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Obviously this upcoming draft will go a long way into placing where the future holds for this team going forward. I've skimmed the board a bit tonight and it seems like we're mostly all in agreement in hoping the Pacers can land Jaden Ivey from Purdue, who, by the way, scored 26 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists tonight in a smashing of #13 Illinois.

With the deals of LeVert and Sabonis, and who knows what else might transpire between now and 3pm Thursday, it's going to be time to start paying attention to top nba prospects if we havn't yet. Also, mock drafts will begin to start flying on various web sites as we near march madness and the nba draft lottery.

Pacers also will be picking with the Cavs pick assuming they won't blow a tire and miss the playoffs. Besides the players we hope for if we land a top 5 pick (thats fairly easy to think about), what are some players to watch in the 16-24 range that we will be picking with the Cavs selection?

Paolo for obvious reasons. I'm going to expand my knowledge of comparable veteran players, I'll be back with superior knowledge.

I know. BPA. still with Hali and Duarte I'm looking at taller players than Ivey although I get how hard it would be to pass him up should he be on the board at our pick. highly rated W's include Griffin, Brown, and Mathurin.

An interesting lower name at least for me is Montero as like Duarte he is Dominican.

Unless we move up into the top 4, there's a very good chance that we will drop one or two spots down

The reason is simple

I can't remember when was the last time the 4 teams expected to pick in the top 4 actually ended up picking in the top 4. Some team or another always end up jumping ahead, pushing everyone else back. So if we're not the ones making the jump, that means some other teams are. Meaning we will push pushed back. How many spots we get pushed back depends on how many teams behind us jumped ahead into the top 4. I'm going to say 2. So if we ended the season at #5, I will expect us to draft at #7, unless we jump into the top 4 ourselves. In a way, #5 is kind of a bad position to be. If I have time later, I will look up the historical performance of teams at the #5 spot. My hunch is most of them ended up getting pushed back

Regarding who to draft, how about we win the lottery and draft Jabari Smith?

Turner
Smith
??
Duarte
Haliburton

Is a very exciting young core

Here are the teams that were projected to pick at #5 in the past 20 years, and where they actually ended up picking

2021 Cavs: #3
2020 Pistons: #7
2019 Hawks: #8
2018 Magic: #6
2017 Magic: #6
2016 Wolves: #5
2015 Magic: #5
2014 Celtics: #6
2013 Pelicans: #6
2012 Kings: #5
2011 Kings: #7
2010 Wizards: #1
2009 Wolves: #6
2008 Knicks: #6
2007 Sonics: #2
2006 Raptors: #1
2005 Jazz: #6
2004 Clippers: #2
2003 Clippers: #6
2002 Rockets: #1


Results

6 out of 20 times they move into the top 3
11 out of 20 times they drop a few spots
3 out of 20 times they stayed at #5

Yea, as I suspected

For a team that finished at #5, they are very unlikely to actually pick at #5

More than half the time they get pushed back a few slots

Looks like we should start looking at who's available at the #6-8 range

Either that, or we hope that they move into the top 3

Trading your only healthy SF sure is great stealth tanking .

Those injuries also last and last this season .

?s=21

I'm moving this from the other draft thread:

Topofthekey wrote:Holmgreen feels like a boom or bust candidate. If you're an optimist, pick him. And vice versa

Smith is rated higher than Banchero in all the mock drafts I've seen. So just take him over Banchero, I guess

Ivey looks like he could be an elite scorer. I guess if he's available take him and slide Duarte to the 3? Doesn't sound ideal though

I think they'll probably end up dropping in the draft though, so we're looking at guys like Davis, Griffin, Mathurin, Murray probably

Question: if they don't end up in the top 4, are they better off still using the pick or packaging it with Brogdon (and maybe Turner) to obtain a star?

if by star you mean an older big name player, no. which is not to say trading down is not a consideration if all of the players you have rated tier one are gone and you can still get a tier two player at a slightly lower pick. early indications are that this is a 4 player draft and talent may be relatively equal for a ways after that. that said, talent never goes off the board in perfect order. there are always players taken too low and too high.

which puts me in mind of my Freeney rule: if the guy you really want is on the board, take him and do not trade down in hopes you can get him lower. I name my rule after Dwight Freeney who the Colts took much higher than the experts felt was justified.

