The NBA season is officially over. A champion has been crowned and now we shift our focus to the upcoming NBA Entry draft. For those teams who missed out on the playoffs, this year's draft marks hope and optimism as he talent pool here is deemed to be considerably better than it has been in the past few years; mind you it seems like the draft pundits say this same thing every single season.
Nonetheless, the teams who are holding lottery bound picks must be looking at ways to complement their rosters, be it by using the upcoming selection or via a trade on draft day. Not every team with lottery selections are able to address their needs via the draft as there is only so much talent available at each position and since these rookie deals are guaranteed, the new incoming salary amounts must be accounted for within the team's salary cap.
As the NBA Draft approaches eDraft.com will look at each of the lottery teams and identify their needs heading into the draft as well as who might be available to fill hose teams needs. Our draft coverage won't stop there though as post-draft we will have analysis of the picks as well as report cards for each of the teams as to how they fared.
As our march through the lottery picks continues our next stop is in Indiana as the Pacers are holding onto the eleventh overall selection in the draft. Indiana went from a potential Eastern Conference contender to a relative non-factor this season. This of course was due in huge part to the devastating injury to Paul George. Without George the Pacers were simply a lost bunch as they lost their all-everything and just couldn’t recover from that loss.
The good news is that George is back and he proved himself ready to play at the end of last year. With a full offseason program and training camp; there is no reason to think that George won’t be back at full strength for next year. The Pacers will look to add a piece through this draft whom they feel can contribute immediately. The Pacers are not in a rebuild mode, they are in a win now mode so any new draftee must be ready for that challenge.
Key Pieces to Build Around:
A healthy Paul George represents one of the most gifted and talented players in the league. There is no question that the Pacers will continue to hitch their hopes and dreams as a franchise to George so long as he is able to carry the load. Another bright spot emerged this past season for Indiana as George Hill stepped up in the void and truly had himself a breakout season. The play of these two surely has the Pacers convinced that they are set at point guard and small forward for the foreseeable future.
State of the Union - Indiana Pacers
As mentioned the Pacers future is a lot brighter than most lottery bound teams here. They have a proven all-star and decent talent around him. This appearance in the draft lottery is more of an anomaly than a regularity for the Pacers. While the team is in good shape heading into next year they do have a fairly large question mark at the center position as they are likely still going to be paying Roy Hibbert huge money in the last year of his deal. The potential to owe Hibbert $15.5 million this season on the player option is crippling for the Pacers as that is money that could be committed to luring free agents instead. It has long been rumored that the Pacers would be willing to trade Hibbert but of course they would have to find a willing partner to make such a deal. With the general decline in Hibbert's performances and the looming financial commitment it would make a whole lot of sense for the Pacers to be in the market for a serviceable big man with some pedigree.
Draft Needs:
Indiana is in a bit of a tough spot as they could use a big body to play center but they also need some athletic forwards to stretch the floor and contribute offensively. A player that would fit the mold of a stretch-four is Frank Kaminsky from Wisconsin. Kaminsky is the top ranked senior in his draft and he put his years of college ball to good use as he made huge improvements during his four years. He capped it all off by taking Wisconsin to the Championship game and by winning the National Player of the Year award.
Kaminsky can shoot the ball and has good perimeter skills for a big guy. Where he might find it difficult in transitioning to the NBA is on defense where he lacks length, foot speed and strength at this point to stay with other power forwards. This pick by Indiana would be a safe way to go and likely wouldn't garner them much criticism even if Kaminsky doesn't pan out as a prospect.