The Indiana Pacers have hired former Portland Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard, according to reports published by Yahoo! Sports and the Indianapolis Star.

Pritchard was considered popular among fans in Portland before he was fired on the day of the NBA Draft in June 2010. During his time in Portland, the Blazers added Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Greg Oden and Nicolas Batum to the roster all by way of the draft.

Pritchard will be the Pacers’ director of player personnel, according to reports.

Last week, Pritchard told 750 AM The Game that he still hasn’t been given an exact reason why team owner Paul Allen fired him one year ago.

After Pritchard was fired, Allen hired Rich Cho to be the team’s general manager, but then dumped Cho less than one year into his tenure in Portland.

The 2011 NBA Draft is set for June 23, 2011, which is exactly 23 days away (for those of you who can’t do math. The Indiana Pacers pick No. 15 in the draft, and SB Nation’s Tom Ziller thinks Larry Bird will not have a shot at BYU sensation Jimmer Fredette even though Bird had a scheduled pre-draft workout with Fredette and five other prospects today.

By all accounts, the Pacers came away impressed with Fredette after the workout.

But, according to Ziller, Jimmer won’t fall past pick No. 12. This means the Pacers must look elsewhere to bolster their roster. 

15. Indiana Pacers: Markieff Morris, PF, Kansas

Maybe the Pacers can draft a coach at No. 15.

Morris was one of the famed ‘Morris twins’ at KU last year. He’s was a passionate defender and rebounder in college, and he showed a strong knack for hitting three-pointers (42% from behind the arch).

The Pacers have a big need at the power forward spot, and Morris shows the potential to fill that need.

By Brad Wells

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May 19, 2011 – The Cleveland Cavaliers secured the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft via the lottery. With the draft order now set for one through thirty, it’s time to roll out the NBA mock draft season.

Tom Ziller at SB Nation has the Cavaliers taking Kyrie Irving, PG, Duke with the No. 1 pick. For the Indiana Pacers, at pick No. 15, Ziller thinks team president Larry Bird will go big:

15. Indiana Pacers: Donatas Motiejunas, C, Lithuania

Motiejunas won’t likely fall this far, not with a certain 7-foot European gunner lighting up the NBA Playoffs. The Pacers need help on offense, and a stretch big man could be a nice addition to the Roy Hibbert-Tyler Hansbrough tandem.

It’s interesting to note that BYU phenom and Naismith Award winner Jimmer Fredette is going to Utah with the No. 12 pick, according to Ziller’s mock. Should Fredette fall that far, folks like Will Carroll think that Larry Bird might be enamored with Jimmer.

Do people really think Larry Bird will pass on Jimmer Fredette?

Jimmer in Blue and Gold would certainly attract more attention for the team with the lowest home attendance in the NBA.

The NBA Draft is June 23rd.

Read More: Indiana Pacers, Cleveland Cavaliers

Paul George a pleasant Pacer surprise

By MIKE GANTER, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: March 11, 2011 10:01pm

The same kind of excitement and hope for the future that Ed Davis is giving the Raptors these days, Paul George is giving his Indiana Pacers.

George, taken three picks before Davis in last year’s draft, is a recent addition to the Pacers starting lineup and is loving it.

“It definitely helps the confidence,” George said before Friday night’s game against the Raptors. “I just want to keep this going well.”

George was a bit of a surprise as the No. 10 selection, but only because he didn’t have the lengthy resume most of the other lottery-pegged picks had.

George got a late start in the game and was all but ignored coming out of high school. He has more than made up for lost time since, first starting in his two years at Fresno State and then knocking it out of the park during various workouts prior to the draft, pushing his stock north. His freakish athleticism has the Pacers smiling. The thinking is he has only started to scratch the surface.

His 6-foot-8 frame and outstanding leaping ability make him a tough match for most shooting guards in the league.

It hasn’t been all roses for George since the got to the NBA. After starting the year averaging 20 minutes a night in his first give games, the Pacers coaching staff lost confidence in George and his minutes started to dwindle.

It got worse as he did not see a second of court time from Nov. 23 until Dec. 29.

“The season has had its up and downs, but for the most part I dealt with the adversity early on and it turned out to be a positive and I think I’m helping my team in a good way,” George said.

Indiana head coach Frank Vogel can barely contain himself when the subject is George.

“The one thing about Paul George that you can’t really evaluate in the draft of anything like that is he’s one of the best listeners that I’ve ever coached,” Vogel said, “not just executing a certain game plan or something like that, but if you teach him something, he does it and you don’t have to teach him again. He just picks things up like a sponge and grows and improves and that’s a big part of why we think he has a big upside.”

George said those early troubling times made him realize how much he wanted basketball and how much more committed he had to be if he was going to make a go of this.

“I went from playing to not playing to not even dressing,” George said of the low point of his season. “That was really the point in time when I really lived in the gym. I would stay after practice and go in on off days and lift. I knew this was something that I wanted to do and not playing was something I definitely didn’t want to do. So I had to really ask myself what I wanted. It took myself to push myself on those days.”

Now it’s all paying off for both George and the Pacers.

But the very best thing about being Paul George right now? Any time he wants he can get the undivided attention of a basketball legend whether it’s on the team plane or between games or practices.

Pacers president Larry Bird makes himself readily available to his promising rook and George takes advantage as much as possible.

“It’s pretty much on me,” George said of the opportunity. “Larry always has his door open if you want to talk to him so any chance I’m feeling like I want to learn something or ask him something I can always go to his office.”

The only problem then is explaining to his own father that the Bird access does not extend to players’ families.

“It’s surreal,” George said. “Every time I tell my dad I’ve been talking to Larry Bird he flips out. He tells me to put him on the phone.”