Pacers Pick Tracking (Update: #19 officially)

[ForeverTFC]

Masai wants the Indiana pick to be lower so he can justify taking a raw 7'4 athletic C with a 8' wingspan from Congo that none of us have ever heard of

and with the Detroit pick, there will be a 6'9 forward with a 9' wingspan from Nigeria who started basketball at the age of 16

Why do people keep saying this as a joke? It’s over said here and people actually think there’s legitimacy behind this. Masai has rarely drafted any African born players since taking over the team.

I've really tried not going in this direction on the board and don't want to really create a discussion around it to be honest, but it's pretty damn clear to me that a subset of the the fire Masai movement is driven by his heritage and politics.

The insinuation of all these "Masai chases African players" posts is that his allegiance is not to Toronto, but to Africa. Masai and Trudeau are clearly friendly with each other; scroll through some of the comments under Instagram posts of the two together if you want to see some ignorant ****. Something we don't talk about often here but bears remembering: there were people on this board defending the Oakland cop when that entire mess happened on the night of our championship.

Like I said, I don't want to start a whole dialogue about this, and by no means am I attributing the above as the motivation of every single person who dislikes Masai, but there is clearly some of this going on in pockets.

[Syd-TK3]

So our Indian pick will be 17th?

Can only hope it's still that high atp

[RoteSchroder]

Masai wants the Indiana pick to be lower so he can justify taking a raw 7'4 athletic C with a 8' wingspan from Congo that none of us have ever heard of

and with the Detroit pick, there will be a 6'9 forward with a 9' wingspan from Nigeria who started basketball at the age of 16

Why do people keep saying this as a joke? It’s over said here and people actually think there’s legitimacy behind this. Masai has rarely drafted any African born players since taking over the team.

I've really tried not going in this direction on the board and don't want to really create a discussion around it to be honest, but it's pretty damn clear to me that a subset of the the fire Masai movement is driven by his heritage and politics.

The insinuation of all these "Masai chases African players" posts is that his allegiance is not to Toronto, but to Africa. Masai and Trudeau are clearly friendly with each other; scroll through some of the comments under Instagram posts of the two together if you want to see some ignorant ****. Something we don't talk about often here but bears remembering: there were people on this board defending the Oakland cop when that entire mess happened on the night of our championship.

Like I said, I don't want to start a whole dialogue about this, and by no means am I attributing the above as the motivation of every single person who dislikes Masai, but there is clearly some of this going on in pockets.

Was just a joke dudes. Masai is heavily involved with Giants of Africa, so I'm waiting on him to deliver us a few gems.

I'm also a Masai supporter.

Not sure why Trudeau is being mentioned, but the three main evils seem to overlap in several areas that matter. I think I'd still go with Trudeau as he seems to stay in line with the more standard genociders and mass murderers.

[ForeverTFC]

Why do people keep saying this as a joke? It’s over said here and people actually think there’s legitimacy behind this. Masai has rarely drafted any African born players since taking over the team.

I've really tried not going in this direction on the board and don't want to really create a discussion around it to be honest, but it's pretty damn clear to me that a subset of the the fire Masai movement is driven by his heritage and politics.

The insinuation of all these "Masai chases African players" posts is that his allegiance is not to Toronto, but to Africa. Masai and Trudeau are clearly friendly with each other; scroll through some of the comments under Instagram posts of the two together if you want to see some ignorant ****. Something we don't talk about often here but bears remembering: there were people on this board defending the Oakland cop when that entire mess happened on the night of our championship.

Like I said, I don't want to start a whole dialogue about this, and by no means am I attributing the above as the motivation of every single person who dislikes Masai, but there is clearly some of this going on in pockets.

Was just a joke dudes. Masai is heavily involved with Giants of Africa, so I'm waiting on him to deliver us a few gems.

I'm also a Masai supporter.

Not sure why Trudeau is being mentioned, but the three main evils seem to overlap in several areas that matter. I think I'd still go with Trudeau as he seems to stay in line with the more standard genociders and mass murderers.

Sorry if I insinuated that this was about you. I don’t know your motivations and would never want to assume I do. It was more directed at the Masai only goes after Africans talking point that Yeezus called out and how it’s being used by certain (not all) posters here.

[Qhawe]

If Sixers, heat, pacers finish same record, even if pacers get sixth. and all make the playoffs, there's still a coin toss that can improve our pick, no?

[ArthurVandelay]

If Sixers, heat, pacers finish same record, even if pacers get sixth. and all make the playoffs, there's still a coin toss that can improve our pick, no?

