Pacers still looking to get draft picks

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said his team could obtain one or more picks in the upcoming draft, despite having traded both of this year’s selections away in deals last summer.\nWalsh said Wednesday he was sure the Pacers would maneuver to try and get back into the June 28 draft.\n“This is the time of year where you’ve got to do those kinds of things,” he said. “Trades will be focused around the draft. Of course, they won’t all be for draft picks, but draft picks are a possibility.”\nWalsh didn’t say who the team would consider trading or for what, but he expects nonstop action before the new season begins.\n“I think it’s safe to say we will be active, and we will continue to be throughout the summer,” he said.\nThe top trade contenders are All-Star forward Jermaine O’Neal and point guard Jamaal Tinsley, the team’s top veterans.\nO’Neal averaged 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks in one of the best seasons of his 11-year career. He’s a six-time all-star who finished third in fan voting this year for the Pacers’ 40th anniversary team.\nBut O’Neal missed 13 games with various injuries and illnesses. He had successful surgery to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee that hobbled him the last two months of the season. He has missed 82 games the past three seasons – a number that equals an entire regular season’s worth of games.\nO’Neal has denied reports that he demanded a trade to the New York Knicks.\nTinsley had one of his best seasons and was more durable than usual. He averaged 12.8 points and 6.9 assists in 72 games, the most games he’s played since the 2002-03 season.\nBut Tinsley’s off-the-court problems include a felony charge he faces from a February bar fight in Indianapolis. He also was at a fight outside a strip club in October that has former Pacer and current Golden State Warrior Stephen Jackson facing charges for firing a gun.\nThe Pacers missed out on a top-three pick in Tuesday’s draft lottery and had to send their No. 11 pick to Atlanta as part of the trade that brought Al Harrington to the Pacers last summer. Harrington was later traded away in a multiplayer deal.\n“I think we were realistic when we went up there,” Walsh said of the lottery. “There’s always some disappointment. You always like to see a Hail Mary pass caught. But I think we went in there knowing what our percentages were.”\nThe Pacers lost this year’s second-round pick when they traded to get James White in last year’s draft.\nThe Pacers are still looking for a coach. The front-runner reportedly is former Miami coach Stan Van Gundy, who wouldn’t say if he was the choice.\n“Let’s just say as far as my situation is concerned, we have a resolution,” he said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “I’ve talked with Larry Bird, and we both know what’s going on.”\nLanding a new coach would be a key step toward the Pacers regaining some stability. Indiana finished 35-47 this season and missed the postseason for the first time in 10 years.\n“I think we’re excited about re-forming the team, about a new beginning,” Walsh said. “We’re starting a process to put us in position to get back to contender status. How long that will take, I don’t know. But we’re pushing for sooner rather than later.”