Pacers add Newton and Freeman with remaining second-round picks
A pair of tough, experienced players seem like a perfect fit for the Pacers current culture.
The Pacers doubled up on players with experience who know how to fight for what they want on the floor, selecting guard Tristan Newton out of UConn and forward Enrique Freeman out of Akron with picks No. 49 and No. 50, respectively.
Newton is simply a dog who added consistent fire to UConn’s championship run by running the offense and helping fortify a defense that was air tight when it mattered most. At 6’5, Newton has great size to go along with his on-court disposition. The knocks on Newton are his 3-point shooting prowess (or lack thereof) along without hesitating to let ‘em fly. His wingspan ration isn’t great either, but watch him play and it is hard to tell why that matters.
On the plus side, Newton averaged 15 points, 6.2 assists and 6.6 rebounds for the national champs. He also lead UConn in scoring with 20 points in their championship game win over Purdue, earning the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament nod in the process. He plays hard and under Danny Hurley has been pushed to deliver throughout his college career and seems to have answered the call with all of the energy and effort Hurley could ask for. Sounds like a Rick Carlisle guard, no?
"Coach Carlisle values IQ and I think Tristen has a very good feel for how to play," Pacers GM Chad Buchanan said after the draft. "Obviously, he played with a lot of talent around him at UConn, so he's played with NBA-caliber players already and he knows how to read each player on the floor, which I think he (Carlisle) really values.”
Pretty easy to compare Newton to Andrew Nembhard which also raised the issue of of adding another guard to the mix with Haliburton, TJ, Mathurin, Sheppard and Nesmith. But as No. 49 picks go, Newton could fill a few roles if the Pacers move on from some of those guards this year or in the future. Adding Newton’s defensive ability to the mix at his size, doesn’t force him to find a role among the point guards. Defensive depth is a dire need for the Pacers and Newton could develop into rotation guy ready to show up big in the biggest games.
Enrique Freeman with No. 50 pick
Akron forward Enrique Freeman is certainly one of the easiest players in the draft to root for when you hear about the route he took to being the No. 50 picks in the draft. After going to school on an academic scholarship, Freeman walked-on to the basketball team. By his senior year, Freeman was a regular on the MAC All-Defensive team and after averaging 18 points and 13 rebounds in his senior year, was named the MAC player of the year.
"He's a guy who's earned everything he's gotten," Buchanan said. "From coming into college to working his way up to where he got as a college player to going to the Portsmouth Invitational and earning his way up to the G League invite elite camp to get invited up to the combine. He's just a self-made player. A lot of his qualities match up with who we are and players in the past who have had his qualities have had success with us."
Freeman seems destined to begin his pro career as a two-way player for the Pacers, working his way up via the G-League. But that path seems perfect since Freeman hasn’t skipped any steps along the way, instead succeeding and earning his way up to the next opportunity in his hoops journey.
But first, we’ll see how these second-round picks show out during Summer League in Vegas in early July. As always, should be fun to see what each has to offer the Pacers.