8p9s Roundtable: Who would you take at No. 18?

We went around the horn and made our picks for who the Indiana Pacers should select with the 18th pick in the draft. Answers varied, so read on and find out!

The 2017 NBA Draft is finally upon us, and the Pacers’ choice with the 18th pick is far from certain. Any number of guys could be available, so we decided the best way to predict what they’d do would be to guess as many different players as possible and hope that one sticks. What follows is that attempt, with special guest Ian Levy, EIC of The Step Back and Senior Editor of FanSided NBA.

Please enjoy!

Ian Levy: With Paul George all but gone, the most important thing for the Pacers at No. 18 (from my perspective), is a young player who hews to the style this team wants to play moving forward. The timeline has to be focused on Myles Turner’s prime, and what kind of team they’d like to be three or four years down the road.

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Over the past two seasons, Indiana has talked about playing pace-and-space but they’ve filled the lineup with good offensive players who don’t necessarily add much spacing. The pursuit of those offensive players has often meant a defensive sacrifice as well. At No. 18, I think the Pacers would do well to worry less about position, but target a player with balanced offensive/defensive potential and a 3-point shot in their toolbox.

In terms of bigs, that probably means Justin Patton (3-point shot is still mostly a hypothetical) or T.J. Leaf (a lower defensive ceiling). On the wing, it’s someone like Derrick White or Josh Hart (both a little on the older end of the spectrum) or Terrance Ferguson (seems like more bust potential). I think any of that group would be a reasonable choice — someone like Jawun Evans or Bam Adebayo would not fit the criteria I’ve laid out and seem like more of a reach. The Pacers could also dig a little deeper for someone like Semi Ojeleye or D.J. Wilson.

In the end, I’m much less concerned with the specific player than finding someone who has some upside but also fits the generalized team needs. If you had to put me in the G.M. chair, I guess I’d take T.J. Leaf and hope he could develop into a David Lee on offense and the opposite of a David Lee on defense.

Ryan Barth: The Pacers need to try and stockpile high upside picks and Harry Giles was the No. 1 recruit in his class before heading to Duke. His various injuries forced him into a limited role in college (3.8 PPG and 3.9 RPG), but he’s the kind of player you can mold into a star if he can just stay on the court. His recent workouts have drawn rave reviews and if he can develop a decent mid-range and/or three-point shot, he’s at least a poor man’s Chris Bosh. Giles has the wingspan and explosiveness teams now covet as opposed to plodding big men who can neither run fast, jump high nor shoot with accuracy. The main concerns here are the fact Giles only played more than 20 minutes in a college game just once and the mental hurdle he still needs to overcome after tearing his ACL in both knees in high school. He’s definitely not a player to expect much from in year one or even year two, but he represents the kind of potential you rarely see this late in the first round if he’s still on the board when the Pacers pick.

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Luke Parrish: Assuming there are no bizarre lottery selections Thursday night, I would love to see the Pacers take Jarrett Allen of Texas at No. 18. He may be raw, but his potential and upside are intriguing. He has a ton of length and athleticism, and pairing him with fellow Longhorn Myles Turner could pay off. The two would wreak havoc around the rim and make opponents think twice before attacking the basket. Imagine the “Texas Two-Step”, as I like to call it, making headlines around the NBA for sending would-be shots into the bleachers every single night.

With reports that Lance is the starting point guard moving forward, the Pacers may as well go all out on defense. Adding Allen inside with Turner would take pressure off the offense. I know there are plenty of other talented, NBA-ready guys available, but I love Jarrett Allen. Sure, the Pacers may need wing scorers and two-way threats, but I really think Allen has the tools to be a star and he will be fun to watch, which will be enough to draw a crowd in today’s NBA. Although he is raw and has a way to go before being a true NBA starter, I think his potential and pure athleticism make him an obvious first-round talent. I’m a sucker for shot-blockers and defensive fiends, so he is my guy at 18.

Dylan Hughes: I would like to see the Pacers take Michigan forward DJ Wilson with the 18th pick in the draft. Wilson didn’t get much attention until later on in the scouting season after his solid Big Ten and NCAA Tournament run, and hasn’t been mocked in the lower 20s until just recently.

