Indiana Pacers: 5 Players To Consider With 20th Pick
The Indiana Pacers come into Thursday night’s NBA Draft with the 20th pick. Who should they select?
The Indiana Pacers are in possession of the 20th pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
What they will do with that pick is the hot topic in Indiana.
Last year the Pacers struck gold by selecting Myles Turner with the 11th pick. Turner went on to have a marvelous rookie season and showed glimpses of being a future All-Star-caliber player.
The Pacers are hoping to land a great young player once again at an even unlikelier draft position.
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The 20th pick hasn’t generated much NBA impact in recent years as highlights by the IndyStar. Over the past 11 years, Evan Fournier has been the best pick with that selection while many (James Anderson, Eric Maynor, Renaldo Balkman) have struggled to maintain a spot in the NBA.
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Expectations for the player should be lowered a bit, but that doesn’t mean the pick doesn’t have potential to be a solid rotation player or more.
With the 20th pick (or almost any other pick), the fit for the soon-to-be rookie around the current roster shouldn’t be heavily weighed, because things will inevitably change over the next season or two.
Imagine if the Pacers in the 2010 NBA Draft thought, “We don’t need this Paul George guy. He plays the same position as our best player, Danny Granger.”
They instead saw a young player with a lot of potential and it worked out phenomenally.
With the 20th pick, look for the Pacers to go the “best player available” strategy. At that point in the draft, that’s the way to go.
The Pacers have their fair share of needs, but those needs will more than likely be addressed in free agency.
Idea that teams look to fill needs in the draft is a misconception among fans. One scout put it: Team needs only considered for tiebreakers.
— Jonathan Wasserman (@NBADraftWass) June 20, 2016
If the mocks are semi-accurate, there would appear to be a few players who could either contribute right away, or be projects who could develop into valuable players over the next few years.
Here are the players who fit those bills that could be available with the 20th pick.
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