Four aspects where Johnny Furphy can help the Pacers in the present and future
By Mueez Azfar
Shooting
The Indiana Pacers were most known for one thing in the 2023-24 season, and that was putting the ball in the basket. Sure enough, they drafted the perfect young piece to keep that trend going in Johnny Furphy. Furphy can score in a variety of ways, but his strongest point has to be his shooting. In his freshman season at Kansas, over half of his field goal attempts came from beyond the arc, which he drained at an effective 35% clip.
One of the most important aspects of scoring is having a feel for the game, and that is something he provides in abundance. One look at Furphy shooting the ball shows an effortless jumper with a quick and high release point, which can easily translate to the NBA. Sure enough, the main thing people will tell you about him is his ability to shoot the ball and score from all three levels.
From the NBA level, Furphy took 77 threes and hit them at a 36.4% clip, however, 72 of them were from the corner and only five were from elsewhere, which boosted his shot percentage quite a bit. Admittedly, his shooting percentages off-the-dribble and off-screens are not very promising, as he only shot 1/6 off the dribble and 2/19 off-screens.
This was perhaps a big reason why he fell out of the first round, as his current potential is rooted in him being more of a standstill shooter, predominantly from the corner, rather than a movement shooter. This is something that can be worked on at the NBA level, however, as Tyrese Haliburton's movement shooting ability was also called into question before the 2020 NBA Draft, and he turned out fine.