Indiana Pacers: What are the odds they might try a trade during NBA Draft?

The Indiana Pacers don’t have a first-round pick this year. Is there an argument to be made for trading into the first round this year? 

Last summer, the Indiana Pacers opted to send their 2020 first-round NBA Draft pick to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon in a sign-and-trade.

The Pacers own no other first-round picks this year. Just as any team does when they enter the NBA Draft with no picks, regardless of whatever shape it takes on this year, they will prepare and scout first-round prospects and weigh the pros and cons of trading in.

No team can ever predict what pick might become available and at what cost. Writing off participation in the first-round altogether and showing up unprepared would be a bad move and uncharacteristic for the Pacers.

Should the Indiana Pacers trade into the first round of the NBA Draft?

The answer to this question is a resounding (but cautious) no — at least for now.

Right now, we have no answers about how the NBA Draft is going to proceed. The draft is a crapshoot every year to some degree — free agency is a far more calculated way to add players to your team since you’re not picking raw talent — but this year the waters are murkier than ever.

First, the Pacers need to consider the cost. As I mentioned above, you can’t ever put a clear dictation on what picks will become available and for how much. If a true bargain bin deal shows up at the end of the first round that the Pacers feel they can’t miss on, they must make that decision swiftly.

And there’s a possibility picks free up for cheap this year. Because of how murky the draft is going to be and how teams will be disadvantaged with talent identification this season, teams may be willing to part with their picks for a low cost. Indiana must factor this into the equation, though, and try to ensure that the long view of what they are trying to build will be fortified by any deal they make.

Second, the Pacers must consider where the pick is, who they’ll be able to grab with it, and how much they know about that player. Are they a sure thing? If not, are they willing to take the gamble on developing them behind the scenes for the start of their career?

While some fans might say that the team needs to be focused on winning, remember that building a winner is a marathon and not a sprint.

If the Pacers can get a prospect that they’re high on in the late first-round for a lower price than normal due to the conditions of this year’s draft, that can propel them to competitiveness years down the road. Building a winner is about developing raw talent that can grow and take over once currently competitive players move on and having a rotating offering of growing talent to inject to the rotation.

Still, the Pacers might not know enough to say “that’s out guy” with anyone in the first round. The Draft Combine might not happen, and there may be a condensed period of time where scouts can even run individual workouts and meetings with players safely before the draft this year.

The Pacers need to remember why they gave their pick up in the first place, too. They signed Malcolm Brogdon to a four-year deal in the sign-and-trade with Milwaukee. Essentially, that’s their future investment with the first-rounder this year.

The Pacers already won the draft by securing a high-quality point guard for four entire seasons. Getting greedy might not push the results further and could deplete the resources and assets the Pacers have to get further talent down the road in future more certain drafts.

The long view is important here, and there are factors to weigh. The way I see it, though, no way the Pacers can get a first-round pick for dirt cheap, even if the price is lower this year than in others.

There is also no way will they know enough about a guy to make a sprint at him on draft night. Even two second-round picks feels to steep to offer up for a late first-rounder this year.

Keep the assets for later. Focus on the talent in-house for now, and remember that this year’s draft pick wasn’t valuable enough to keep. The value in this year’s draft has only diminished since that decision was made.