Indiana Pacers Draft Pick Watch Thread

[emunney]

If there's a guy in this draft who could become Battier, I think it'd have to be Woodard. But he's not close right now, he's just a similar type of player.

[LuessiT]

If any of you awesome dudes could put a list of the boards top 5-10 guys we like in our spot so I can do my yearly Youtube scouting on them that would be great. I'd even buy that guy a coffee or something.

We're picking so late and the draft is so flat in talent distribution that it's really not clear who's going to be around.

That said, here's a list of 10 guys, please furnish takes.

Saddiq Bey
Theo Maledon
Desmond Bane
Kira Lewis
Leandro Bolmaro
Grant Riller
Aleksej Pokusevski
Jahmius Ramsey
Robert Woodard
Tyrell Terry

I feel like we're one of the best spots for Maledon. That said I fully expect the Knicks to draft him at #27 and he'll be out of the league 4 years from now.

[machu46]

He'd be getting a lot of G League minutes for a while but the upside is easy to spot. So smooth with the ball at 6'10, great athlete, some impressive defensive plays. See flashes of a top 5 pick. But very flawed with his basketball IQ and being so thin, still it might be worth the risk.

I have some of these same feelings regarding Precious Achiuwa, though I now see the DX gang has him going top 10 now rather than being in our draft range like I expected.

Precious is an explosive defender, but he is so limited on offense - I wouldn't even pick him at 24.

I was genuinely shocked to see him getting top 10 pick buzz from the DX guys. I would have thought he'd be more of a late 1st type. I would definitely consider him if he's on the board for us; not sure if he'd actually be my preferred choice though.

What I do like is as you mentioned, he's an explosive athlete and it shows up on both ends of the floor. He has the potential to be a pretty great switchable defender with his size, athleticism, and fluidity. Tenacious rebounder both defensively, and more importantly, offensively. And his skills in general are very raw right now, but he shows flashes of being able to do a lot of things. The versatility of a guy like him that can theoretically play center, grab rebounds, and take it coast-to-coast is intriguing to me, especially for a team that tends to kinda struggle in the half-court. And I hate the way he twists his body on jumpers, but I think that's something that you can coach out of a guy and outside of that, his shooting mechanics are pretty decent IMO (though the FT shooting woes are obviously concerning). And lastly, I like seeing guys that are able to step up to the college level and immediately be very productive, especially if they're doing it while still being very raw, and he definitely checked that box. I would still say it's a significant reach to take him in the top 10, or really the lottery at all, but I think outside of that he's worth consideration depending on your draft philosophies.

[Badgerlander]

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[emunney]

Haliburton + Suki = 8 ASGs

[machu46]

If any of you awesome dudes could put a list of the boards top 5-10 guys we like in our spot so I can do my yearly Youtube scouting on them that would be great. I'd even buy that guy a coffee or something.

FWIW, 10-15 guys I'm interested in (with varying amounts of research done on them so far, currently in order):

1. Kira Lewis - I think he ends up going in the lottery unfortunately but would love to have him.
2. Cassius Winston - I've watched a lot of him and like him a lot. I think his draft stock is way too low.
3. Robert Woodard - Only seen a game or two but I love what I've read about him.
4. Ty-Shon Alexander - I love his game but I wish he were a better finisher around the rim.
5. Jalen Smith - Seen a few games; I think there's a world in which he could be our future Brook Lopez replacement.
6. Josh Green - 3nD potential
7. Saddiq Bey - 3nD potential
8. Elijah Hughes - I'm generally not high on Syracuse prospects (and in general, that's proven to be wise). Not super high on Hughes but I think he's a better shooter than his percentages suggest, a better passer than his numbers suggest, and I think he'll be alright defensively. Some similarities to Middleton in terms of how he gets his shots; likes to post up guards and he's a versatile shooter.
9. Theo Maledon - I liked him more a year ago than I do now but I think he's still worth considering.
10. Leandro Bolmaro - Very limited viewing.
11. Yam Madar - Not sure how I really feel about him but it's a lot of fun watching him defend.
12. Tre Jones - Gotta hope his 3 point shooting this season wasn't a fluke. Really good defense and passing ability.
13. Tyler Bey - Very limited viewing, seems like the hope is to turn him into a PJ Tucker type of small ball center but not really sure honestly.

[tedbrogen]

I wonder if some of the issue with Syracuse players is it is tough to determine if they will be able to defend in the league since they are hidden in the zone for better or worse. This might also apply to defensive rebounding. But I completely agree on your take on Hughes.

I would gamble that Tre Jones three point shot did legitimately improve and could improve further. He is a high 70s FT shooter. Although the concern would be about release time. He definitely seems to take his time on the release. Besides that he is a slightly bigger, better defensive, version of his brother, who is already a solid backup PG.

On Saddiq Bey, sign me up for anyone who spent multiple years under Jay Wright. I'd also struggle to pass up the shooting ability of Bane or Terry if they are somehow available.

[JayMKE]

What site do you guys use to keep up on the draft? I feel dumb af using nbadraft.net

[machu46]

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Wow, I had never watched Bane before...that jumper sure is something isn't it?

Similar video for one of my latest crushes:

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[machu46]

What site do you guys use to keep up on the draft? I feel dumb af using nbadraft.net

For me:

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/ - just a flat out good source for scouting reports and you can get them in quick one sentence excerpts or expand for more of a deep dive

https://www.espn.com/nba/draft/news - mostly behind a paywall nowadays, but I pay for it and still enjoy reading Givony & Schmitz' stuff

http://hoop-math.com/ - specifically for getting data on how guys shoot at the rim, mid-range, 3 point range, etc., what their shooting distribution looks like, how often they're creating their own shot, etc.

