3 Players the Indiana Pacers shouldn’t have given up on

No. 1 Georges Niang

Georges Niang was drafted by the Pacers in the second round. He played one season with the Pacers, being featured in 23 games at 4 minutes per game. In this time, he averaged less than one point per game. After the 16-17 season, the Pacers waived him.

He then had multiple stops in the G-league, eventually landing with the Utah Jazz, who would go on to sign him to a standard contract. It was here the growth started to occur. In his four seasons in Utah he improved his scoring from less than one point per game to 1, 4, 5.9, and 6.9 points per game. Given his steady improvement, Niang was able to secure a higher paying contract with the Philadelphia 76ers.

In Philly, he was able to increase his scoring average to 9.2 and 9.8 points respectively. This is the case of a very talented role player who the Pacers drafted being given up on far too early. Currently he is averaging over 9 points on 44% 3-point shooting and 47% field goal. This is not only just a rotation player, but a very good one with an accurate range shot.

The question for the Pacers is how do they identify better the Georges Niangs of the world, who start slow but could develop into something special, and separate them from the TJ Leaf-like players? Only time will tell if the Pacers can improve their talent identification and development.