NBA Draft: Pacers news, rumors and reckless speculation

As of this minute, the Pacers still have four picks in the NBA Draft on Thursday night.

Photo: @NBA

Happy NBA Draft Day!

While we all hope for a home run swing by the Pacers on draft night, the actual impact to the team won’t be properly assessed for a couple of years down the road. But is it too much to ask for another surprising boost in the rotation?

Last season, Bennedict Mathurin and Andrew Nembhard offered just that type of surprise, but their true impact on the success of the Pacers remains a work in progress.

So what is going on as we wait for the draft to begin at 8 p.m. ET?

After trading picks No. 29 and No 32 yesterday, for pick No. 40 and a TBD first-round pick in the 2024 draft, the Pacers flipped the No. 40 pick to the Lakers for No. 47 and about $4.5 million in cash.

Cool. Now what?

I can’t imagine the Pacers are worried about drafting too many players that need a roster spot, since the current roster is already at 12 players. But that current roster is imbalanced and needs work, so c’mon, they can’t possibly run back the full group plus a couple of new players.

If so, I really want to see the actual cash they received from the Lakers. Band up the cash and stack it for a press conference. That’s a lot of bands. Let’s see it!

News and Rumors

Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported that the Pacers and Hawks were close to completing a deal that would’ve send De’Andre Hunter to the Pacers. Acknowledging the injury concerns in Hunter’s early career, he would still be the great fit for what the Pacers are looking for in upgrading at forward. However, the Pacers did not want to part with No. 7 as part of the deal.

This was actually good news, indicating that the Pacers are not going to reach nor overpay, as should be the case.

The Pacers have been linked to interest in Tobias Harris, according to reports out of Philly. Tobias can produce big time, but with one year on his contract, do the Pacers want to spend No. 7 hoping to extend him for big money. Nah. The $40 mill this year wouldn’t be a problem, but future money would be better spent elsewhere.

Michael Scotto feels the Pacers will take Jarace Walker if they keep the No. 7 pick.

Multiple NBA executives around the league who spoke with HoopsHype believe Jarace Walker will be Indiana’s pick at No. 7 overall if he’s still on the board. Indiana has also conducted due diligence and gauged the market for the No. 7 pick, as previously reported on HoopsHype, with upgrades at small forward and power forward as tasks for the Pacers this offseason.

Not shocking to hear, but regardless of which player they pick (if they pick) they value them more than the players in these trade rumors thus far.

Dorian Finney-Smith has been another forward linked to the Pacers thanks to his ties with the Pacers coaching staff from his time in Dallas. DFS along with a rookie like Walker added to Jordan Nwora is a strong step toward filling that hole in the front court. And don’t forget Kendall Brown who could be healthy and still develop out of nowhere into an exciting player in future playing rotations.

If not DFS, another potential free agent could be Harrison Barnes, who has good history with Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield. I’ve always felt Barnes is a solid player if you can make him your fourth or fifth option which would be the case with the Pacers.

Who else do you like as a free agent option?

Odds

OK, let’s wrap this up for now with the most current betting odds for the No. 7 pick in the draft (via DraftKings).

• Jarace Walker +150

• Taylor Hendricks +180

• Ausar Thompson +550

• Cam Whitmore +600

• Anthony Black +700

I will continue to update this post if more news breaks as we lead up to the draft.

Let me know what you think. Preferably in the form of reckless speculation.