Can Pacers Camp Invite Julyan Stone Make the NBA?
The only reason I knew about Julyan Stone before he signed with the Pacers was he joined the Toronto Raptors in 2014, the same year that former Pacer legends Tyler Hansbrough and D.J. Augustin headed north of the border.
When Hansbrough and Augustin joined Toronto, I started following the team to see how the they fared. While looking at box scores, I saw Stone’s name listed among the bench players.
Stone, who came to the Raptors via the Denver Nuggets, where he had signed as a free agent in December 2011, played sparingly for the Raptors. However, his 21 games were more than Augustin’s 10. Although Augustin averaged 2.1 ppg to Stone’s 0.9 ppg, Augustin shot only 29.1% from the field during his tenure with the Raptors, while Stone’s field goal percentage was 41.2%.
Stone also stayed with the Raptors for the entire 2014 season. Augustin, on the other hand, was cut from the Raptors in December 2013 in order to absorb the four players the Sacramento Kings traded to the Raptors (Greivis Vasquez, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, and Chuck Hayes) for Rudy Gay, Quincy Acy, and Aaron Gray.
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But Stone’s fortunes got worse after the Sacramento/Toronto trade. He played in only six games after December 10, 2013. The 2 points he scored in the that December 10 contest against the San Antonio was the last time he put points on the board.
Stone later played one preseason game with Oklahoma City Thunder on October 9, 2015.
He later caught on with the 2016 Milwaukee Bucks’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, averaging 2.8 ppg and 1.4 rpg during an average of 18.6 minutes on the floor.
Coming to Indiana Pacers Training Camp
When I saw that the Indiana Pacers picked up Stone for training camp, I wondered what about Stone would be of any interest to the Pacers. During his three years in the NBA, Stone has career averages of 1.3 ppg, 1.0 rpg, and 1.1 apg.
What may be enticing to the Pacers may be the numbers he put up overseas in 2015 and 2016, particularly his rebounding statistics. Stone averaged 7.6 rpg along with 7.1 ppg and 4.1 apg in 41 games he played with Umana Reyer Venezia (Italy-Serie A) in 2015. He made the Top 10 leaderboards for Lega Serie A for offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, total rebounds, assists, rebounds per game, and assists per game.
Although his regular season numbers for Royal Hali (Turkey) in 2016 were lower (4.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg and 1.8 apg), his all-around game experienced a surge during Europe Cup. In the 12 Europe Cup games Stone played for Royal Hali, he led the team in rebounding with 6.6 rpg and averaged 7.0 ppg and 2.6 apg.
A story on Eurobasket concerning his signing with the Pacers had positive things to say about Stone’s attributes as a point guard.
"A very big and quick point guard who enjoys distributing the ball more than scoring. A brilliant decision maker, he can hit a shot if left open. Very good defender and rebounder, the only question mark is will teams allow him to play his natural position at the NBA level which is PG because of his size. Most of the scouts believe that he can be a great point guard at the NBA level because he poses such a high basketball I.Q. He showed winning mentality, ability to never force anything and to concentrate on running his team offense. He is a very good defender with quick hands and will do whatever it takes to win."
If Stone could find a way to replicate the rebound prowess he showed overseas, he may have a future in the NBA once again. The 7.0 rpg Stone averaged in Europe Cup play is just shy of the team-leading 7.1 rpg Ian Mahinmi had in 2016. Stone’s rebounding average in 2016 Europe Cup play also is close to the 7.2 rpg Lance Stephenson had for the Pacers in 2014.
Stone’s NBA defensive rebound average is also 13.3 percent, and he averaged 17.6 percent while with Toronto in 2014. Stephenson’s 2014 defensive rebounding average was 18.1 percent.
A statistic of caution might be Stone’s NBA career turnover percentage of 23.4 percent. On the other hand, having averaged only 7.0 minutes per game in his NBA career, that statistic might not be that meaningful. With the Milwaukee Bucks Summer League team, he averaged 18 minutes and only one turnover per game.
On the Pacers, there is really no room for Stone. Not only are they already over the maximum roster size of 15 with 16 players under contract, but the point guard position for the Pacers is especially crowded. Jeff Teague, Aaron Brooks, and Joe Young are locked in, and both Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey can run the point in a pinch.
So, obviously, Stone will not make the Pacers’ regular season roster. However, there is some disagreement on where he will go.
Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors has him going to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. While ESPN also has Stone being waived, he’s not listed as a player that will eventually become part of the Mad Ants roster.
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With two solid seasons of international play, it would be more likely that Stone will land on another international team. But don’t be shocked if you see him playing in the NBA again some day.