-5 designations. Accumulating as much talent as possible is the focus.
"More than ever, it's not like you're going after a quarterback or point guard," he said. "You're seeing the teams that really succeed put five guys who can really make plays out there.
"You try to get the best player you can, because in a small market, it's your only chance to get special. We're not New York or L.A., so to get special you have to do it in the draft."
Pacers draft history supports that argument. They drafted small forward Paul George when they already had an established small forward, Danny Granger, who was coming off a season in which he had averaged 24.1 points. That one worked out great, as George became one of the best two-way players in the NBA and Granger became injured.
To the contrary, the Pacers drafted center Erick Dampier 10th in 2010 because Rik Smits was about to have surgery on both feet and faced an uncertain future, and they wanted to stay in a win-now mode. They passed on high schooler Kobe Bryant, who played the same position as Reggie Miller. Dampier was traded after one season for Chris Mullin, while Bryant is nearing the end of a Hall of Fame career.
On a league level, the ultimate example of drafting need over talent is Portland's decision to select Sam Bowie in 1984 because it needed a big man, passing on Michael Jordan, who was similar (but ultimately superior) in talent to Clyde Drexler.
Pritchard said the Pacers' pick falls within the second tier of talent in the draft, which isn't always the case at No. 11. Those players, while not as likely to become a superstar as a first-tier player, can be expected to make significant contributions, and should eventually become a starter.
"There's a definite tier one of a few players," Pritchard said. "Tier two feels very deep. Usually you're getting into tier three by (the 11th pick)."
The Pacers could trade out of their tier, either by packaging their pick with a current player or future draft pick to move up, or by moving down and acquiring someone else's future pick or established player.
"We're not afraid to trade the pick; we talk about that all the time," Pritchard said.
"We've heard a lot about 11. There's interest in 11."
The Pacers have made 13 draft night trades in their NBA history, nine of them since 2006. They've made five draft night trades overall that involved their first-round pick, acquiring the likes of Jeff Foster, Jamaal Tinsley, Roy Hibbert, and George Hill. They have never moved down in the draft by trading a first-round pick, however.
"Moving down is tough because then the draft selects for you instead of you selecting the draft," Pritchard said.
Pritchard said the Pacers are focused on "four or five" players with the 11th pick, but are prepared to call audibles if a player "drops" during the draft, as Granger did in 2005. Granger was widely expected to go seventh to Toronto that year, but fell to the Pacers with the 17th pick.
The players in that focus group are anyone's guess. The three most-often mentioned players for the Pacers are Texas' 19-year-old, 6-11 center Myles Turner, Wisconsin 7-footer Frank Kaminsky, and Murray State point guard Cameron Payne.
Payne injured a finger in a workout after he was in Indianapolis, but Pritchard said it's not serious enough to affect a draft decision.
Other players brought in for workouts who are thought to be possible mid first-round picks include Trey Lyles, Bobby Portis, Jerian Grant, and Kelly Oubre.
Pritchard said nobody has been brought in for a second workout, which is sometimes a tip-off to a team's draft plan. Foster had a second workout, but then so did Kareem Rush, who was not drafted by the Pacers.
Two Pacers starters have yet to announce whether they will pick up the option on the final year of their contract, David West and Roy Hibbert. The deadline for them is June 29.
"We respect those guys so much, we're going to let them make the decision on their time and not our time," Pritchard said.
"We have to model it out different ways," Pritchard said. "We have to model it out that they both opt in, both opt out, and one or the other. We've worked on those models. It's not like we're not prepared for all of them."
The Pacers also have brought in 2007 second-round draft pick Stanko Barac, who has been playing in Europe since then. His status could be determined by draft night moves.
"Stanko came in and had a nice couple of days in terms of a workout," Pritchard said.