FanHouse Indianapolis

Four months almost to the day after he was suspended for the perennial favorite "unspecified violation of team rules," Kellen Lewis has been reinstated to the IU football team. There is still no word on what, exactly, got Lewis sent to Bill Lynch's Naughty Chair, and it's a good bet we'll never officially know.

This is great news for all 34 fans of IU football, who had to endure the departure of the freakishly good wideout James Hardy, now a Buffalo Bill. The recent resurgence of IU football came largely from the Lewis-Hardy connection, who feasted on the bones of defenses that persistently failed to cover the underneath routes. (Not that I'm bitter about that or anything.)

IU now moves into a Hardy-less future, but having Lewis back calling the signals should provide some much-needed continuity for a team that needs leadership. The Hoosiers installed a no-huddle offense in spring practice, all of which Lewis missed. If Lewis can pick up the new system Indiana could make a run at the top four of the Big Ten, which figures to be as wide-open as it ever has been. If not, well, at least the bowl drought is over.

Hey, it's the first day. It's the Summer League. It was one game. The first game. Of the Summer League. It's a long week, a long season, a long career. And I'm going to doubt any of that makes Chicago fans that were paying attention to the first day of the NBA's Orlando Summer League feel better, or Miami fans feel worse about today's little exhibition.

Michael Beasley was, in a word, brilliant. 28 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 22 minutes. He could have been playing against D-Leaguers, the Harlem Globetrotters, or Mrs. Wormtail's second grade class, those are some slick numbers. That he did it against No.1 overall pick Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls, in the midst of a 94-70 whupping made it all the more emphatic. The Heat dominated this game, even as Chicago started Rose, Joakim Noah, and Tyrus Thomas, who you may recognize as starters and heavy rotation guys. Not exactly a pretty start, even if its easy to brush off, given the absurd context of the Magic's practice facility in a meaningless exhibition in which D-League MVP Kasib Powell scored 15 and Keith Langford and Demetris Nichols led the Bulls. Beasley's game was in full effect today, as he worked his mid-range, long-range, post-work, and driving abilities. In a league that's meant to be used as a scrimmage clinic, Beasley put on one.

ESPN is reporting that Indiana picked Jerryd Bayless at #11 not for themselves, but for the active active Blazers. Chad Ford says the trade is Bayless and Ike Diogu in exchange for Brandon Rush, picked 13th, and Jarrett Jack. Of course, it's a coup for Portland's Kevin Pritchard, who came into the draft needing a point guard and ended up with arguably the second best one available. And hey! Portland gets to save money in the deal, too.

The heartbreak of this one is that Indiana had no intent or need for Bayless before Portland came calling. The team after Indiana -- my Sacramento Kings -- have no point guard on the roster. Beno Udrih's agent has requested the full mid-level exception ... and the Clippers, who drafted a two-guard in Eric Gordon, are expected to offer as much.

Kings fans would have forgiven David Stern for his accused transgressions just to hear him call Jerryd's name at #12. Instead ... well, hi Jason Thompson. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, I suppose.

Portland is going to win 11 of the next 12 championships. Indiana picked Roy Hibbert with the #17, which comes over in the Jermaine O'Neal deal.

The rumors had been fluttering for the past 24 hours, and it's apparently a done deal.

Jermaine O'Neal is headed to Toronto, in exchange for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic, and the #17 pick.

For O'Neal, this is the fresh start he's been waiting years for. He's still a capable big man, and working in tandem with Chris Bosh means he doesn't have to shoulder the load under a body riddled with injuries.

For Ford, this settles the question of whether the Raptors wanted him or Jose Calderon. Ford has still proven he can be capable, and he goes to a team rebuilding, again, but with a lot of talent, again. The Pacers are very quietly building a considerably deep backcourt. Now they just have to do something with it. There's a lot of talk about how this is a win-win situation, but that's only if O'Neal stays healthy. If he does, though, the Raptors will have a frontcourt that could destroy small worlds. Likewise, TJ Ford has to prove his neck is up to go full speed. So many questions, and we're not even to draft night yet. Hang on to your hats, folks. This one's about to get rocky.

While Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski says the deal is off, two local reporters closer to the situation -- the Toronto Star's Doug Smith and the Indianapolis Star's Mike Wells -- indicate talks remain alive in a swap which would send T.J. Ford and Rasho Nesterovic to the Pacers in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal. Two beats one, so let's assume this could happen.

Dwyer at Ball Don't Lie explains why this is such a good deal for Toronto, which needs some defense badly. So let me explain my thoughts on why this works beautifully for Indiana, with an assist from Indy Cornrows, who writes:

Forget all the numbers, cap space, draft picks and expiring contracts for a moment. A deal like this has an aesthetic impact on the Pacers that is hard to quantify. When the two strongest personalities in the organization don't get along, it's a drag on everyone, fans included. I love Jermaine O'Neal and I love Larry Bird, but when it's apparent they don't get along you're almost forced to pick a side. It becomes an unmentionable black cloud hanging over the team and has to have at least a subtle impact on the team.

Sometimes, these clean breaks cause ephemeral periods of holy enlightenment for Earthbound teams weighed down by an old general. Remember Philadelphia? The post-Iverson burst had little to do with reality; in retrospect, I'd venture the mere removal of the long franchise shadow allowed the rest of the team to see the sun for the first time. While the terminal glow can't support itself, it can support future growth, as it has in Philly.

