Nate Taylor

IndyStar

It's no secret the Indiana Pacers are still searching for a solution at point guard.

On Thursday, the team continued its pre-draft workouts with two intriguing point guard options at Bankers Life Fieldhouse: Oregon State's Gary Payton II and North Carolina's Marcus Paige.

When the Pacers enter the draft June 23, they will have just one true point guard on their roster: Joe Young, a second-round pick who just finished his rookie season. Ty Lawson, who the team signed in March, is an unrestricted free agent. For most of the season, the Pacers used Monta Ellis and George Hill to initiate the offense, although both aren't known as pass-first players.

In college, Payton and Paige excelled at passing and scoring.

Payton, son of Hall of Famer Gary Payton, averaged 16 points, five assists and 7.8 rebounds per game last season as a sophomore. At 6-3, he hopes to follow his father in becoming a defensive-minded guard who can be steady with the ball in his hands.

“At the next level, I’m going to have to be a pretty true point guard,” Payton said. “I’m a great slasher, so we can run a lot of different options. It just depends on who my other guard is that I’m working with.”

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Paige averaged 12.6 points and 3.8 assists last year and helped lead North Carolina to the national championship game.

“I spent four years playing a lot of games and a lot of minutes in college,” Paige said. “The NBA game is way more spaced out, there’s more room to create and it’s more pick-and-roll heavy. I think that benefits my game, but it’s still an adjustment I’m making.”

For Payton, Thursday’s workout in some ways felt like a small homecoming. When Payton was growing up in Seattle, his father was a teammate of Pacers coach Nate McMillan on the SuperSonics. For eight years, the elder Payton and McMillan played together in the Seattle backcourt. Before and after games, the younger Payton would shoot on the court inside KeyArena.

“He was like an uncle to me,” Payton said of McMillan. “He played with my dad and I was around him and he treated me like I was one of his own. He’s family.”

Payton was hoping to have McMillan watch him during Thursday’s workout, but McMillan missed it because of a prior engagement. That did not stop Payton from thinking about the possibility of McMillan being his first coach in the NBA if the Pacers select him.

“It’d be great,” Payton said. “I would love to work for him, to play for him.”

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Paige was impressed with Payton after competing against him during Thursday’s workout.

“I had heard a lot about him and his athleticism is something that jumps out at you right away,” Paige said. “He’s got really good feet and he’s got great potential as a defender.”

Paige, though, was quick to make his case as to why he could be a success in a Pacers uniform.

Not only was Paige a reliable shooter from behind the arc, but he also played under coach Roy Williams at North Carolina in an up-tempo offense, a style the Pacers want to establish next season. Paige also sees his four-year college career as an advantage that allowed him to mature and be ready for the grind of an NBA season.

“I was projected a lot higher (in mock drafts after) my sophomore year than I am now,” he said. “But we hadn’t won anything at Carolina and I felt like I wanted to get a chance to make a deep run in the tournament and be a part of something special and work further in terms of my degree, which I was able to get. I think it was the right decision for me.”

George to give USA basketball ‘a shot’

Paul George, after his first full season since suffering a compound fracture in his right leg, told ESPN he plans to play for USA Basketball during the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“I didn't give myself enough time to really think it through,” George told ESPN. “I think since I've been off, my body's telling me yes, my mind is telling me yes, people around me are telling me yes. So I feel good about it. And, you know ... I want to give it a shot.”

The last time George was in a USA uniform was August 2014, when he fell on the stanchion during an intrasquad scrimmage and broke his leg.

George is a finalist for the U.S. Olympic team; the final 12-man roster is expected to be set later in June. The team will have a four-day training camp in Las Vegas from July 18-21.

Last season, George led the Pacers to the playoffs in averaging a career-high 23.1 points, seven rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

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Call IndyStar reporter Nate Taylor at (317) 444-6484. Follow him on Twitter: @ByNateTaylor.

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