New week, new workout.

Trayce Jackson-Davis is getting all the attention today – and with good reason. First, he's a local standout who played high school ball at Center Grove. In his senior season, he won Indiana Mr. Basketball and was selected to the McDonald's All-American team.

TJD then matriculated to IU where he turned in four productive years for the Hoosiers and continued to rack up awards. In his senior season alone he was voted First-Team All-Big Ten, Consensus First-Team All-American, and given the Karl Malone Award (bestowed upon the nation's best Power Forward).

Finally, he's a legacy Pacer. His dad is none other than Dale Davis, the fan favorite bruiser and Reggie Miller body guard from the 90s.

But if you look past Trayce, this workout has some other interesting names. Terquavion Smith is a combo guard who's been a staple of mock drafts since last year. Azoulas Toubelis was a productive center at Arizona. Chris Livingston was a consensus 5-star recruit coming into Kentucky but failed to produce as a freshman.

Trayce Jackson-Davis

In some ways, Trayce Jackson-Davis might be the easiest scout in the draft. His game is what it is. The things he does well – rebounding, blocking shots, finishing and passing – are extremely useful. The things he doesn't do well – namely shooting and going right – are skills he's unlikely to develop. After all, he's one of the older prospects in the draft at 23.

To be honest, he's not the cleanest fit with the Pacers. The first issue is position. While he was considered a Power Forward in college, he'd have to play Center in our system due to his lack of shooting. The logjam at backup Center was already a mess last season and adding TJD to the mix without moving Isaiah or Jalen would only exacerbate the problem.

On top of the lack of need, Trayce is a bit undersized at 6'8.25 without shoes. Having said that, I'm willing to mostly overlook his height considering he dealt with plenty of legit Centers in the Big Ten and generally held his own. He's strong, has long arms, and good defensive instincts. Still, it must be noted that there will be matchups where he'll be at a major disadvantage.

Despite Trayce not filling an immediate need, I'm confident he'll be a productive player in the league. In my estimation, he possesses more basketball skill than either Smith or Jackson and is as good athletically.

One thing that caught my eye when I was looking at his combine performance is that he is very similar to Bam Adebayo in terms of size and athleticism.

Trayce compared himself to Draymond Green and Domantas Sabonis in his interview with the media today but in some ways Bam feels more apt. To be clear, I don't think TJD will reach Bam's level, but they have a similar style of game.

Both are fast, agile bigs who are much stronger than they look. Offensively, they thrive inside the paint. Despite not being great shooters, both have the handles, quickness, and touch to have an effective face up game. Moreover they are excellent passers, which allows them operate as an offensive hub.

Defensively they use their length, bounce, and timing to put a lid on the rim. Bam has proven himself as one of the best perimeter defending bigs in the league. I'm not sure Trayce can reach Bam's level but he shouldn't be totally inept in this regard.

Just like Bam, Trayce projects to be a useful grab-n'-go big. He's an excellent rebounder who can push the ball down the court in transition and either make a play or finish with a big dunk.

All in all, I love what TJD brings and I'd be extremely excited if we drafted him 26-32...provided that got rid of one of IJax or Smith. I'm not sure it would be fair to any of them to keep adding to the gridlock at backup-five.  

Terquavion Smith

Smith made a name for himself with an impressive performance at last year's combine scrimmages. He seemed primed to capitalize on the fact the Bones Hyland had just emerged as an immediate contributor for the Nuggets. The comparison was easy, both are about 6'3 with long wingspans. On top of that they play a similar shifty, off-the-dribble style that results in some huge scoring outputs, even if they aren't the best defenders or the most efficient offensively.

Nevertheless, Smith decided to go back to school to try to push his stock into the lottery. That decision didn't quite pay off. While he continued to score and even showed off his playmaking chops, he wasn't efficient enough to convince anyone that he's more than a microwave bench scorer. Although his shooting percentages, especially from three, are well below average, it's worth noting that he took a high volume of difficult off-the-dribble shots, often from well behind the 3-point line.  

My guess is that he'll be a capable shooter when he is no longer the focus of the offense. However, I question whether he'll be able to pressure the rim enough to really justify a sixth-man type role. He's not near the top of my list in the 26-32 range, but if we took him at 32 or later I would understand the gamble.

Community Mock Draft

I'm going to roll out a community mock draft and I want to gauge interest on the format. The first option would be a more immersive draft where everyone plays GM for a specific team or two and has complete control over their picks.

The second option is a consensus mock like we did last year on IC. I'll list a few potential draftees starting with the 1st overall pick (ok, maybe 2nd overall) and the player with the most votes will be the selection. Once that player is chosen we'll move on to the next pick with a new crop of prospects to choose from.

The first option is probably more fun but also requires more participation. Please let me know your thoughts.

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