Also: Indiana really needs a point guard. The Pacers already play at a high tempo; Ford's one of the most efficient high-tempo lead guards in the league. And if you're worried about injury risk, um, you're trading Jermaine O'Neal, who played 42 games for the low, low price of $19.7 million last year. Considering Rasho has an expiring contract, and Ford's deal is not too long, this baby needs no more thought.

Crystal Ballin' takes a team-by-team look at what should, could, and probably will happen in the June 26th NBA Draft.

Larry Bird's got sole possession of the reins. Larry Bird does not have the best record of personnel decisions. Larry Bird seeks to completely rebuild in the Indiana roster, and that starts with the #11 pick in Thursday's draft. What could possibly go wrong?!

Picks: #11, #41.

Needs: The point guard position is currently manned by Jamaal Tinsley and Travis Diener. That tells you almost everything you need to know ... but we'll add that assuming Jermaine O'Neal gets traded this century, another big to augment the terrifying Jeff Foster-Troy Murphy gauntlet could be in order.

Best case scenario: Everyone thinks D.J. Augustin would be beautiful in Pacers yellow (?), and the conventional wisdom appears to be correct: Augustin would be the best replacement possibly available. A second-rounder who could contribute immediately (J.J. Hickson, Richard Hendrix) would be great as well.

The NCAA is set to announce the host cities for the 2012 through 2016 Final Fours. Ten cities have put in bids for the event ... meaning half will go home disappointed.

Ranking the field:

1-Indianapolis: This is NCAA headquarters and they love having the Final Four here. Since the 2010 Final Four will be held in Indy, expect the new Lucas Oil Field to get the 2015 or 2016 event.

2-New Orleans: The NCAA loves N'Awlins (four previous trips) and it will have been at least a decade since the last one at the Superdome (2003). The dome seems to be in fine shape and they are also trying to land a Super Bowl in the (somewhat) near future. I think the NCAA gets this done in 2013 or 2014.

3-Phoenix: I think that Phoenix/Glendale is the next great stop for sporting events. The Super Bowl was a huge success a the new stadium and I think the Final Four would love to grab some of that. I see the 2012 or 2013 Final Four getting awarded here.

4-San Antonio: San Antonio has become a bit of a great place to have a Final Four. They have had three of them from 1998 to 2008. I think the love affair could continue with the 2016 event. However, one strike against the Alamodome could be that they have been there quite a bit of late.

5-North Texas: The new digs and the potentially amazing capacity makes this very, very attractive. Imagine over 100,000 watching the NCAA Championship game! It could happen. The strike against it could be the fact that this means over-Texas-ing this event (San Antonio in '08, Houston in '11 and now Dallas?). If Dallas pulls this off, it could steal San Antonio's bid down the road.

Ta' hell with Gilbert's high-altitude tent! Pacer hero Danny Granger's got a killer architectural project in the works. From a Granger interview on Pacers.com, via the unstoppable Indy Cornrows:

[W]hen I build a house a couple years down the line, I was telling my fiancée I wanted to have - once again with the superhero thing - you know how Batman drives into a hidden cave? I'm serious. I even met with like a builder and ask if this would be possible -- have a secret entrance to my house that no one knows about. Make it look like whatever, but have a secret way I can get to my house that I could drive my car in. It would probably cost way too much money but I really may think about doing that. Like seriously. I'm dead serious.

Granger's eligible for a contract extension this summer, and he should get $55 million plus for five more years. He's an excellent shooter and defender, a great kid, and the only positive thing Indiana's got going ... sort of like Sacramento's Kevin Martin last year (who got a $55 million deal). Granger can be an All-NBA player in his career. (That might make the Batcave more valuable, actually, considering Jamaal Tinsley's plight.)

Fifteen years ago, the name Peyton was unusual -- birth certificate data indicates that it wasn't even one of the 500 most popular boys' names in America.

But then a freshman named Peyton Manning enrolled at the University of Tennessee, and things started to change. By 1997 -- Manning's senior football season -- Peyton had become the 51st most popular boys' name in the state of Tennessee. And it didn't stop there.

A rumor that has Jermaine O'Neal headed to Cleveland (with the #11 pick) for expiring-in-2009 contracts has picked up plenty of heat over the past week, as happens with most J.O. rumors these days. But Pacers general manager David Morway squashed the idea in a conversation with RealGM's Andrew Perna Friday, saying the teams haven't discussed the center.

"It's tough to answer questions on trades, but in this particular case, I will say that the rumor is completely false," Morway added.

Morway's going to have to squash a lot of J.O. rumors this summer, it seems. Last year, the Lakers rumor strung from May to October and beyond, and almost became one of those inevitabilities, like Ron Artest-for-Peja Stojakovic circa 2005.

Indiana's decision (or inability, who knows) to begin the rebuilding process over the past 12 months has been a bit astonishing. The team has one solid youngster (Danny Granger) and two interesting roleplayer prospects (Shawne Williams and Ike Diogu). The team's best player (Mike Dunleavy Jr.) turns 28 this fall and might have just completed a huge fluke year. The highest paid player (J.O.) played only 1,200 minutes this season and has hit the 30-year-old wall of (potential) doom. The #11 pick could add a great piece ... but the Pacers need many great pieces to begin the healing process. Hopefully, they started working on that sometime soon, lest Indiana fans be trapped in the too-good-to-draft-a-franchise-player, too-bad-to-contend purgatory.