8p9s Roundtable: Draft Lottery Dreaming
By Jared Wade
5. Should the Pacers be drafting for need or for the best player available?
Washburn: Best player available. The Pacers aren’t necessarily “set” at a single position. Sure, if Paul George comes back healthy, he’s a lock to start for the next decade…but it’s not like Indiana is just crawling with lots of wing depth. Upgrading the power forward slot is probably the biggest “need,” but the Pacers aren’t good enough to simply force a mediocre player into a small hole and turn them into an instant contender.
Gibson: Best player. While they have to plan for the future, at power forward in particular, drafting a trade chip might be best for a team that needs to make a move to get back to being a championship contender. Outside of Paul George and George Hill, anyone else is likely to quickly be packaged in a trade.
Bishop: Best player available. Once the draft gets into the double-digit picks, it start to become a crapshoot. The Pacers could use any position — someone who can back up George Hill or play as a secondary ball-handler or a big man who can compete with Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi for minutes.
Ochoa: The Pacers should probably draft the best player available. They don’t know what they need yet. We haven’t seen this Pacers team with a healthy Paul George in over a year, so I’d say we grab the best possible talent, then either move him or find a role for him on the squad.
Medworth: I’m interested in best player available. The Pacers could use upgrades all around, so why not grab best available when your number is called. Unless you happen to know Roy Hibbert is opting out and then …
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