The Official Indiana Pacers 2016 Draft Primer

This is the first part of our Indiana Pacers Draft Preview series, offering a an overview of who might be available when the Pacers pick 20th. For deeper-dive analysis on the potential players that Indiana may select, check out break downs of playmakers, wings and bigs.

Well, that’s over. Congratulations to LeBron, Kyrie, the entire city of Cleveland, and even you, Kevin Love (and of course, this includes the tangential shout out to Stone Cold Steve Austin). I wasn’t able to breathe for two solid days. The NBA, man, it seldom disappoints.

But it’s June 20, and that means the NBA Draft is upon us.

After a great bounce-back year that saw Paul George return better than ever, Myles Turner flash glimpses of a potential All-Star career, and George Hill silence some skeptics (at least for three days in mid-May), the Indiana Pacers will select 20th on Thursday night.

Even though he’s swung and missed on a few free-agent moves, Larry Bird’s career as an executive has been mostly good, especially regarding the draft (and especially if we pretend the whole Tyler Hansbrough thing never happened). Counted among Bird’s draft day successes are Danny Granger, Paul George, Lance Stephenson, Roy Hibbert, Myles Turner, and I suppose even Kawhi Leonard. It’s obviously dicier picking at 20, but history proves that game changers are often still available this late in the draft.

Looking at the Big Boards

Perhaps the most difficult part of a draft preview for a team selecting this late is evaluating who will actually be available when the Pacers finally step up to the podium. Great talents occasionally free-fall for ridiculous reasons, but you don’t need me to tell you that, obviously, the Pacers should snap up Kris Dunn if he inexplicably falls all the way to them.

Basically, we need to a priori cross some guys off of our hypothetical list before we start sorting through the prospects that will realistically be available for the Pacers. To do this, I compared my “Big Board” with six other respected Big Boards from around the internet, including Kevin O’Connor, DraftExpress.com, Chard Ford, Sports Illustrated, NBADraft.net, and Doug Gottlieb.

Jon Washburn

Kevin O’Connor

Draft Express

Chad Ford

Sports Illustrated

NBADraft.net

Doug Gottlieb

Ben Simmons*

Brandon Ingram

Ben Simmons

Brandon Ingram

Ben Simmons

Kris Dunn

Ben Simmons

Brandon Ingram

Ben Simmons

Brandon Ingram

Kris Dunn

Dragan Bender

Kris Dunn

Dragan Bender

Jaylen Brown

Brandon Ingram

Kris Dunn

Jamal Murray

Kris Dunn

Dragan Bender

Jamal Murray

Jaylen Brown

Marquese Chriss

Kris Dunn

Buddy Hield

Henry Ellenson

Marquese Chriss

Buddy Hield

Marquese Chriss

Dragan Bender

Henry Ellenson

Dragan Bender

Jakob Poetl

Jaylen Brown

Wade Baldwin

Jamal Murray

Jaylen Brown

Buddy Hield

Marquese Chriss

Jamal Murray

Deyonta Davis

Jamal Murray

Buddy Hield

Marquese Chriss

Jamal Murray

Jaylen Brown

Buddy Hield

Timothe Luwawu

Jakob Poetl

Dejounte Murray

Jakob Poetl

Domantas Sabonis

Buddy Hield

Wade Baldwin

Marquese Chriss

Skal Labissiere

Domantas Sabonis

Jaylen Brown

Furkan Korkmaz

Domantas Sabonis

Timothy Luwawu

Deyonta Davis

Henry Ellenson

Timothe Luwawu

Dejounte Murray

Deandre Bembry

DeAndre Bembry

Domantas Sabonis

Timothe Luwawu

Jakob Poetl

Deyonta Davis

Marquese Chriss

Domantas Sabonis**

DeAndre Bembry

Henry Ellenson

Furkan Korkmaz

Domantas Sabonis

Damian Jones

Deyonta Davis

Dejounte Murray

Demetrius Jackson

Wade Baldwin

Skal Labissiere

Furkan Korkmaz

Brice Johnson

Timothe Luwawu

Henry Ellenson

Jakob Poetl

Juan Hernangomez

Malachi Richardson

Skal Labissiere

Jakob Poetl

Juan Hernangomez

Denzel Valentine

Chinanu Onuaku

Ivica Zubac

Deyonta Davis

Denzel Valentine

Skal Labissiere

Brice Johnson

Juan Hernangomez

Furkan Korkmaz

Demetrius Jackson

Wade Baldwin

Demetrius Jackson

Caris Lavert

Stephen Zimmerman

Demetrius Jackson

Henry Ellenson

Domantas Sabonis

Juan Hernangomez

Wade Baldwin

Henry Ellenson

Denzel Valentine

Taurean Prince

Juan Hernangomez

Taurean Prince

Thon Maker

Ante Zizic

Malachi Richardson

Wade Baldwin

Jakob Poetl

Ante Zizic

Furkan Korkmaz

DeAndre Bembry

Dejounte Murray

Denzel Valentine

Gary Payton II

Note, these are Big Boards, not Mock Drafts. Mock Drafts typically factor in team needs, and are useful tools in their own way. However, they are more speculative in nature than Big Boards, and are, for my purposes, less helpful.