No.

Sixers Heat Pacers all tie it comes down to the best win percentage among the 3 teams.

If there is a tie there, it comes down to Eastern Conference W-L record.

If a tie still, tetter winning percentage against teams eligible for the playoffs in own
conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff
position).

Still a tie? Point differential among all opponents in the league.

https://ak-static-int.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/06/NBA_Tiebreaker_Procedures.pdf

[ArthurVandelay]

Pacer pick in danger of slipping to 20.

[Qhawe]

If Sixers, heat, pacers finish same record, even if pacers get sixth. and all make the playoffs, there's still a coin toss that can improve our pick, no?

No.

Sixers Heat Pacers all tie it comes down to the best win percentage among the 3 teams.

If there is a tie there, it comes down to Eastern Conference W-L record.

If a tie still, tetter winning percentage against teams eligible for the playoffs in own
conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff
position).

Still a tie? Point differential among all opponents in the league.

https://ak-static-int.nba.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2017/06/NBA_Tiebreaker_Procedures.pdf

So we're f*cked.

When did they change the system?

[WuTang_CMB]

Raps gonna go off the board anyways with this pick
who knows maybe we sell it which could be a possibility if we keep 6

[CazOnReal]

Raps gonna go off the board anyways with this pick
who knows maybe we sell it which could be a possibility if we keep 6

Guarantee we're trading one of the 3 picks if we end up keeping our own.

[dohboy_24]

Raps gonna go off the board anyways with this pick
who knows maybe we sell it which could be a possibility if we keep 6

Guarantee we're trading one of the 3 picks if we end up keeping our own.

In 2016, we drafted Jakob Poeltl (#9) and Pascal Siakam (#27) and then signed the undrafted Fred Van Vleet. Those 3 players eventually become the core of our bench mob and subsequently, part of our 2019 Championship squad.

If we get the opportunity to select 3 players from this draft who can grow and develop alongside IQ, RJ, Scottie, Ochai, and Dick in a same or similar fashion, why would we trade one of them away?

[Pericles]

I agree that we may likely keep all 3 picks. I do not see us consolidating our assets into a veteran player as our bench is still shallow and Masai will need to evaluate RJ, IQ, Scottie, Olynyk, Dick, and Agbaji over a season.

Also, playing 3 draft picks on the bench will give us salary flexibility if we want to chase a veteran presence to guide the young core. I wonder if a short term deal with Klay Thompson might be a possibility.

I also think there is real possibility that Poeltl moves at the draft and Edey is a target with the Pacers pick.

[ForeverTFC]

I agree that we may likely keep all 3 picks. I do not see us consolidating our assets into a veteran player as our bench is still shallow and Masai will need to evaluate RJ, IQ, Scottie, Olynyk, Dick, and Agbaji over a season.

Also, playing 3 draft picks on the bench will give us salary flexibility if we want to chase a veteran presence to guide the young core. I wonder if a short term deal with Klay Thompson might be a possibility.

I also think there is real possibility that Poeltl moves at the draft and Edey is a target with the Pacers pick.

Is there enough playing time? Maybe it doesn’t matter as the 2nd rounder likely goes to the G-League.

[MiamiSPX]

If we get the opportunity to select 3 players from this draft who can grow and develop alongside IQ, RJ, Scottie, Ochai, and Dick in a same or similar fashion, why would we trade one of them away?

Because Masai all but said he doesn't want 3 picks in this draft, in his PC after the Siakam trade. At that time it looked like we would convey and then he traded the OKC pick away. Now we're back to potentially having 3 picks again.

I, too, think they will trade the Indy pick if we keep ours. Not saying I agree with it, but I think that is what will happen.

[dohboy_24]

Because Masai all but said he doesn't want 3 picks in this draft, in his PC after the Siakam trade. At that time it looked like we would convey and then he traded the OKC pick away. Now we're back to potentially having 3 picks again.

I, too, think they will trade the Indy pick if we keep ours. Not saying I agree with it, but I think that is what will happen.

Perhaps he was referring to 3 first round picks as each comes with a guaranteed contract as opposed to one of the top 2 picks in the second round who do not have such guaranteed rookie deal contracts in place?

Should we trade a pick in the 2024 draft, I would be surprised if it were the Pacers pick since it's just outside the lottery in the upper half of the first round as opposed to the second round pick from the Pistons that will have it's own day for the first time and give teams time to re-adjust their draft boards and target specific players who've fallen out of the first round.

