Pacers Pick Tracking (Update: #19 officially)

[Tor_Raps]

You can try to downplay Kessler but he’s one of the best rim protectors in the league (better than Yak) and we also likely wouldn’t have ironically needed* to trade this pick for Jakob and not have to ever worry about conveying anything…and not overpaying Poeltl on a contract that will be hard to move, meanwhile Kessler would be cheaper right now and perfectly on Scottie’s timeline to grow, develop with him for years to come. That could’ve had a more substantial impact than you’re trying to portray it to be.

Kessler's numbers all generally dropped across the board this year. Even his playing time only went up slightly from 23 mins in his rookie season to 23.3 mins per game this season. This is what most teams saw. Great around the basket for blocks, rebounds or dunks, but useless outside the restricted area. In a game that has moved further away from the restricted area for scoring, he is not the type of C you want to build around. That's why they targeted Koloko. They thought that like Gobert, he could guard both the restricted area, as well as guard out to the perimeter, and that on O, he wouldn't need to live under the basket, taking away the ability for the teams guards/wings to drive to the basket.

Nonetheless it's the same role Poeltl is playing now except Kessler is actually a better shot blocker, cheaper, would have long term to develop with all of these guys & when Koloko did play his impact wasn't anywhere near comparable to Kessler sooooo?!?

Not to mention Kessler is younger than Koloko too. If Kessler was on the Raptors, people would be like "Masai with another home run" lol

[aminiaturebuddha]

Wait, isn't this the "Pacers Pick Tracking" thread? What the hell is going on?

[tecumseh18]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

[Tor_Raps]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Good thing is that the Pelicans have a lot of experience playing without Zion but they're gonna need a locked on Ingram to stand a chance

[aminiaturebuddha]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Yep, in theory Sacramento should be a better matchup for JV. Hopefully he can stay on the floor and make an impact.

[MiamiSPX]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Agreed, I also like the Pels and can't stand Zion so it's an easier watch for me. Minor nitpick but this game is tomorrow night.

[tecumseh18]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Agreed, I also like the Pels and can't stand Zion so it's an easier watch for me. Minor nitpick but this game is tomorrow night.

Crap, you're right. No games tonight. Why the hell ...?

[MiamiSPX]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Agreed, I also like the Pels and can't stand Zion so it's an easier watch for me. Minor nitpick but this game is tomorrow night.

Crap, you're right. No games tonight. Why the hell ...?

I also assumed it was tonight and was surprised when I noticed that this morning.

[bballsparkin]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Agreed, I also like the Pels and can't stand Zion so it's an easier watch for me. Minor nitpick but this game is tomorrow night.

Crap, you're right. No games tonight. Why the hell ...?

To give DeMar and the Bulls a days rest before they take on the Heat. I guess they like to play them back to back the same night.

[ArthurVandelay]

We need Pels to win tonight. It's time for BI to have the game of his career. JV with the bounceback game against Sabonis.

Agreed, I also like the Pels and can't stand Zion so it's an easier watch for me. Minor nitpick but this game is tomorrow night.

Crap, you're right. No games tonight. Why the hell ...?

Going for ratings with the Friday night double header

[Drakeem]

Tbf who did we miss out on? Kessler?

You can try to downplay Kessler but he’s one of the best rim protectors in the league (better than Yak) and we also likely wouldn’t have ironically needed* to trade this pick for Jakob and not have to ever worry about conveying anything…and not overpaying Poeltl on a contract that will be hard to move, meanwhile Kessler would be cheaper right now and perfectly on Scottie’s timeline to grow, develop with him for years to come. That could’ve had a more substantial impact than you’re trying to portray it to be.

Kessler's numbers all generally dropped across the board this year. Even his playing time only went up slightly from 23 mins in his rookie season to 23.3 mins per game this season. This is what most teams saw. Great around the basket for blocks, rebounds or dunks, but useless outside the restricted area. In a game that has moved further away from the restricted area for scoring, he is not the type of C you want to build around. That's why they targeted Koloko. They thought that like Gobert, he could guard both the restricted area, as well as guard out to the perimeter, and that on O, he wouldn't need to live under the basket, taking away the ability for the teams guards/wings to drive to the basket.

Agreed. I get people are upset about that pick not turning into anything, but how the hell were we supposed to predict this guy would have a career ending medical condition? Sometimes luck isn't on your side.

[CazOnReal]

The thing about Kessler "missing out" on him is that if we did draft Walker then it makes it much less likely we trade for Poeltl and thus we have...
-Our 2023 2nd, to either use or trade
-Our 2025 2nd, to either use or trade
-Pick control and not having to worry about this year's pick conveying or being kept and how that will affect our flexibility regarding draft capital going forward

Obviously, no one could have seen Koloko getting blood clots but I do think that, ceiling aside, Kessler would have gotten more immediate play and thus impact on the team than Christian did due to him being a capable paint presence. If Koloko does get back in to the NBA then this obviously changes.

