The summer keeps rolling along. The Pacers had more fringe NBA prospects in the gym as they scout for their three second round picks (and Summer League, training camp, and G-League rosters).

For all the draft misses we've lamented over the years, the Pacers have found contributors at the end of the first/beginning of the second round two years in a row. One of those contributors, Andrew Nembhard, may get a massive extension only two years into the league.

As with all things extensions, there is a bit of rules-based gamesmanship at play. The Pacers are limited to a four-year, $75 million deal due to CBA limits on raises. Personally, I think there's an argument for Nembhard to strike while the iron is hot and take that money.

However, if he decides to bet on himself and wait for free agency, the Pacers have options with two years left on Nemby's contract. The smart choice seems to be declining the team option for 2025, which would make Nembhard a restricted free agent and give the Pacers matching rights when he hits free agency, albeit a year early. However if the luxury tax suddenly becomes an issue, they could keep his extremely low (about $2M/year) controlled salary for both years and risk him leaving as an unrestricted free agent in 2026.

The Pacers front office has been great at negotiating fair deals with their players, so I expect a mutually agreeable resolution in the near future.

Pacers Currently Limited To Four-Year, $75M Extension Offer To Andrew Nembhard
Pacers Currently Limited To Four-Year, $75M Extension Offer To Andrew Nembhard - RealGM Wiretap
RealGM WiretapJohn Wilmes

Pre-Draft Workout

The second workout had some extremely successful college players in the gym.

Cam Spencer

If we're talking about college success, there's no better place to start than with Cam Spencer, who is coming fresh off a National Championship with the UCONN Huskies.

Cam is an incredibly smart and skilled offensive player. He can do a bit of everything but his defining trait is his lights out marksmanship. It's not hard to imagine him in the Pacers offense with his ability to run tirelessly for an entire possession and then drill a movement three. He can also easily fit into a secondary playmaking role with his ball handling and intelligence.

Where does he fit defensively in the NBA? Well, that's why he'll be on the board deep into the second round.

Lance Jones

We started with the National Champion, makes sense to do the National Championship runner-up next.

Brining in Lance Jones as a grad-transfer was a major coup for Matt Painter and the Boilermakers this year. The presence of an athletic, experienced lead-guard was a big reason that Purdue was able to finally exorcise its tourney demons.

Jones doesn't seem to have the three-point shooting to really make sense for the Pacers outside of a camp body/G-League prospect. Having said that, he possesses the character, work-ethic, and leadership qualities that the team highly values.

Mantas Rubštavičius

Because I'm ADD and the league is seemingly run by players from Eastern Europe, I'm going to eschew my theme of college success and talk about a prospect from the NBL next.

The league down-under has become one of the best platforms for sending young talent to the NBA and Rubštavičius was recruited as part of the Next Stars program. He has a characteristically well-rounded game and seems like he would be a fit in our offense with how he likes to run and spread the floor. Again, his ability to play defense will determine how much playing time he'll receive.

Mantas Rubštavičius Scouting Report
Knowing how to play combined with efficient production is a key to a successful pro career. And that summarizes the 21-year-old Lithuanian’s game. Is it enough to get drafted? Find out more below.
Ersin's NBA Draft NewsletterErsin Demir

Harrison Ingram

Ingram was a five-star prospect coming out of high-school who chose Stanford over bigger schools. Last year he transferred to a blue blood in UNC. He's a tough wing competitor who has always had a knack for collecting rebounds. While he struggled from three at Stanford, he shot 38% on just under 5 attempts per game at UNC.

He lacks a little size for an NBA forward but, as with most of the guys the Pacers are working out, he seems like a culture fit. It's worth noting that because of a head injury he picked up working out with the Magic, he did not do on-court drills with the Pacers.

Reece Beekman

Beekman is another player who's had a tremendous amount of success in college. He was a four year starter for Tony Bennett at UVA which speaks to his defensive ability and leadership qualities.

Defense will certainly be his calling card early in his career. At UVA, he was tasked with shutting down the opposing team's best perimeter scorers and he consistently delivered. He is a steal maestro and excellent tracking his man off-ball. His lack of height, however, will allow bigger NBA guards to shoot over him.

Offensively, he is a tremendous assist-man. He's a very technical driver who can set up his teammates with intelligent manipulations of the defense. However, his lack of burst and outside shooting are red-flags coming into the league.

DJ Horne

Last but not least, DJ Horne of NC State. Another familiar face if you followed the tournament this year.

Horne is a smooth combo-guard who can stroke it from deep. He shot 40% on 6.5 attempts per game this past year.

While he was a productive scorer – about 17 ppg with plenty of big games peppered in – his efficiency is why we're talking about him as a second rounder. That and the fact that for someone who had the ball as much as he did, you would like him to have averaged more than two assists per game.

Still, the offensive potential is intriguing, especially with the later picks.

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