Pacers not looking for another deal
Walsh says he doesn't plan to swap Dunleavy, who came from Warriors in trade
MIAMI -- The news of the Indiana Pacers' trade with Golden State had barely reached all corners of the NBA on Wednesday when a rumor began spreading: The Pacers were planning to send Mike Dunleavy Jr. to the Los Angeles Clippers for Corey Maggette.
"Absolutely untrue," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said Thursday.Walsh had just gotten off the phone with Dunleavy's father, Mike Sr., who coaches the Clippers. Their conversation wasn't about a trade; it was about how to get the most out of a player who was often regarded as a disappointment in his five seasons with Golden State.
"I talked to Indiana today for 45 minutes and there was no talk of any kind of deal," the elder Dunleavy told Los Angeles-area reporters. "He's there because they want him there."Walsh believes the younger Dunleavy can thrive in a different system.
"He's a good all-around basketball player. We need that," Walsh said. "He has not played with a low-post player. I think a lot of what he does will come out of the fact he can feed the post now. He can pass the ball, he can shoot the ball, he can run on the break and he's a great team defender. All the things you look for in a well-rounded player, he can do."
Dunleavy's dilemma in Golden State seemed to be summarized by his last game with the Warriors, a victory over the Clippers on Monday that Walsh watched on television. He scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds off the bench but still heard boos from the home fans.
"He was the third pick in the draft and he didn't turn out to be Larry Bird in the first couple of years," Walsh said. "There's a lot of players you can say that about."
Walsh said he and Bird, the Pacers president, have no plans for another trade but are open to ideas as the Feb. 22 deadline approaches.
"I'd always look to see if you can add shooters," he said. "I want to see how our guard corps checks out now. I'm talking about Jamaal (Tinsley), Orien Greene, Darrell Armstrong and (Keith McLeod, who also was acquired in the trade)."
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