[TNRaps4life]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

[ArthurVandelay]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

This is great for the league

They have the top 20 teams in the league competing until the end of the year due to the play in

All they need to do now is address the bottom of the league by flattening the odds and increasing the lottery from 4 to 6.

You would likely see nearly every team putting their best players out there because the incentive to lose would not be high enough. It would cut down on the shenanigans from teams at the bottom but more importantly teams, like Toronto, striving for the bottom.

[JB7]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

This is great for the league

They have the top 20 teams in the league competing until the end of the year due to the play in

All they need to do now is address the bottom of the league by flattening the odds and increasing the lottery from 4 to 6.

You would likely see nearly every team putting their best players out there because the incentive to lose would not be high enough. It would cut down on the shenanigans from teams at the bottom but more importantly teams, like Toronto, striving for the bottom.

If the lottery chances were increased for the 5th and 6th worst teams, then there would be more incentive to tank at the end of the year for teams trying to get into the bottom 6.

I'm just surprised this year that there is more uncertainty it seems in the East than the West at this point in the season, considering how close the records were in the West this year.

[ArthurVandelay]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

This is great for the league

They have the top 20 teams in the league competing until the end of the year due to the play in

All they need to do now is address the bottom of the league by flattening the odds and increasing the lottery from 4 to 6.

You would likely see nearly every team putting their best players out there because the incentive to lose would not be high enough. It would cut down on the shenanigans from teams at the bottom but more importantly teams, like Toronto, striving for the bottom.

If the lottery chances were increased for the 5th and 6th worst teams, then there would be more incentive to tank at the end of the year for teams trying to get into the bottom 6.

I'm just surprised this year that there is more uncertainty it seems in the East than the West at this point in the season, considering how close the records were in the West this year.

That is why in addition to increasing the lottery spots to 6, you also flatten the odds (ie give more lottery balls to teams 7 through 14 at the expense of 1-6. Still give the worse teams more balls/greater advantage but make it such that the worst team in the league only has a 50% chance of picking top 6.

That will make a team truly wonder if INTENTIONALLY winning 20 games is truly worth the effort because make no mistake, it’s easy enough to be bad, but it takes a lot of work to be horrible. Trying to climb out of horrible after intentionally putting yourself there can be very difficult to do, ask Detroit. When the reward is likely to be pick #7, that should cause enough people to rethink their tank.

[WuTang_CMB]

This is great for the league

They have the top 20 teams in the league competing until the end of the year due to the play in

All they need to do now is address the bottom of the league by flattening the odds and increasing the lottery from 4 to 6.

You would likely see nearly every team putting their best players out there because the incentive to lose would not be high enough. It would cut down on the shenanigans from teams at the bottom but more importantly teams, like Toronto, striving for the bottom.

If the lottery chances were increased for the 5th and 6th worst teams, then there would be more incentive to tank at the end of the year for teams trying to get into the bottom 6.

I'm just surprised this year that there is more uncertainty it seems in the East than the West at this point in the season, considering how close the records were in the West this year.

That is why in addition to increasing the lottery spots to 6, you also flatten the odds (ie give more lottery balls to teams 7 through 14 at the expense of 1-6. Still give the worse teams more balls/greater advantage but make it such that the worst team in the league only has a 50% chance of picking top 6.

That will make a team truly wonder if INTENTIONALLY winning 20 games is truly worth the effort because make no mistake, it’s easy enough to be bad, but it takes a lot of work to be horrible. Trying to climb out of horrible after intentionally putting yourself there can be very difficult to do, ask Detroit. When the reward is likely to be pick #7, that should cause enough people to rethink their tank.

that helps but I think you will still have teams tank. For example, teams like BRK this year (lets imagine they owned their pick) could have said fk it , we are not far from bottom 6 ... lets just tank the rest of the way and hope for the best. Look at Utah, besides the fact that they wanted to keep their top 10 pick, it gives them more incentive to give up mid season and get into bottom 6. some mgm groups have a bigger picture in mind and will have support of ownership to not make play in for a better chance at getting # 1 , # 2 etc.

ultimately the only way to truly eliminate tanking is flattening the odds for all non playoff teams .. but what a shyt show that would be lol .. the small market teams wouldnt agree

sometimes i think about the wheel system they voted down yrs ago.. woulda fixed tanking in its entirety (something toronto and masai voted in favour of)

https://www.blazersedge.com/2024/4/11/24126453/nba-draft-position-tanking-the-wheel-system-portland-trail-blazers
https://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-nbas-possible-solution-for-tanking-good-bye-to-the-lottery-hello-to-the-wheel/