The Pacers, perhaps a bit unexpectedly, stood pat during the draft and used all three of their selections. Well, "stood pat" isn't technically correct as they traded up one spot to select Kansas freshman Johnny Furphy with the 35th pick. But that deal was more or less a technicality, as the Pacers only gave up cash to pick at 35 instead of 36.

Furphy makes a ton of sense for Indiana. He's a player that uses off-ball movement and shooting to make defenses pay. Not coincidentally, those two attributes are key to the success of the Pacers' offense. His role for Kansas is one that seemingly always gets a player drafted. Think Gradey Dick, Ochai Agbaji, Christian Braun, Quentin Grimes, Svi Mykhailiuk, Kelly Oubre, Ben McLemore ... hell we can go all the way back to Brandon Rush. The results as pros from that group are all over the board – and it goes without saying Furphy has to carve out his own path – but in the second round, that's a pipeline I'm willing to bet on.

The Pacers could have done a hell of a lot worse than getting a 6'9'' true freshman who contributed on a stacked Kansas team and fits their offense to a T. We know Carlisle will coach him hard and he may not see the floor next year, but the Pacers got a player with a ton of potential and, again, this is worthy punt if there ever was one.

Furphy seems likely to receive a standard contract from the Pacers, via the new second-round pick exception. That route allows the Pacers to sign him to a three or four year deal without using other salary cap exceptions or being forced to put him on a minimum contract.

For a more detailed breakdown of his game, I recommend C. Coop's always insightful analysis.

With the 49th pick in the draft, the Pacers selected a player that anybody paying attention to Kevin Pritchard, Chad Buchanan and Kelly Krauskopf's draft strategy over the past few years had penciled in from the very beginning. Tristan Newton is simply a winner. A guard with good size who led UCONN to back-to-back National Titles. He simply does whatever the team needs him to do. Just watch the video below and count all the buzzwords that you know the Pacers front office looks to for in 2nd round picks.

Newton may not have the upside of Furphy, but he seems primed to follow up Nembhard and Sheppard as the latest Pacers' pick to get playing time over the younger, more talented guy selected ahead of him.

The Pacers took another "culture" guy with the very next pick in Enrique Freeman. Freeman is known as "the best story in the draft."

Freeman was a walk-on at University of Akron. By the end of his career he was the go-to guy on the team and led the Zips to the NCAA tourney by dominating the MAC tournament. He dominated the pre-draft process, parlaying an invite to the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament (a combine for seniors) into an invite to the G-League Elite camp, and that opportunity into an invite to the NBA Combine.

The analytics love him as he led MAC in PER and win shares, both offensive and defensive, as well as box plus/minus. He's a monster rebounder and an accomplished shot blocker. Offensively he has an old school post game that he'll have to abandon in the NBA. While his shooting isn't a strength right now, he can hit the three and there's reason to believe the shot has room for growth.

Physically, his measurables are very similar to Herb Jones. He's older but he's still a bit raw and is another great project for the Pacers.

Check out this article for a better breakdown of his game.

Both Freeman and Newton will likely get Two-Way contracts. "We've got three two-way spots that we'll be filling. There's probably a decent chance that we'll have discussions on that with a couple of [the second round picks]," Buchanan said. I don't expect the team to cut Oscar Tshiebwe loose, so that that puts Isaiah Wong and Quenton Jackson in choppy waters.

Draft Competition Results

Due to my tardiness in posting, Infinity and NorthEast went head to head and tied at 4 points a piece. It was a fun heat to tabulate, with Infinity starting off strong and NorthEast charging back to tie it up.

I'm going to reward participation and send you both t-shirts. Keep your eyes peeled for an email.

Obi Toppin Extension

Obi Toppin is coming back after doing just about everything that could be reasonably expected of him last year. He finished the season with over 100 dunks and 100 threes, proving to be the floor spacing, rim running forward that the Pacers thought they were getting when they traded for him over the summer.

$15 million a year is a fair price to pay for his skillset and is another example of the Pacers front office being excellent at negotiating deals (especially with their own players).

Jalen Smith Declines Option

Jalen Smith appears to be out the door. He declined his option and will seek a more lucrative contract on the open market, which he deserves. Smith was a great player for the team but he's simply a victim of the Pacers new cap crunch.

Next Moves

The Pacers have been linked with a few veterans (KCP, notably) but in addition to a cap crunch, the team has a playing time crunch. Buchanan has stated that they will lean towards internal development over outside help, so don't be surprised if the Pacers are relatively quiet in FA.

Until we see final details of Obi's extension and know how the Pacers are proceeding with the draft picks, it's a bit of a speculation but the running assumption is that the Pacers currently have two open roster spots and are about $4.5 million away from the Luxury Tax. Again, don't expect anything major.

Even without big fireworks in the next few weeks, it's hard not to be excited about what the Pacers are building ... or better stated, have built.

Tagged in:

Draft FA