Hindsight is 20/20: Re-drafting the Pacers’ last 5 first-round draft picks
By Ben Gibson
The Indiana Pacers are often picking in the middle or back end of the first round. With the power of hindsight, we look at who they might have taken over the last six years.
When you know the results, betting on things is a lot easier. You can run a horse race betting con to great success with such information. Today, however, we look back at the last six NBA drafts and ask how the Indiana Pacers might have bet on their future had they know how the prospects would shake out.
Obviously, it will be easy to point out any sleepers now that we’ve seen what they can do, so this isn’t so much so point out mistakes as to wonder what might have happened with the power of seeing into the future.
For this exercise, we’re going to look at the draft board once the Pacers were on the clock. If every team had this power, then there’s no way Myles Turner or Kristaps Porzingis would have went outside of the top 5 in 2015. We’ll also lean heavily on advanced stats more than positional fit or things of that nature.
With our proverbial crystal ball in hand, let’s take a look back at the last handful of drafts that the Pacers had picks in and see how things might have shaken out differently, starting with 2013.
Pacers 2013 Pick: Solomon Hill, the 23rd pick
Our 2013 pick: Rudy Gobert, the 27th pick
Did the Indiana Pacers really need another center when Roy Hibbert was at the peak of his powers? Not really, but it wouldn’t be too bad to have Gobert now either, wouldn’t it?
Gobert averaged 15.9 points and 12.9 rebounds a season after winning the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Not shockingly, he is in the running once again.
He wouldn’t however, helped out the Pacers that much during those two Eastern Conference Finals trips. In his first three seasons in the NBA, Gobert only averaged 7.2 points and 8.5 rebounds while playing 24 minutes a game.
There was a reason for him falling past the Pacers and nearly everyone else. He simply didn’t look or play like the center he is now. When it comes to hindsight, I’m not going to blame anyone for not seeing what Gobert could be then.
The Pacers didn’t have a first-round pick in 2014, so let’s skip ahead to the 2015 NBA draft…