Is it too early to look at the lottery?

[AussiePacer]

I may be duplicating thoughts with the “where will the Pacers finish” thread (please merge or delete if I’ve missed the mark), but thought this could serve the purpose of:

Draft watch
Lottery prospects
General positivity of things to look forward to in a season that is starting to look bleaker than I’d hoped.

So, the good news is we own our 1st round pick.

We’ve got some flexibility with cap space (or should that read optionally)

We’ve got a solid core of key players that we can continue to build around as we have a healthy roster

We will get plenty of opportunity to look at different players and test our depth and their scope to develop.

[Wizop]

I started looking for centers some time ago.

[jowglenn]

This will finally be it, the year we skyrocket up the lottery and despite having like the 13th-worst odds, win the #1 pick and draft a franchise-level star

[granger05]

We lost in double overtime to the defending champs. Then we got blown out in a road game a couple nights later against another team that's typically pretty good. Then barely lost in another back-to-back on the road against a team that went to the conference finals the last two years. We have a ton of injuries right now and we're 0-3, but I think there are too many really terrible teams for us to tank effectively.

It's too bad he's also hurt, but I do feel like other PG injuries across the NBA could make this a good time to move TJ for a longer-term piece.

[AussiePacer]

I started looking for centers some time ago.

Serious question, do we draft or trade or both for a C?

I guess I’m curious about the Y1 impact of a rookie in this position and I’m hoping that 2026-27 season is a “win now” type year for us.

Getting a long term prospect is absolutely a thing we should be doing, but also want us to get a sugar hit next season too while someone we draft may develop. Unless we can go to the draft and get a guy who can play 28+ mins a night right away….

[AussiePacer]

This will finally be it, the year we skyrocket up the lottery and despite having like the 13th-worst odds, win the #1 pick and draft a franchise-level star

Why not us???!!!

We’re due some Spurs style luck here.

[AussiePacer]

We lost in double overtime to the defending champs. Then we got blown out in a road game a couple nights later against another team that's typically pretty good. Then barely lost in another back-to-back on the road against a team that went to the conference finals the last two years. We have a ton of injuries right now and we're 0-3, but I think there are too many really terrible teams for us to tank effectively.

It's too bad he's also hurt, but I do feel like other PG injuries across the NBA could make this a good time to move TJ for a longer-term piece.

Yeah, we still might be better than I’m giving us credit for in this thread - and I suspect we are - but we’re also one more injury away from absolute disaster…

Maybe a beneficiary of being in the East that keeps us out of the first 8 picks. The NBA is a weird league now though. I’m getting to the point I have less time to follow it as closely as I used to but I look at a team like the Jazz (and I knew maybe 3 of their players) and they’re going WAY better on this incredibly small sample size than I expected. Maybe some other teams we’ve locked in for lottery take a leaf out of their page…. We live in hope (or maybe we shouldn’t…)

[Wizop]

Serious question, do we draft or trade or both for a C?

I'd draft one if possible. We should be picking high enough to get a development center even if he starts out behind Jackson and Huff.

[JMaster5K]

Serious question, do we draft or trade or both for a C?

I'd draft one if possible. We should be picking high enough to get a development center even if he starts out behind Jackson and Huff.

We would probably have to consider any draftee at C as a development pick? The one position in this draft that doesn't seem to have someone that could be a franchise player,... is center. There are a couple of potential lottery guys,... and 1 or 2 potential first rounders,... but there's no one you can put your finger on & say,... Yeah, that guy has a high likelihood to be great. Even the 'projected' lottery guys are going to need a couple of years.

The guy IMO who could have the highest ceiling,... (Quaintance) reclassified into college a year early, played last year at AzSt at a 17 year old,.. and was too young at the draft after his freshmen season to be draft eligible... LOL But, he is still growing (started at AzSt at 6'8",... measured during the summer at 6'8 3/4, KY - he transferred in, says he now measures at 6'9 6/8,... as an 18 year old, with a 7'4" wingspan (measured)) He's on a similar growth pattern to guys like JO, Myles, or even Shaq... but his athleticism is reminiscent of a Tim Duncan? He's not light,.. he's around 220,.. but he's clearly not really filled out,... generally should grow into a 5, just not 1 yet. =/

He is draft eligible this year,... but I don't think he will finish his last real 'growth spurt' and begin to fill out until the second year of his rookie contract?

