2021 Draft Thread

[Wizop]

It's Colts draft day and if you haven't watched it already their With The Next Pick video series is worth watching even if you aren't a football fan. Lot of the process is similar.

as for our draft, I have a sneaky feeling that the BPA in the teens will be an International player. I have no specific names to offer though.

[Pacers Forever]

It's Colts draft day and if you haven't watched it already their With The Next Pick video series is worth watching even if you aren't a football fan. Lot of the process is similar.

as for our draft, I have a sneaky feeling that the BPA in the teens will be an International player. I have no specific names to offer though.

Love the Colts video series With the next pick. I have to say the Colts blow the Pacers away on scouting, but then again they're drafting 7 rounds and several players are scouted to get to I think they said 170 capable of joining the team.

It's really hard to figure out if the Colts have good scouts to make informed decisions with some of their past picks. I think NBA drafting is much harder to hit on the right 2 players to give them a bit of slack.

[Wizop]

Franz Wagner is officially in the draft. He remains my best fit unless we lose in the play-ins and get lucky in the lottery.

[Wizop]

With the season over IndyCornRows has began a series of draft profiles. They started with Scott Barnes who probably will be off the board at 13 and concluded he won't be a good fit anyway. I didn't expect that.

[Wizop]

off Pritchard's presser praising Warren's defense, I think I need to take another look at big wings. is KYs Johnson a better defender than MI's Wagner.

[Tom White]

off Pritchard's presser praising Warren's defense, I think I need to take another look at big wings. is KYs Johnson a better defender than MI's Wagner.

I had a laugh when he talked about how good a job the coaching staff had done working with Warren on his defense. Problem is the staff that did the work was no longer here this year.

[Scoot McGroot]

off Pritchard's presser praising Warren's defense, I think I need to take another look at big wings. is KYs Johnson a better defender than MI's Wagner.

If you're willing to look at guys that maybe end up at the 5 due to offensive liability, you've got Kai Jones, Usman Garuba and Isaiah Jackson as options. If you're looking at 3/4 kind of guys, maybe you think you can develop that defensive mentality out of a Jalen Johnson or a Greg Brown, though both may be more of a later 1st?

Who knows. Will be interesting to see more deep dives into these guys.

[Wizop]

If you're willing to look at guys that maybe end up at the 5 due to offensive liability, you've got Kai Jones, Usman Garuba and Isaiah Jackson as options. If you're looking at 3/4 kind of guys, maybe you think you can develop that defensive mentality out of a Jalen Johnson or a Greg Brown, though both may be more of a later 1st?

Who knows. Will be interesting to see more deep dives into these guys.

Jalen Johnson was the name that popped up with Jackson and Brown going further down the board. I still like Wagner but he may lack the strength Pritchard wants although he has the size. I had looked at Kai Jones previously but the presser has me looking at big 3s rather than 4/5s. Scott Barnes is also very interesting but unlikely to be available at 13.

[Moooose]

Hello. It's the time of the year again. I am more excited in the draft than watching the team lose year and again.

Anyways, it's a guard-heavy draft, a lot of big guys are very raw. I like some of the names mentioned above.

My bet for the Pacers this year is Isaiah Jackson from Kentucky. Guy is quite raw offensively but is tremendous on the defensive end. Same mold as JaKarr Sampson, but is taller, longer, more athletic. Guy never gives up. Domas needs an athletic frontcourt partner, and Jackson is the type who can be developed to defend the likes of Giannis, AD, etc.

I would also be okay with Corey Krispert and Josh Giddey. Though I'd prefer the former.

[Wizop]

I would also be okay with Corey Krispert and Josh Giddey. Though I'd prefer the former.

I'd much prefer Giddey. I suspect Krispert's ceiling is Douggie and I'm not sure he's that athletic.

[8305]

I would also be okay with Corey Krispert and Josh Giddey. Though I'd prefer the former.

I'd much prefer Giddey. I suspect Krispert's ceiling is Douggie and I'm not sure he's that athletic.

I'd have the same fear with Kispert. He'll probably play 10+ years in the league and at 13 that might be great. But, given how rare it is for us to be picking this high I feel like we have to go high upside. Giddey, as young as he is could grow into something special. He'll probably never be a good defender. Could you ever put the athletes/defenders around Sabonis and Giddey?

[Moooose]

I would also be okay with Corey Krispert and Josh Giddey. Though I'd prefer the former.

I'd much prefer Giddey. I suspect Krispert's ceiling is Douggie and I'm not sure he's that athletic.

I'd have the same fear with Kispert. He'll probably play 10+ years in the league and at 13 that might be great. But, given how rare it is for us to be picking this high I feel like we have to go high upside. Giddey, as young as he is could grow into something special. He'll probably never be a good defender. Could you ever put the athletes/defenders around Sabonis and Giddey?

The thing that holds me back from wanting Giddey too much is his rawness. That may be the greatest thing IF, AND ONLY IF, we can finally learn how develop our draft picks properly. The way we handle our recent draft picks isn't good at all. Well, maybe for quite some time already (see Niang, Leaf, Alize, etc.). I like Kispert because he can right fit into Doug's would-be vacated role assuming he leaves. I like Giddey, if we end up picking him, I just hope we still have our core of guys at their primes.

