Pacers Sign Kareem Rush

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers started addressing their need for outside shooting by signing Kareem Rush.

The 6-6, 215-pound guard played last season in the Lithuanian League and was the Baltic League Final Four MVP. Rush, who played college ball for Missouri, was selected in the first round of the 2002 NBA draft by Toronto, which traded his draft rights to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Rush played for the Lakers, Charlotte and Seattle.

The Pacers on Tuesday also signed Stephen Graham and Andre Owens. All three will participate in the team's rookie-free agent camp starting Thursday. They are among 14 players trying to make the cut for the team that will compete in the Pepsi Pro Summer League. The Pacers' first game will be Monday in Orlando.

Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh was excited about Rush, a career 35 percent 3-point shooter in four NBA seasons.

"He's a great shooter," Walsh said Tuesday. "We think he's at the perfect stage in his career to make a step forward. He's got a chance to be a very good player."

Rush helped the Lakers reach the NBA Finals in 2003-04. He averaged a career-best 10.1 points per game for Charlotte in 2005-06, and scored a career-high 35 points against the Pacers on Nov. 16, 2005.

Walsh wouldn't promise that Rush would make the team.

"He certainly showed our coaches and management on our team that he can play," Walsh said. "He's got a very good chance to make the team."

Owens is a former Indiana All-Star from Perry Meridian High School who played one season at Indiana before transferring to Houston. He's a 6-4, 200-pound guard who played last season with Anaheim in the D-League, averaging 16.6 points.

"Andre Owens is a local," Walsh said. "He lives here, and he really played well in the tryout last week."

Graham is a 6-6, 215-pound forward who has played for Portland, Cleveland, Chicago and Houston. Last season, he averaged 18 points and 4.9 rebounds per game and was a D-League All-Star.

Danny Granger and David Harrison are missing from the camp roster after being on the squad the last two years.

Harrison, bothered by shoulder problems much of last season, underwent a procedure on his collarbone in April. He hasn't been cleared to play, but Walsh said his recovery is going well.

Walsh expects Granger to work out with the team so he can get familiar with new coach Jim O'Brien, but the third-year forward isn't expected to participate in the camp or play in the summer league.

Eight of the 14 players on the camp roster are guards because of Indiana's emphasis on improving its outside shooting.