The only guy generally rated ahead of him, Cenac, is very similar but a half-year older. He's taller (between 6'10 - 11), just as long,... just starting to fill out as a 18 year old (turns 19 before the draft), so around 225-230? but doesn't look like he's done growing nor ready to put on muscle & bang at the rim?

2026 is supposed to be a great draft,... just not for centers. If we did get a lottery pick, and could pick up a big wing (there are a number of them that should become at least rotation players),... I would be happy.

2026 FA class doesn't wow me at the 5 either? IHart has a team option, but I wouldn't bet anything that OKC wouldn't pick it up? Portzingis? Ayton has a player option?... Jalen Duren is RFA?... So, yeah,... I think we may have to do both?.... but that's just MO.

[JMaster5K]

I may be duplicating thoughts with the “where will the Pacers finish” thread (please merge or delete if I’ve missed the mark), but thought this could serve the purpose of:

Draft watch
Lottery prospects
General positivity of things to look forward to in a season that is starting to look bleaker than I’d hoped.

So, the good news is we own our 1st round pick.

We’ve got some flexibility with cap space (or should that read optionally)

We’ve got a solid core of key players that we can continue to build around as we have a healthy roster

We will get plenty of opportunity to look at different players and test our depth and their scope to develop.

Never too early! LOLOLOL

[Scoot McGroot]

Serious question, do we draft or trade or both for a C?

I'd draft one if possible. We should be picking high enough to get a development center even if he starts out behind Jackson and Huff.

The cap is setup to draft a guy (or trade for a rookie contract guy). But, I think they’ve got their ears open to the market and ready to trade for a guy immediately if something presents itself?

[Wizop]

The cap is setup to draft a guy (or trade for a rookie contract guy). But, I think they’ve got their ears open to the market and ready to trade for a guy immediately if something presents itself?

a trade is certainly passible but I'd only trade for a younger player and I would hold onto the 2026 FRP.

[basketballwacko2]

I started looking for centers some time ago.

Definitely a need with all the talk previously of having too many centers I bet they wish they had Goga back now.

[basketballwacko2]

This will finally be it, the year we skyrocket up the lottery and despite having like the 13th-worst odds, win the #1 pick and draft a franchise-level star

Why not us???!!!

We’re due some Spurs style luck here.

You know I've been saying the Lottery is rigged since that famous 1985 lotter when David Stern did the double take and pulled the envelope that had a "turned" corner that just happened to be the NYK and just like that the Knicks got Patrick Ewing.

Now they claim to have a process and not the balls and cards or what ever but it's done in a back room.

With the cheating and gambling scandal that hit recently and some of the horrendous calls by the refs over the last few years I don't trust any of this anymore. It's starting to make the WWE look more like a real sport.

[JMaster5K]

Serious question, do we draft or trade or both for a C?

I'd draft one if possible. We should be picking high enough to get a development center even if he starts out behind Jackson and Huff.

We would probably have to consider any draftee at C as a development pick? The one position in this draft that doesn't seem to have someone that could be a franchise player,... is center. There are a couple of potential lottery guys,... and 1 or 2 potential first rounders,... but there's no one you can put your finger on & say,... Yeah, that guy has a high likelihood to be great. Even the 'projected' lottery guys are going to need a couple of years.

The guy IMO who could have the highest ceiling,... (Quaintance) reclassified into college a year early, played last year at AzSt at a 17 year old,.. and was too young at the draft after his freshmen season to be draft eligible... LOL But, he is still growing (started at AzSt at 6'8",... measured during the summer at 6'8 3/4, KY - he transferred in, says he now measures at 6'9 6/8,... as an 18 year old, with a 7'4" wingspan (measured)) He's on a similar growth pattern to guys like JO, Myles, or even Shaq... but his athleticism is reminiscent of a Tim Duncan? He's not light,.. he's around 220,.. but he's clearly not really filled out,... generally should grow into a 5, just not 1 yet. =/

He is draft eligible this year,... but I don't think he will finish his last real 'growth spurt' and begin to fill out until the second year of his rookie contract?

The only guy generally rated ahead of him, Cenac, is very similar but a half-year older. He's taller (between 6'10 - 11), just as long,... just starting to fill out as a 18 year old (turns 19 before the draft), so around 225-230? but doesn't look like he's done growing nor ready to put on muscle & bang at the rim?

