The Indiana Pacers have the sixth pick in this year’s NBA draft. Jaden Ivey won’t likely be available for the team at the sixth spot, but the organization has been loud on being aggressive to get “their guy”.
It will be difficult to land a guy of Ivey’s caliber in my opinion but that doesn’t mean the Pacers won’t try. In fact, I think they will try very hard to go get a player of such caliber.
If the Indiana Pacers were to trade up, would Jaden Ivey be their guy?
The front office was in attendance at the CAA Pro Day to watch players like Jaden Ivey and AJ Griffin who they may have interest in drafting this upcoming June. Among the front office members of the Pacers in attendance were President Kevin Pritchard, GM Chad Buchanan, Assistant GM Kelly Krauskopf, and Head Coach Rick Carlise.
Purdue's Jaden Ivey put his powerful first step, explosiveness and clean shooting stroke on display at the CAA Pro Day yesterday in front of a packed house of NBA decision makers. pic.twitter.com/pRtTD8CExL
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 28, 2022
In Kevin Pritchard’s post lottery interview, he was not shy about the team being aggressive in the upcoming months.
"“We feel comfortable that there’s a great chance we could get one really core young player to add to Tyrese and Chris … and Isaiah (Jackson), and again we’ve got (No. 6), 31, and 58,” Pritchard said. (But) at the end of the day, do we have those? Or do we get really aggressive?”"
Moving into the top four is a realistic option if the Pacers wanted to move a veteran player like Malcolm Brogdon to the Kings for their No. 4 selection this year.
I wonder what Sabonis’ reaction would be when the front office tells him they made a trade for Brogdon and gave up their 4th pick? That would be a conversation I would love to lean in on.
Jaden Ivey is the hometown kid, played at Purdue for the past two seasons, and really flashed over the course of this year. The 20-year-old from South Bend Indiana averaged 17 points a game, 4.9 rebounds, and 3.5 assists before declaring for the NBA draft. I think he will land in the top five of this draft and if the Pacers want him, they will have to make a deal somewhere.
Ivey’s fit would be exciting alongside other recent additions and young core pieces of this roster. If the Pacers have to make trades to move up, they should give it their best effort. The team has the ammunition to make a pleasing offer to any of the top five team’s in this draft.