T.J. Leaf’s perfect night reminds us why the Pacers drafted him

T.J. Leaf went a perfect 6 of 6 on Saturday night, reminding us why the Indiana Pacers drafted the power forward from UCLA.

Everything went right for the Indiana Pacers in their rout of the Chicago Bulls. While that’s slight hyperbole, you wouldn’t be wrong to say TJ Leaf’s night went perfectly as far as his shooting.

Leaf went 6 of 6 from the field and 3 of 3 from beyond the arc on his way to a 15 point night. It wasn’t a career-high (he set that in his second game, at 17 points), but it serves as a reminder that the rookie’s shooting is why the Pacers put their hope in him when they drafted him in the first round last summer.

Saturday night’s perfection raised his field goal percentage to 47.1% on the season while he now hits just over half his 3-point attempts.

He also did this to Paul Zipser.

Thanks to Indiana’s depth in the frontcourt, though, his opportunities are limited this season as he only gets 9 minutes per a game, playing in 30 of the Pacers 39 games. Most the time those are either deep-rotation or garbage minutes and Indiana’s limited him to 10 games where he played more than 10 minutes.

The results are mixed in those games as his defense is still an issue, but it isn’t a surprise that even in extended minutes he is still a knockdown shooter.

While he isn’t seeing the court much, the Pacers haven’t forgotten about him.

Indiana is learning to use their G League team properly so they sent the rookie down to polish his game in December, and the results weren’t surprising. Leaf made the most of his time with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants as he averaged 23.3 points on 56.4% shooting while making 50% of his 3-point attempts.

Who does TJ Leaf compare to?

It is hard to know the career arc of Leaf at this point. Two of his pre-draft comparisons included Nick Collison and Chandler Parsons. The Collison one is off if for no other reason than he shoots more 3-pointers. Leaf is yet to show the athletism that made Parson a wing, either.

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His athleticism is there, but it’s more than some of the shooters one might compare him to, but he isn’t as much of an athlete as a wing player. That’s not to say he is clumsy or anything, but he isn’t going to question the laws of gravity, either.

While he shoots 3-pointers and shoots them well, it’s a stretch to think he might end up like Kyle Korver or Mike Miller, who are smaller than him anyway and don’t like to mess around in the paint. Maybe we need to use Daryl Morey’s rule of cross-race comparisons (or just not making them) so we don’t end up with four other white guys.

Leaf is a power forward who isn’t afraid to get dirty, either. Over a third of his shots come within 3 feet of the basket and he makes over half of those attempts. He is perfect for the modern NBA as he tries to either be at the rim or beyond the arc while he avoids too many long-range 2-pointers.

The other struggle for a comparison is his defensive skills or lack of. Leaf’s defense likely won’t ever be anything other than a liability, but he can be developed into at least a defender that is more than a body on the floor. If he does that, then maybe the Pacers will feel more comfortable in extending his minutes.

Next: The Pacers have waived Damien Wilkins

But instead of worrying about who to compare him to, just realize the Pacers have a power forward who isn’t afraid at all to let shots go from deep, and more importantly, he makes them.