Wizop wrote:which puts me in mind of my Freeney rule: if the guy you really want is on the board, take him and do not trade down in hopes you can get him lower. I name my rule after Dwight Freeney who the Colts took much higher than the experts felt was justified.

Sounds like a good rule to me. Chisel that in stone and put it in the Pacers draft room.

new mock on theAthletic has us taking Griffin (Duke) at 5, Wesley (ND) at 23, and Jaquez (UCLA) at 33.

I don't follow college ball and typically only follow the draft class closer to the draft. So I'm sure I am missing something, but it seems Chet is generally meeting the eye test and has some insane advanced stats. I guess he's not "dominating" as much as some want, but isn't that partially due to how Gonzaga plays?

I know we have Myles still and Jackson looks promising, but there could be a chance to get Chet if teams overthink it and he slips past the top 2. I don't know, I'm probably wrong but this seems like a weird draft class right now.

pacers33granger wrote:I don't follow college ball and typically only follow the draft class closer to the draft. So I'm sure I am missing something, but it seems Chet is generally meeting the eye test and has some insane advanced stats. I guess he's not "dominating" as much as some want, but isn't that partially due to how Gonzaga plays?

I know we have Myles still and Jackson looks promising, but there could be a chance to get Chet if teams overthink it and he slips past the top 2. I don't know, I'm probably wrong but this seems like a weird draft class right now.

Oh, really possible. There’s just a lot of fears with Chet about his build and body type. But he plays tremendously on defense and is a really good ball handler and long range shooter. He could fit, for sure. He’s just not the “sexy” draft pick. Again, mostly because he’s so darned lean.

EJ Liddell strikes me as a VERY interesting player to take with the Cavs first.

pacers33granger wrote:I don't follow college ball and typically only follow the draft class closer to the draft. So I'm sure I am missing something, but it seems Chet is generally meeting the eye test and has some insane advanced stats. I guess he's not "dominating" as much as some want, but isn't that partially due to how Gonzaga plays?

I know we have Myles still and Jackson looks promising, but there could be a chance to get Chet if teams overthink it and he slips past the top 2. I don't know, I'm probably wrong but this seems like a weird draft class right now.

If we had the first pick I like Chet too. Extend Turner and pair the two the same way Cleveland has. Two rim protesters, both can shoot the three too. Roll out Hali, Duarte and Brogdan to fill the rest of the lineup. If Chet translates that’s a better starting five fhan Cleveland.

It's a good day to scout. Baylor's Brown on now. Arizona on late. Auburn, Alabama, KY, and Duke all on.

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Wizop wrote:It's a good day to scout. Baylor's Brown on now. Arizona on late. Auburn, Alabama, KY, and Duke all on.

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Brown is interesting if we're a little lower.

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Arizona's Mathurin looks as good tonight as any player I've seen this year.

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Wizop wrote:It's a good day to scout. Baylor's Brown on now. Arizona on late. Auburn, Alabama, KY, and Duke all on.

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Who would be on your top 6 big board?

Wizop wrote:new mock on theAthletic has us taking Griffin (Duke) at 5, Wesley (ND) at 23, and Jaquez (UCLA) at 33.

I have not seen much of him yet, but everything that i've read is he's a long term project and not NBA ready. Wonder if that would make a difference for the Pacers? Haliburton in Cleveland said this is a short term rebuild and expectation is to make playoffs next season.

We Will not draft a long term project. We only did that when we were competing for titles.
Now we need a player that can contribute right away, or a trade for an direct impact player.