Wide variety of draft talent works out for Pacers on Monday
By Tony East
The Indiana Pacers continue to do their due diligence with pre-draft workouts, bringing in six more players on Monday.
It is June 11th. The 2018 NBA draft is now just 10 days away, and the Indiana Pacers have two important selections to make. They are looking far and wide at all the prospects they can, and they have now completed three sets of pre-draft workouts. They just concluded watching another six prospects on the 11th.
The most recent players brought in included guys with a wide variety of upside. The group included European prospect Dzanan Musa, Devon Hall from the University of Virginia, Thomas Welsh from UCLA, Tyler Wideman from Butler Univerity, Bruce Brown Jr from Miami (FL) University, and Melvin Frazier from Tulane.
Musa, Brown, and Frazier are all top-35 prospects with a chance to be selected in the first-round. Hall is on the fringes of the draft, and it is unlikely Welsh or Wideman gets picked at all. Let’s take a closer look at these guys.
Melvin Frazier
Frazier is a slightly undersized wing who can defend extremely well but is raw on offense. To read more about Frazier, check out Jacob Breece’s breakdown of him from a few weeks ago. He could be a lovely fir for the Indiana Pacers.
Devon Hall
Hall comes from the University of Virginia as a combo guard with more off-ball skills than on-ball. At 6’5, he can do a lot on offense. He has a sweet stroke from the outside, he shot 43.2 percent from deep his senior season at UVA. That and his 89.4 percent free throw shooting suggest he could be a lethal shooter at the pro level.
He improved every year of college and has largely been considered one of the most mature guys in the draft process. A high IQ guy like Hall who can stroke it would be a solid fit for the Pacers at pick 50.
Tyler Wideman
Wideman generated a lot of local buzz because he went to Butler here in Indianapolis. He shot a ridiculous 67.2 percent from the field his senior season as a Bulldog and started over 100 games in his collegiate career.
Wideman is undersized for a big man at 6’8, and he doesn’t really stretch the floor; he shot just six threes total in four seasons at Butler. But Wideman is a motorman who works his tail off, and he could fit in superbly with the culture the Pacers have created, especially as a local guy.
Wideman is not projected to be selected in the draft and likely won’t be. But the Indiana Pacers could sign him as an undrafted free agent or even bring him into the organization via the G League, so bringing him in for a workout was still important to get more intel on him even though he likely won’t be picked.
Thomas Welsh
Good luck finding anyone as tall as Welsh who hit 40 percent of their threes in college. Welsh is 7’0 and canned 43 of his 116 threes as a UCLA Bruin.
And he wasn’t just a floor spacer. He pulled down 10.8 rebounds per game and is very poised in all of his interviews. He’s a smart player with NBA skills that fit the modern game. Welsh could be a solid role player someday and a sneaky good pick in the later part of the draft.
TJ Leaf and Ike Anigbogu used to be teammates with Welsh, so he could fit in right away with the youngins. He is weak, but he is a solid enough defender and plays well as a modern big man, so he could be a nice second-round selection for the Pacers. However, he is currently not projected to be drafted, so the Pacers may just try to sign him as an undrafted free agent.
Bruce Brown Jr.
Brown is a skilled shooting guard who just forgot how to shoot during his sophomore season at Miami (Florida). He does tons of other things well though and could be a worthy addition to the Pacers. Check out Luke Parrish’s in-depth breakdown of Brown here.
Dzanan Musa
The headliner of this group is also the guy with the most question marks.
Musa comes from the club team KK Cedetiva in Croatia. It is hard to compare European and NCAA prospects since there is more available data on NCAA players, but Draft Express seemed to like Musa with their glowing review:
"“Among the most hyped international draft prospects in recent memory, Musa had a prolific, but less than efficient showing at the FIBA U18 European Championship, where he averaged 20.2 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game after a dominant showing at last summer’s FIBA U17 World Championships. A confident, aggressive scorer with instincts well beyond most players his age, Musa is a dynamic creator and shot-maker who will be tested against the talented group of prospects assembled here. NBA scouts love Musa’s scoring instincts, but there are some question marks about how his average athleticism, hunched frame, and ball-dominant style of play will translate against better players. Make no mistake, though, Musa is one of the top prospects at this camp and might be watched more closely than any player in attendance.”"
Musa can flat out score, and because he did it against the second best league in the world over in Europe, he is considered to be a very good prospect. The Indiana Pacers would be happy snagging him and his offensive prowess with the 23rd pick in the first round.
Next: Thaddeus Young may decline his player option with the Pacers
As the Indiana Pacers continue to work out players, they continue to add data for the guys they like. There is a chance that anyone they work out could be a player they choose, so keep a close eye out for these guys throughout the remainder of the draft process.