The Indiana Pacers originally used this pick on North Carolina Tar Heels standout and the bane of my existence as a Maryland Terrapins fan, Tyler Hansbrough. To be fair to the Pacers, the former Naismith and Wooden award winner was slated as a mid-first-round pick, so this wasn’t necessarily a reach at the time.
However, it became instantly clear that Hansbrough wasn’t going to torment NBA opponents as he did through four years playing in the ACC. He settled in as a reliable bench player on some good Indiana teams, but his lack of athleticism ultimately bridled his potential to become a star at the pro level.
It was far from the worst pick in this draft, but Indiana could have wrung more value out of this pick by taking Saint Mary’s guard Patrick “Patty” Mills. Sure, he had some red flags in college — played at a mid-major school, was an inefficient shooter, questionable decision maker, relatively diminutive for an NBA guard — but he could have fit in well as a spark plug off the bench.
After all, that’s pretty much how he’s thrived in his decade in the league, especially as a member of the San Antonio Spurs. Mills has spent the last eight seasons with the Spurs, primarily as a backup.
While his non-existent defense has kept him from cracking the starting lineup, his craftiness off the dribble and his proficiency from deep has allowed him to carve out a nice role for himself as a change-of-pace backup guard as his career 8.4 points per game, 55.9 true shooting percentage, and .115 WS/48 suggest.