And then a decent amount of YouTube, some of the links that other guys post here, etc.

[RiotPunch]

What site do you guys use to keep up on the draft? I feel dumb af using nbadraft.net

For me:

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/ - just a flat out good source for scouting reports and you can get them in quick one sentence excerpts or expand for more of a deep dive

https://www.espn.com/nba/draft/news - mostly behind a paywall nowadays, but I pay for it and still enjoy reading Givony & Schmitz' stuff

http://hoop-math.com/ - specifically for getting data on how guys shoot at the rim, mid-range, 3 point range, etc., what their shooting distribution looks like, how often they're creating their own shot, etc.

And then a decent amount of YouTube, some of the links that other guys post here, etc.

Some good draft pods: Prep2Pro (Draft Twitter, regularly have quality guests from The Stepien and elsewhere), The Lottery (Wasserman), Game Theory (Vecenie)

[emunney]

I didn't mention Yam because it seems like he's only highly esteemed within Badgerlander's and my posts, but will say again that I think he's just extremely thoroughly a basketball player and will make it.

[RiotPunch]

I didn't mention Yam because it seems like he's only highly esteemed within Badgerlander's and my posts, but will say again that I think he's just extremely thoroughly a basketball player and will make it.

How would you rank:

Terry, Flynn, Mannion, Winston, Madar

Lots of worthy backup PG shooter type flyers to take at our spot if that's the direction we choose to go. I personally have Terry/Flynn ahead of that pack because I believe they will figure it out defensively in the NBA despite their size limitations. I like Madar a lot though, someone smart will draft him.

[machu46]

I didn't mention Yam because it seems like he's only highly esteemed within Badgerlander's and my posts, but will say again that I think he's just extremely thoroughly a basketball player and will make it.

How would you rank:

Terry, Flynn, Mannion, Winston, Madar

Lots of worthy backup PG shooter type flyers to take at our spot if that's the direction we choose to go. I personally have Terry/Flynn ahead of that pack because I believe they will figure it out defensively in the NBA despite their size limitations. I like Madar a lot though, someone smart will draft him.

In past years when they were picking at the end of the first, Yam feels like the kinda guy the Spurs would take to me


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[RiotPunch]

I didn't mention Yam because it seems like he's only highly esteemed within Badgerlander's and my posts, but will say again that I think he's just extremely thoroughly a basketball player and will make it.

How would you rank:

Terry, Flynn, Mannion, Winston, Madar

Lots of worthy backup PG shooter type flyers to take at our spot if that's the direction we choose to go. I personally have Terry/Flynn ahead of that pack because I believe they will figure it out defensively in the NBA despite their size limitations. I like Madar a lot though, someone smart will draft him.

In past years when they were picking at the end of the first, Yam feels like the kinda guy the Spurs would take to me


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He's a pretty interesting stash option, along with Bolmaro and potentially Poku. I'd like to add some youth to our rotation sooner, but if we continue with the ring-chaser-vet-min types, then bringing over Yam in like 2 years to instantly be a rotation guy would be cool.

He's soooo aggressive, which I love, but he has to tone it down a bit. The shot needs to be more consistent as well, but yeah, dude can ball.

[WRau1]

Just watched a couple videos on Yam, I like him. Seems like a guy Giannis would instantly form a connection with since Yam lives in the gym. I like that a good amount of people praise his on ball D. Definitely looks like he has some rookie spastic Barbosa/Ginobili to his game that he needs to iron out.

[Badgerlander]

How would you rank:

Terry, Flynn, Mannion, Winston, Madar

Lots of worthy backup PG shooter type flyers to take at our spot if that's the direction we choose to go. I personally have Terry/Flynn ahead of that pack because I believe they will figure it out defensively in the NBA despite their size limitations. I like Madar a lot though, someone smart will draft him.

In past years when they were picking at the end of the first, Yam feels like the kinda guy the Spurs would take to me


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He's a pretty interesting stash option, along with Bolmaro and potentially Poku. I'd like to add some youth to our rotation sooner, but if we continue with the ring-chaser-vet-min types, then bringing over Yam in like 2 years to instantly be a rotation guy would be cool.

He's soooo aggressive, which I love, but he has to tone it down a bit. The shot needs to be more consistent as well, but yeah, dude can ball.

I’d bring him over right away. Work on his diet and work out routine. He can start learning the system and the language. His defense looks good enough to play in blowouts. Wouldn’t tone down his aggressiveness either, show him some Ginobli tape.

[machu46]

I'm sure it was probably already posted in here, but I personally missed it, so posting it again:
https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2905180-2020-nba-draft-lottery-buzz-the-mystery-begins-right-at-the-top.amp.html?__twitter_impression=true

Some of the tidbits that I found interesting in relation to the Bucks:
- Some think Kira Lewis is a top 20 pick, while others think he'll go in the 25-35 range, so he might be more within our reach than I thought.
- Thinks Saddiq Bey is a likely lottery pick, so he might be off the list of realistic possibilities for us.
- Hearing late 1st-early 2nd grades for RJ Hampton, so he could potentially be an option for us if we want to take a swing on some raw upside.
- Multiple scouts have Jalen Smith (who I liked as a potential option for us) graded as a lottery talent, with some having him ahead of Okongwu.
- Sounds like teams are extremely high on Patrick Williams.

[Badgerlander]

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Don’t know how Poku isn’t a lotto pick, he’s a Zinger level unicorn

[Badgerlander]

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