The Draft Picks
These ones are pretty simple, as they are all the draft picks of the Indiana Pacers.
The oldest is Paul George, who was taken with the 10th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Six seasons and three All-Star selections later, it is clear that the Pacers made the right choice with that selection.
Last year’s draft gave us Myles Turner (1st round, 11th pick) and Joe Young (2nd round, 43rd pick), with Turner looking more and more like a steal.
Georges Niang (2nd round, 50th pick) impressed at Summer League this year but still has a way to go to make the rotation. But for a second-round pick, any contribution is gravy.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about this group is the lack of further company. Looking back on the team’s recent draft history, there are names that are still in the NBA (Miles Plumlee, maybe Lance Stephenson, and Solomon Hill, to name a few), but Indiana has either traded them away or let them walk. Sure, no one is regretting Tyler Hansbrough’s absence, but it at least seems to me to be surprising that a lot of the guys are gone.
That being said, this may also be another reminder of how hard it is to hit draft picks outside of the top 10 in a given year.
But that’s enough about the draft picks, let’s move on to another group of simple transaction trees: Free agents.
Next: The Free Agents