2017 NBA Draft Combine: Who are the Pacers looking at?
By Josh Padmore
Kevin Pritchard and the Indiana Pacers did their part during the two-day NBA Draft Combine.
The NBA Draft Combine is an event where draft prospects do all sorts of measurements and testing. Some get to play in five-on-five scrimmages. Kevin Pritchard, Larry Bird and Nate McMillan were all in attendance over the two day period.
Pritchard spent a lot of the time catching up with league executives, former NBA players and analysts, according to Nate Taylor of the IndyStar. Larry Bird looked comfortable in his new role with the team as an adviser.
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In what many call a loaded draft class, the Pacers got to meet with some of the prospects. T.J. Leaf of UCLA, Donovan Mitchell of Louisville, John Collins of Wake Forest and Dwayne Bacon of Florida State highlight the list. We also found out who will be at the first pre-draft workout for the Pacers on Monday: Josh Hart, Caleb Swanigan, Monte Morris, Derrick White, Jordan Bell and Wesley Iwundu.
As Nate Taylor pointed out in one of his recent insiders, Collins and Leaf are two of the more intriguing prospects Indiana got to talk to at the combine.
Leaf has great range for a big man, as he shot 46.6 percent from 3-point range. He also showed nice passing ability, averaging 2.4 assists. Playing with Lonzo Ball, a top prospect in the draft, was obviously beneficial for him. He averaged 16.3 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Collins is more of an athletic big man. Most of his baskets came around the rim during the 2016-2017 season. However, Collins is working hard on his perimeter shooting. He averaged 19.2 points per game and 9.8 rebounds per game. Collins also shot a whopping 62.2 percent from the field. In fact, Collins is the first player to average 19 points, 9.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks and shoot over 60 percent from the field in the ACC since 1993. Tim Duncan, who also attended Wake Forest, is the only other player to accomplish that.
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Kevin Pritchard likes to be active during drafts. It will be interesting to see what he does this year for the Pacers. The Pacers have the 18th and 47th picks in the draft. Will they move up, will they stand pat or will they move their picks? Time will tell. The NBA Draft is on June 22.