Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers will be looking back at this draft as a huge missed opportunity. Instead of acquiring multiple draft picks to begin their rebuild, they balked at all deals involving Paul George; this was despite him saying he won’t be returning after this season. Any leverage the Pacers had in a potential deal will start to fade fast as the draft is now complete.
With the 18th overall selection, the Pacers selected UCLA forward, T.J. Leaf. Leaf, 6’10” and 220 pounds, averaged 16.3 points last season in large part to Lonzo Ball‘s ability to get teammates involved. He also grabbed down 8.2 rebounds a game.
Weaknesses of Leaf’s game include his inability to take open jumpers at times, turning the ball over with careless plays, and his small frame for his position. Leaf will need to be surrounded by other good players in order to be successful in the NBA.
With their last pick of the night, the Pacers selected Ike Anigbogu, another player from UCLA. He’s a 6-foot-10 inch, 250-pound center who played just 13.3 minutes a game last season in 29 games total.
In these minutes he averaged just 4.7 points a game with 4.0 rebounds. Knee problems have also been an issue for Anigbogu, which is never a good sign early in a career. If Anigbogu doesn’t improve upon his low post game and shooting touch, it’s hard to see him lasting very long in the NBA, despite his impressive ability to rebound.
So, where will the Pacers go from here? After a disappointing draft night where they weren’t able to unload George, it looks like they are delaying the rebuilding process for another few weeks, if not the entire 2017 season.