2026 is supposed to be a great draft,... just not for centers. If we did get a lottery pick, and could pick up a big wing (there are a number of them that should become at least rotation players),... I would be happy.

2026 FA class doesn't wow me at the 5 either? IHart has a team option, but I wouldn't bet anything that OKC wouldn't pick it up? Portzingis? Ayton has a player option?... Jalen Duren is RFA?... So, yeah,... I think we may have to do both?.... but that's just MO.

Follow-up,... Kentucky just released their pre-season measurements for their 2025-26 team.

Quaintance, who has now turned 18,... was measured at 6'10.5" barefoot, 255#, with a 7'5" wingspan (some articles still say 7'3" but that was a measurement from AzSt when he was 6'9"), & 9'4" standing reach (same as Myles when he came into the league). Looks like he is growing into a pure 5?

Apparently, he still has the athleticism to guard on the perimeter. He is recovering from an ACL injury but was a 'light participant' in UK's pro day, so no vertical leap measurements. He is said to be an 'elite' rim protector, excellent rebounder, & has a particularly good handle for a big. Recruiting analysts that have seen him all seem to comment on his explosiveness (laterally, vertically, & forward) & fluidity. Most also comment on his speed, saying that he may be the most athletic 5 to come into the league in a while. He Has shown some flashes of passing from the short roll, but is still a work in progress. His shooting is a weakness, but there have been a few positives on it as he starts to get comfortable after his grown spurt (and he's likely not completely done yet?)

I believe the people who follow this stuff have him moved ahead of Cenac projected into the 5-11 range for next year?

[Wizop]

OT: Wemby is as much taller than iJax as iJax is taller than TJ.

If we continue losing, we could repeat the Spurs draft success from their gap year.

[chrbal]

As a Pistons fan I don’t want this to happen but it would be funny if the Pacers went through all this like the Spurs did, before they got Duncan, and pick first overall in 2026

[granger05]

We lost in double overtime to the defending champs. Then we got blown out in a road game a couple nights later against another team that's typically pretty good. Then barely lost in another back-to-back on the road against a team that went to the conference finals the last two years. We have a ton of injuries right now and we're 0-3, but I think there are too many really terrible teams for us to tank effectively.

It's too bad he's also hurt, but I do feel like other PG injuries across the NBA could make this a good time to move TJ for a longer-term piece.

OK, that one was bad. The Nets game, not my original post but the fact I felt like I had to clarify probably says a lot.

[Pacers Forever]

We lost in double overtime to the defending champs. Then we got blown out in a road game a couple nights later against another team that's typically pretty good. Then barely lost in another back-to-back on the road against a team that went to the conference finals the last two years. We have a ton of injuries right now and we're 0-3, but I think there are too many really terrible teams for us to tank effectively.

It's too bad he's also hurt, but I do feel like other PG injuries across the NBA could make this a good time to move TJ for a longer-term piece.

OK, that one was bad. The Nets game, not my original post but the fact I felt like I had to clarify probably says a lot.

Nothing like losing to the worst team in the league miss their leading scorer who exited very early to a hamstring injury. Now we’re in a 3 way tie for the worst record.

Hmmmm we’re doing a pretty good job of tanking effectively since we’re so injury ridden or is it our players excluding Siakam and Nesmith aren’t as good as we would like to think they are ?

[Scoot McGroot]

We lost in double overtime to the defending champs. Then we got blown out in a road game a couple nights later against another team that's typically pretty good. Then barely lost in another back-to-back on the road against a team that went to the conference finals the last two years. We have a ton of injuries right now and we're 0-3, but I think there are too many really terrible teams for us to tank effectively.

It's too bad he's also hurt, but I do feel like other PG injuries across the NBA could make this a good time to move TJ for a longer-term piece.

OK, that one was bad. The Nets game, not my original post but the fact I felt like I had to clarify probably says a lot.

Nothing like losing to the worst team in the league miss their leading scorer who exited very early to a hamstring injury. Now we’re in a 3 way tie for the worst record.

Hmmmm we’re doing a pretty good job of tanking effectively since we’re so injury ridden or is it our players excluding Siakam and Nesmith aren’t as good as we would like to think they are ?

Not having a single point guard healthy enough to play hurts. Like, we can’t even throw out an average PG, we just don’t have any left. There’s just absolutely no easy buckets happening, so it’s an issue of needing to be perfect all the time just to get average buckets.