What do the Indiana Pacers draft picks mean for the rest of the roster?

Aaron Holiday and Alize Johnson are now members of the Indiana Pacers organization. What does that mean for the rest of the roster?

After a long draft night that was full of less surprise than most expected, the Indiana Pacers wound up with two new additions to their organization: Aaron Holiday and Alize Johnson.

Adding two young players is fun. Really it is what makes the draft so intriguing: you are guaranteed to have a chance to select a young player who could one day help your team be better. For some prospects, that “one day” comes sooner than others.

Kevin Pritchard admitted as much last night. During his post-draft press conference, he was fielding questions about the Pacers draftees and what their roles might be next season on the team.

First, KP addressed the thought of Aaron Holiday getting playing time this upcoming season:

Not long after, Alize Johnson was the subject of discussion:

Let’s start with Johnson since it sounds like he won’t be playing much and this could be easier to discuss.

It seems unlikely, given Pritchard’s comment, that Johnson would get much playing time in his rookie season. That isn’t a shock, he was the 50th pick after all. But there also isn’t really much of an opening at the power forward position. Thaddeus Young could be back as the starter. Pritch has made it known that he wants a stretch four and that he wants Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner to play together more frequently. Combine that with this comment from last night:

And there you have it: the Pacers power forward rotation is already set, albeit with a few kinks to iron out. Pritchard’s comments on Johnson’s shooting form (I saw him shoot at his draft workout, it isn’t pretty) suggest they view him as a project that could have high upside if he figures the shot mechanics out.

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So, from a 2018-19 perspective, the Johnson pick likely means nothing. He could become a recipient of a two-way contract or he could be signed to an affiliate contract to play with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for the season. How he performs in Vegas Summer League could influence the front office’s decision on what contract to give him. Either way, it is hard to envision him having a role on the Pacers this coming year, and it is even harder to see him impacting the plans the Pacers had for the rotation already.

Aaron Holiday, on the other hand, could shake some trees.

I think Pritchard made a key distinction in his quote about Aaron Holiday when he said “third point guard position”. That means that the Pacers likely want Holiday playing exclusively (or mostly) point guard his rookie season. Another thing to key in on: specifying that Holiday would be the third point guard, not the third guard in general, means that Cory Joseph will likely remain the backup point guard and could continue to play spot minutes at shooting guard. No surprises there.

But the distinction that Holiday will play exclusively at the 1 is good for a guy like Lance Stephenson. The Pacers will need the shooting guard depth if Holiday is only playing one position, and Lance offers that. It seems like Stephenson’s playing time for the Indiana Pacers in 2018-19 will be impacted minimally by the selection of Holiday. Assuming the Pacers pick up Lance’s team option, this pick bodes just fine for him.

But the Holiday pick does affect two guys down more on the fringes: Joe Young and Edmond Sumner.

The distinction that Holiday will be the Pacers third point guard means that Joe Young won’t be the Pacers third point guard. Given that Joe Young has a team option and he will have his role relegated, the Holiday pick makes it incredibly likely that Young is not brought back next season. There is just no point in keeping him. Holiday is four years younger and probably will be better. If Joe Young will never play (4th points guards Trey McKinney-Jones and Edmond Sumner combined for three total minutes last season), then what is the point of keeping him? There isn’t one, and he is likely gone because of it.

Edmond Sumner will probably be back next season because the contract he signed was a two-year two-way contract, meaning he still has another year to develop in the organization. They could waive him with a minimal penalty at any time, but they wouldn’t have drafted him in 2017 if they didn’t believe in him a little, so Sumner will be back in most feasible scenarios.

But the Holiday pick hurts Sumner’s opportunities for development time with the pros. Say the Pacers are up 30 with five minutes to go and they need to hypothetically give a young point guard some reps in garbage time, who are they going to turn to? The answer is Aaron Holiday, the guy they just invested a first-round pick in. This means Sumner will more than likely only get a chance to play any significant pro minutes if there is an injury. Otherwise, he will spend most of his time with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

It should also be noted that something the Indiana Pacers didn’t do could impact the roster next year. They didn’t draft a wing. That bodes well for the likelihood that Glenn Robinson III is given a contract and a chance to return next season, and also suggests the Pacers anticipate Bojan Bogdanovic returning next year.

Next: Pacers plan to keep Darren Collison around for next season

The amount of information we can infer from one night of picks is astounding. The Pacers roster could look largely different next season, or it could look nearly identical. Who knows? But their selections paved the way for a few changes on the fringes of the roster, and they could lead to a few more.