[Los_29]

The thing about Kessler "missing out" on him is that if we did draft Walker then it makes it much less likely we trade for Poeltl and thus we have...
-Our 2023 2nd, to either use or trade
-Our 2025 2nd, to either use or trade
-Pick control and not having to worry about this year's pick conveying or being kept and how that will affect our flexibility regarding draft capital going forward

Obviously, no one could have seen Koloko getting blood clots but I do think that, ceiling aside, Kessler would have gotten more immediate play and thus impact on the team than Christian did due to him being a capable paint presence. If Koloko does get back in to the NBA then this obviously changes.

I do wonder what kind of system this team would run with Kessler though. Makes me think they had a plan to add passing big man like KO and Yak. Kessler is a great rim protector but is quite limited offensively. He can’t pass, can’t dribble and can’t shoot. I think this is the reason why his minutes didn’t increase at all and he arguably regressed from last year. He didn’t make any improvements in his game.

[WuTang_OG]

Need PELS win

[ArthurVandelay]

Need PELS win

I'm conflicted.

Part of me wants them to lose so it helps the Raptors pick. The other part of me wants to see the franchise make drastic changes and decisions. I love the transaction side of the game almost as much as the game itself.

[WuTang_OG]

Need PELS win

I'm conflicted.

Part of me wants them to lose so it helps the Raptors pick. The other part of me wants to see the franchise make drastic changes and decisions. I love the transaction side of the game almost as much as the game itself.

Those changes are inevitable for them. They dont do tax

[MiamiSPX]

Need PELS win

I'm conflicted.

Part of me wants them to lose so it helps the Raptors pick. The other part of me wants to see the franchise make drastic changes and decisions. I love the transaction side of the game almost as much as the game itself.

Those changes are inevitable for them. They dont do tax

They will never do the tax. They have to make some moves soon regardless. The obvious one is trying to move CJ but they are going to have to attach some serious asset(s) to get off that 64M remaining.

[nikster]

The thing about Kessler "missing out" on him is that if we did draft Walker then it makes it much less likely we trade for Poeltl and thus we have...
-Our 2023 2nd, to either use or trade
-Our 2025 2nd, to either use or trade
-Pick control and not having to worry about this year's pick conveying or being kept and how that will affect our flexibility regarding draft capital going forward

Obviously, no one could have seen Koloko getting blood clots but I do think that, ceiling aside, Kessler would have gotten more immediate play and thus impact on the team than Christian did due to him being a capable paint presence. If Koloko does get back in to the NBA then this obviously changes.

I do wonder what kind of system this team would run with Kessler though. Makes me think they had a plan to add passing big man like KO and Yak. Kessler is a great rim protector but is quite limited offensively. He can’t pass, can’t dribble and can’t shoot. I think this is the reason why his minutes didn’t increase at all and he arguably regressed from last year. He didn’t make any improvements in his game.

I think that's key especially in Darkos offense now. Someone above said Kessler plays a similar role to Yak. That may be true defensively but is not at all the case on offense.

[Los_29]

The thing about Kessler "missing out" on him is that if we did draft Walker then it makes it much less likely we trade for Poeltl and thus we have...
-Our 2023 2nd, to either use or trade
-Our 2025 2nd, to either use or trade
-Pick control and not having to worry about this year's pick conveying or being kept and how that will affect our flexibility regarding draft capital going forward

Obviously, no one could have seen Koloko getting blood clots but I do think that, ceiling aside, Kessler would have gotten more immediate play and thus impact on the team than Christian did due to him being a capable paint presence. If Koloko does get back in to the NBA then this obviously changes.

I do wonder what kind of system this team would run with Kessler though. Makes me think they had a plan to add passing big man like KO and Yak. Kessler is a great rim protector but is quite limited offensively. He can’t pass, can’t dribble and can’t shoot. I think this is the reason why his minutes didn’t increase at all and he arguably regressed from last year. He didn’t make any improvements in his game.

I think that's key especially in Darkos offense now. Someone above said Kessler plays a similar role to Yak. That may be true defensively but is not at all the case on offense.

Yeah, Kessler just doesn’t have the offensive IQ at this point. It might not ever come.

[brownbobcat]

I bet you the raptors still select CK over Kessler even if we kept the pick. That’s who they were targeting hence why they traded the pick in the first place the FO thought they were getting a veteran leader and rotation piece along with their guy in the draft. Sure Thad didn’t workout as a rotation piece but he provided vet leadership and had CK not developed a rare condition that no one could have predicted I’m sure the gap between Kessler and him would be minor.

Here we go again with the excuses.

Thad didn't cost a FRP.
And if it did, it wasn't that bad.
And if it was, that's not a big deal.
And if it is, that's not Masai's fault.
And if it was, he didn't mean it.

The great thing for Masai defenders is they can't be proven wrong now. That's veteran mentor effect can't be measured, and we'll never know how good Koloko would have become.

The speed it goes from "give it time!" to "get over it!" is like watching Usain Bolt.