<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">With the NBA's deadline for achieving a 15-man roster looming at 6 p.m. today, the Indiana Pacers' brain trust has some difficult decisions to make. Seventeen players, all owning guaranteed contracts, participated in Sunday's practice at Conseco Fieldhouse, leaving various options for meeting the cutoff. Cut two of them? Find a multi-player trade that reduces their numbers? Trade one or more for a draft pick? Team president Larry Bird, CEO Donnie Walsh and senior vice president David Morway have explored trade opportunities, but several other teams are facing a similar surplus of players they want to keep. "We're going to cut somebody we don't want to cut. We might as well be honest about it," Bird said. "We just hope it doesn't come back to haunt us. "It's going to be a difficult cut. We talk about it every day, and I don't think we're sure yet." Center John Edwards, who did not play in any preseason games because of injuries, is the most logical discard. Barring a trade, the other players in the greatest danger of being released are Rawle Marshall, Josh Powell, James White and Orien Greene. The Pacers, however, traded up to get White with the first pick in the second round of June's draft, and they value Greene's defensive ability at point guard. They also regard Marshall and Powell, both acquired in an offseason trade with Dallas, as legitimate NBA players. Marshall, a wing player, averaged 7.9 points on 49 percent shooting in the preseason, while Powell, a power forward, averaged 7.7 points on 51 percent shooting and 4.6 rebounds. Bird hinted that experience could have a major influence on the final decision. "You look at our team now, the guys who have been in the league and have a year under the belt, are a year ahead of everybody else," he said.</div> Source
That's another 2nd round player that a team has just given up on a cut. Why wouldn't they just send him to the D-League? If the dude's got potential (which he obviously does), get him to refine his all around game against lesser competition before he tries out again.
<div class="quote_poster">Chutney Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">That's another 2nd round player that a team has just given up on a cut. Why wouldn't they just send him to the D-League? If the dude's got potential (which he obviously does), get him to refine his all around game against lesser competition before he tries out again.</div> That's what I was thinking, I'd want to keep someone with James White's potential. Why pick him so high over so many good players then cut him? It's just seems ridiculous, not a good draft for the Pacers, 2 project swingman, 1 down already
I've got to think that the reason White was cut was his defense. Check out this article - http://www.justbball.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60712 Apparently they did a poor job scouting him or thought they could do more with his game than they were ultimately able to do.
