3. What player who the Pacers passed on would have been the best selection in hindsight?
Donahue: Coulda, woulda, shoulda is a tough game to play. There are a lot of later picks who turned out great, but I think you have to consider whether or not that guy was actually a realistic pick at the time. Tayshaun Prince is certainly on that list, but you also have to wonder how things play out if Indiana got Tony Parker with the 27th pick in 2001 instead of Jamaal Tinsley. It also doesn’t make you feel very good to look at the 1999 draft, and see Wally Szczerbiak, Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Shawn Marion, and Jason Terry go in the five picks after the Pacers took Jonathan Bender at #5. And in 1989, taking George McCloud as a point guard at #7, when after considering and passing on Tim Hardaway isn’t a good look. However, the forever-and-always “what if?” pick was Larry Bird. It was a different NBA — a dying NBA, some thought — and the Pacers were dirt poor. They needed a player that season, and they made a really nice deal to trade back from #1 to get the #3 and Johnny Davis. Still, it is impossible not to spend fleeting moments wistfully dreaming about what would have happened had the Pacers been able to wait that one year for The Legend.
Tim Hardaway is a Hall of Famer and one of the best 15 point guards in basketball history. George McCloud is … not those things.
Ochoa: In 2009, the Pacers passed on Jeff Teague, Jrue Holiday, Ty Lawson, Taj Gibson, and DeMarre Carroll. And they drafted Psycho T instead. Eh.
Washburn: Taking Erick Dampier over Kobe Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, and Steve Nash was pretty bad in 1996. If you really thought the Pacers needed a big man that year, they also could have opted for Jermaine O’Neal or Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Wade: George McCloud over Tim Hardaway. Tim Hardaway is a Hall of Famer and one of the best 15 point guards in basketball history. George McCloud is … not those things. No offense to Mark Jackson, but just imagine the mid-90s Pacers having that upgrade at point when they continually came up just short against the Knicks and Bulls?
Next: Great Expectations?