[Scoot McGroot]

I'd much prefer Giddey. I suspect Krispert's ceiling is Douggie and I'm not sure he's that athletic.

I'd have the same fear with Kispert. He'll probably play 10+ years in the league and at 13 that might be great. But, given how rare it is for us to be picking this high I feel like we have to go high upside. Giddey, as young as he is could grow into something special. He'll probably never be a good defender. Could you ever put the athletes/defenders around Sabonis and Giddey?

The thing that holds me back from wanting Giddey too much is his rawness. That may be the greatest thing IF, AND ONLY IF, we can finally learn how develop our draft picks properly. The way we handle our recent draft picks isn't good at all. Well, maybe for quite some time already (see Niang, Leaf, Alize, etc.). I like Kispert because he can right fit into Doug's would-be vacated role assuming he leaves. I like Giddey, if we end up picking him, I just hope we still have our core of guys at their primes.

I can see this. But, I think its more indicative that we absolutely have to be better at drafting and developing our picks. We got SOOOO lucky that we were able to get Oshae from the G-League, and sign him to a long-term “rookie contract”. And Sumner and his work have paid off. A full offseason of training for Goga could pay off in spades, too. I think if it comes between Kispert and Giddey, and raw vs ready is the only thing we think Kispert has over Giddey, we should go for whomever we think will be the best long-term player when maximized. I also really like the idea of Giddey at the 3 off the bench with Justin, Oshae, and Goga around him. I think that’s 3 long defenders. Heck, if Giddey can run the bench point decently as a passer, put Sumner at the 1, and that could be a fun and flying bench setup for him to grow in. Giddey would also step into McDermott’s spot, but only in position, not style, I guess. And if it takes him a little while, I’m not scared to necessarily throw Kelan in for some of those minutes, too, though we’d need a McConnell for sure at PG then.

[Wizop]

Turner and Sabonis developed. Paul George developed. Granger got 5 points per game better several years in a row. Smits looked like a bust. it is easier to start out good and work to get great than it is to start out a liability and work to get adequate. being consistently good also makes it harder to play the bench. maybe this is just a side effect of the never tank philosophy. we've also just whiffed in several drafts.

the G-League should help a lot if we use it for more than the 2-ways. it'll be interesting to see if Stanley develops and how we use this year's 2nd round picks.

[Scoot McGroot]

Turner and Sabonis developed. Paul George developed. Granger got 5 points per game better several years in a row. Smits looked like a bust. it is easier to start out good and work to get great than it is to start out a liability and work to get adequate. being consistently good also makes it harder to play the bench. maybe this is just a side effect of the never tank philosophy. we've also just whiffed in several drafts.

the G-League should help a lot if we use it for more than the 2-ways. it'll be interesting to see if Stanley develops and how we use this year's 2nd round picks.

You pointed out a few guys over a nearly 40 year period.

Other teams have been consistently good and still developed players, like the Spurs. It’s hard, but it’s possible to do both. We’ve focused much more on get signings the last 5-10 years than we have in developing guys in house. Even Pritchard has pointed it out this season and said we have to get better at both.

[Wizop]

Other teams have been consistently good and still developed players, like the Spurs.

yes, the Spurs have done the never tank model very well. they also managed a one year tank when the Admiral was injured. one other thing they did was draft foreign players before other teams started to do that. foreign players may be easier to develop as they turn pro in high school.

they've also had consistent coaching where we believed Bird's notion that you had to change every few years. note though that this year the Spurs finished right where we did.

[Scoot McGroot]

Only NAIA competition, but this guy should absolutely be discussed as a flier at one of our late 2nds. Either put him on a 2 way, or get him set up with a contract in Australia for a year or two and retain his rights, but seems like the type of deep pull a team will make super late in the draft.

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[Wizop]

Only NAIA competition, but [Ono] should absolutely be discussed as a flier at one of our late 2nds.

there is a thread on him in the draft forum. some are posting that he should go in the first round.

[8305]

Other teams have been consistently good and still developed players, like the Spurs.

yes, the Spurs have done the never tank model very well. they also managed a one year tank when the Admiral was injured. one other thing they did was draft foreign players before other teams started to do that. foreign players may be easier to develop as they turn pro in high school.

they've also had consistent coaching where we believed Bird's notion that you had to change every few years. note though that this year the Spurs finished right where we did.

Small market teams have to:
Get the draft right
Develop those draftees
Work the G League

Can you afford to trade your 1st round pick 2 out of every 5 years? And, then follow that up with 1 wiff (Leaf) and two guys who have been under utilized from a developmental perspective (Goga and Aaron)? I agree with Pritchard when he says we have to do this better. Bottom line we have gotten little or nothing from the draft for 5 years.

One thing I'll say for New Nate he put Sumner and Brisset on the floor. And on some level that has salvaged the franshise's player development performance. In a perfect player development world Brisset, Goga and Sumner need to be in the rotation this season.

[Scoot McGroot]

Only NAIA competition, but [Ono] should absolutely be discussed as a flier at one of our late 2nds.

there is a thread on him in the draft forum. some are posting that he should go in the first round.

Sure. I just have a tough time projecting a player from NAIA to the NBA. Who was the last NAIA draftee? I know Pippen and Rodman were, but that’s been awhile.