Bird Brained?

You know it's the dead of July when I write about the Pacers. A few days ago, Bob Kravitz ran down the list of recent Pacers draft picks, and questioned Larry Bird as a talent evaluator.  I wanted to examine recent drafts to see if that criticism was fair or not.  We all know that it doesn't matter if a pick doesn't pan out unless there was actually someone better that could have reasonably been selected.  The NBA draft is notoriously thin, so it's possible to go years without even getting the opportunity to take a good player. 2004 Pacers take David Harrison C, 29th overall. Who they passed on:  I recognize three names taken later than Harrison.  The first was the next player taken, Anderson Varejao (8.6 ppg, 7.2 ppg).  Also Chris Duhon (39th, 8 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and Trevor Ariza (44yj, 6.9, 3.8) were taken. Verdict:  Harrison was a risky pick, but I don't think it's one that can be criticized.  Yeah, he was a nut job, but he had some potential, and the thre...