*Players in bold are in the Top 15 of all seven Big Boards. **Players in italics are in the Top 15 of all but one Big Board. ***Updated Wednesday, June 22 at 9:30am ET.

It’s not the purpose of this post to explain why those players are ranked where they are. (The exeception is Jakob Poetl. I like that dude — seems like a hard worker and all — but I just watched the entire playoffs and I don’t know how he stays on the floor in today’s NBA. He won’t be available for the Pacers at 20, but I have no idea what teams see in him).

Rather, we simply want to know who will likely be available for the Pacers on draft night. Unless Larry Bird surprises everyone with a draft-day trade, any player that is in bold or italics in the above chart will be ignored. In the off chance that any of those 11 players are available when the Pacers are ready to make their selection, they should immediately draft him, as he would have made a precipitous slide. (Unless, as noted above, that man is Jakob Poetl. I’m just going to assume that all of the Pacers fans that went through the Roy Hibbert experience will agree with me and move on.)

Most scouts consider the 2016 Draft to be slightly below average, especially compared to last year’s incredible collection of talent. Still, some intriguing names should be available for the Pacers when they are ready to make their selection.

Playmakers

(For a more in depth look at each of the following playmakers, click here.)

Wade Baldwin: good at everything, long, athletic, and skilled; inconsistent against elite competition.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: George Hill

DeAndre Bembry: a taller Monta Ellis, meaning he has it all, besides a jump shot; poor defender, both physically and mentally.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: A Less Mercurial Lance Stephenson

Dejounte Murray: a great athlete with ridiculous length (6’10” wingspan) and good court vision; tends to put his head down and “do his thing” rather than adjusting to what the defense gives him.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Jamal Crawford

Denzel Valentine: the most intelligent player in the draft, can shoot, dribble, pass, and score; so could Evan Turner; the lateral quickness remains a problem.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Evan Turner

Demetrius Jackson: spark plug point guard that would thrive in a sixth man role; probably too inconsistent on both ends to be a starting point guard on a playoff team.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: A Poor Man’s Jeff Teague

Tyler Ulis: jet-quick point guard with elite court vision and “Big Shot” instincts; he’s short and skinny, will probably be impossible to play as a part of good defensive lineups.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Darren Collison

Shooters

(For a more in depth look at the available wings in the draft, click here.)

Furkan Korkmaz: fluid athlete that might be the best shooter in the draft; gets abused defensively because of his slight frame.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Poor Man’s Evan Fournier

3-and-D Wings

Timothe Luwawu: explosive athlete with deep range; slow release hinders his one-on-one capabilities.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Homeless Man’s Kawhi Leonard

Malik Beasley: great shooter with above average athleticism; a little spastic on both ends, tends to struggle against elite competition.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Poor Man’s J.J. Redick

Malcolm Brogdon: good athlete with ridiculous length and a nice shooting stroke; almost 24 already with (perceived) less upside.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Danny Green

Stretchy-Fours

Taurean Prince: NBA-ready body with good offensive instincts; played a funky zone at Baylor, so nobody knows whether he can actually defend.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Harrison Barnes

Juan Hernangomez: crafty and intelligent stretch four with explosive leaping ability and nice shooting stroke; below average lateral quickness.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Poor Man’s Rashard Lewis

Bigs

Deyonta Davis: long, athletic big man that terrorizes the glass and attacks the rim with ferocity; perhaps a little too lean to guard NBA bigs.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Nerlens Noel

Skal Labissiere: every physical tool in the book, though he’s not as freakish athletically as once thought; a project, he’s only played basketball for a few years.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: A Less Intelligent Myles Turner

Damian Jones: huge man with great athletic ability; almost no feel for the game and lacks many discernible basketball skills.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: Todd MacCulloch

Ante Zizic: he’s enormous; basketball skills…probably?

Realistic Best Case Scenario: A Miniature Boban

Brice Johnson: skilled big man with a high motor that never stops; not skilled enough to be a 4, but probably too small to be a 5.

Realistic Best Case Scenario: A More Athletic Tyler Hansbrough

The Enigma

Thon Maker: Nobody really has any idea — but this video is so delicious.

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