NBA insider breaks who the Pacers will send to the draft lottery

The Indiana Pacers have made a decision who will represent the team at the NBA draft lottery, which they find themselves in for the second year in a row.

Last year’s pick, Bennedict Mathurin, had quite the rookie season and the team will be looking to continue with their drafting success in 2023. But before we can have a successful draft, we have to know, which exact pick will the Pacers have?

NBA Insider, Marc Stein, has said that the Pacers intend to send Tyrese Haliburton as their NBA Draft Lottery representative.

Last year, the assistant general manager Kelly Krauskoopf was the Pacers representative, where the Pacers received the 6th pick in the NBA draft. This is a marked change for the Pacers sending Haliburton, and a good one at that, to have a player and face of the franchise on the stage. This is something that only a handful of teams did last year, including newly traded Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings.

It appears that the Pacers finally have a willing long-term face of the franchise.

Many of us thought that Victor Oladipo would become this long-term face until he decided he famously wanted to ask other teams if he could come play with them. Since then, the Pacers have really been searching for a leader both on and off of the court. Having Haliburton represent the team at the draft is a good next step to building that platform for him to stand on for Pacers nation.

This comes after the recent news that the team sees Haliburton as somewhat of a partner in decision making about the franchise direction. I see hope that the Pacers are better learning how to cater to superstars and keep them here in Indiana for the long-haul.

Now let’s just hope that he has the magic touch as it relates to the lottery.