It’s good to see Wilson getting more attention; he’s a borderline lottery talent. Wilson’s offensive skill and defensive tools make him an easy fit on any team in the league. With the Pacers likely to rebuild this season and still in need of a long-term frontcourt partner for Myles Turner, taking a shot on Wilson at No. 18 would be a wise choice.

At No. 18, there won’t be any players available with the upside of Wilson. A team ahead of Indiana could take the same shot on Wilson, but I personally think he will still be there.

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Wilson has some strength issues on both ends. He tries to avoid contact on drives to the rim and isn’t able to contain bigger, stronger players on defense. His strengths far outweigh his weaknesses, however. Wilson is extremely skilled on offense. He shot 37.3 percent on 110 attempts last season at Michigan–including this huge shot. He’s great at finding the ball for open dunks–whether it be from backdoor cuts, grabbing missed shots off the rim or leaking out after defensive rebounds. On defense, Wilson boasts a 7-foot-3 wingspan along with his 6-foot-11, 240-pound build. He sometimes fades out on defense, ball-watching instead of keeping track of his man. But he can sit down, slide and defend the perimeter.

If the Pacers are looking for young players that could be potential starters on a good team down the line–and it’s fair to assume they are–Wilson should be the choice should he still be available.

Tony East: Assuming the Pacers only first-round pick is pick No. 18, this pick is very important. It represents Kevin Pritchards first chance to get an asset in his own era, and represents the first asset of the (likely) post PG era. It is very important that the Pacers nail this pick.

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The Pacers pretty much need anything that is not a center. That said, with how many point guards appear to be available league wide, combined with the lack of good point guards outside the top 10, I wouldn’t pick a point guard either.

With that in mind, my choices would all be wings or stretch-fours. I love Donovan Mitchell, but it appears that everyone does as he is flying up draft boards and will likely already be selected. Luke Kennard would be another guy I would like, solely for his shooting upside, but it looks less and less likely that he will be available either.

OG Annunoby is awesome and would be a great pick if he falls to No. 18 (IU graduate). Outside of those guys, im a big fan of Justin Jackson and Harry Giles. Giles probably has the biggest risk/reward in the whole draft, but it could be a huge reward. Jackson, while older, is a great shooter and a solid defender, perfect for the modern NBA.

I’m also a big fan of Terrance Ferguson and Jawun Evans and would be happy if the Pacers picked either of them. I hope the staff has done their due diligence.

Jeremy Comstock: OG Anunoby

Even though he is still on the roster, for all intents and purposes, Paul George is gone. His immanent departure will leave the Pacers with exactly zero above-average wing defenders on the roster. If he is there at No. 18 and the Pacers draft him, Anunoby will immediately be the best wing defender on the roster. In the landscape of the modern NBA, the importance of having a big, elite wing defender cannot be understated. Looking at the current landscape, we see players like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, and Giannis Antetokounmpo carrying their respective teams. In a playoff series, you’re going to need someone to guard guys like that for 30+ minutes a night. Anunoby can be that guy. Though I shudder to say this, with OG you have a guy with Artest-like defensive potential – a guy who can not just slow down but potentially disrupt their game in such a way that it dismantles their team’s offense entirely.

There are certainly concerns with Anunoby. He is not good offensively. He ended the season with a torn ACL. He has not been able to work out for any teams. These are major issues. They are also the only reason he will be available, if he’s available, at pick No. 18. On the other hand, he shows great potential to overcome these concerns. He is only 19 years old. Though he played two years of college basketball, he is not substantially older than many one-and-done guys. He is also an extremely intelligent kid (his father is a college professor) with a strong work ethic. His 36 percent shooting on 3-pointers shows that he has potential to develop as a shooter, though that is certainly not a strength at this point.

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Overall, I see Anunoby’s floor as Luc Richard Mbah a Moute – a defensive force with few offensive skills, but who doesn’t hurt you by trying to do things he can’t. However, I think he can be that by age 21, leaving him quite a few years to develop into something far more substantial. If he can develop his offensive game, it’s not hard to project him as a borderline all-star and a consistent All-NBA defensive performer.