Last year’s First Round pick: 11. Arizona G Jerryd Bayless. He was immediately shipped to Portland, and the Pacers got Brandon Rush. He averaged 8 ppg and showed promise late in the season (over 20 points in five of his last 10 games).
Awful draft history: In the last decade the Pacers have bungled draft after draft. Danny Granger in 2005 is the only really good call. They drafted much better in the 1990s.
Needs: The Salary Cap Whisperer. The following players are grossly overpaid, with next year’s salary in parens: TJ Ford ($8.5 mil), Troy Murphy ($11 mil), Mike Dunleavy ($9.7 mil), and Jamaal Tinlsey ($7.2 mil).
Point guard issues: We hear that the reason Jarret Jack and TJ Ford didn’t get along last season is a woman. And that fists flew over said woman. We’ll leave out the sordid parts, but the story’s in that locker room Kravitz. Go get it.
The Pick: Ty Lawson said the Pacers told him they need a PG. It makes sense – Rush and maybe Jack (if they keep him) split time at the 2, Dunleavy plays the 3, Granger plays the 3/4, and Murphy/Foster are your 4/5, with Hibbert a potential starter at C. Marquis Daniels, when healthy, is a nice SG/SF off the bench. As you can tell, this team’s built terribly, and has to go PG.

The options, probably, at 13: Flynn (Syracuse), Teague (Wake Forest), Lawson (UNC), Maynor (VCU), Holiday (UCLA). Chad Ford thinks Holiday’s a top 10, maybe Top 5 guy. There’s a chance Teague could return to school in the next few hours (the deadline’s 5 pm). Flynn has worked out for a several Top 10 teams.

Which leaves the 6-foot Lawson or the 6-foot-3 Maynor (both appear to be pure PGs, while Teague’s more of a combo guard, sort of like Randy Foye). Though our first thought is to take Lawson – awesome NCAA tournament – he also had much more talent around him at UNC than Maynor did at VCU. So we’ll take Maynor.

14. Phoenix Suns