Indiana Pacers front office explains busy draft night, breaks down trades
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers love their NBA Draft outcome.
Head coach Rick Carlisle said he was thrilled. General manager Chad Buchanan called it a huge victory. In the end, the team walked away with Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Mojave King, and Isaiah Wong, four players that they brought in for a pre-draft workout.
"They're both playmakers," Calisle said of Walker and Sheppard, the team's two first-round selections. "There's an element of feel to both of their games."
Indiana added Walker, a nearly perfect fit, in the lottery. His huge frame, defensive abilities, and creation upside were appealing to the blue and gold. Sheppard has versatility and can shoot the ball from deep, a skill that every team desires. Those traits were important for the Pacers, and Wong was a worthy swing late in the second round. King's future will reportedly start overseas, but he is an intriguing pick as well.
"A couple of goals that we had were adding some more talent and character. We wanted to improve our team defensively I think was a big priority for us moving forward," Buchanan said. They had been targeting the players they ended up with for a while.
The story of the Pacers draft night is much more than just the players they ended up with, though. It also involves moves made and not made and where that leaves the team going forward.
Entering last week, the blue and gold had the seventh, 26th, 29th, 32nd, and 55th picks in the 2023 draft. They only ended up actually using 26 and 55. The other picks were all moved as Indiana picked up assets along the way.
The first trade Indiana made was with Denver, and AllPacers reported the details here. The Nuggets received the 29th and 32nd selections from the Pacers while Indiana grabbed pick 40 and a 2024 first-round pick that could be higher than 29 from Denver. It was an asset-balancing move by the Pacers front office.
"Going into the draft, we knew we had 12 players under contract returning. So we had a roster situation we had to manage with three roster spots. Obviously, five picks, the math doesn't work on that one," Buchanan said of the trade. "We're trying to maintain an ability to go get players in the future as well."
The GM added that having more picks can lead to more action, and that's exactly what the Pacers were facing on draft night. "Moving two picks this year, moving down in the draft but picking up a first-round pick next year, gives us more tools to continue to build a team," he said.
In a move the following day, Indiana sent the 40th pick to the Los Angeles Lakers for the 47th pick and cash considerations. AllPacers reported on the details of that trade as well. The cash amount sent from the Lakers to the Pacers was significant and allowed the blue and gold to potentially move around in the second round again, a source shared. But they ultimately stayed at 47 and picked King. "Very talented wing player who is still developing," Buchanan said of King.
In total, the Pacers sent out picks 29 and 32 for a 2024 first rounder, pick 47, and cash considerations. Time will tell if the asset play works out in their favor, but even if the move ends up being a net neutral from an asset perspective, Indiana balanced out their draft capital within a roster crunch.
"We felt like a future first has a lot more value than 26 or 29 does to the majority of the league," Buchanan said Friday afternoon, noting that the team would have a full year to use the pick in a trade if they wanted to.
During draft night, Indiana made their final trade of the week to get two more assets. They sent the seventh overall pick to Washington, who chose Bilal Coulibaly, for the eighth pick as well as future draft picks. AllPacers reported on that trade, and the return, here.
The move allowed the blue and gold to get Walker, who they wanted anyway, as well as extra picks in one transaction. It was some smart, quick-thinking business.
"Certain teams start chasing certain players. You just try to be opportunistic," Buchanan said of the move. "We were able to move back a little bit and get the player we had targeted and get additional assets along the way."
From that point on, Indiana simply made their picks. It was an eventful start to the draft, but a more calm descent to the finish. In the end, the Pacers were happy with everything that they did.
They attempted to execute some other ideas, though. In the leadup to the draft, there were some reports that the Pacers were chasing a starting wing via trade, and Buchanan confirmed that there were a few players that the team went after.
"We were very, very aggressive pursuing a group of about five or six guys that would fit our timeline and fill a positional need," he explained. "Unfortunately, those guys were not available," he added. The GM laid out that the team pivoted to other plans when those ideas didn't pan out, and he confirmed that the team didn't want to give up significant assets for a player that could leave after one year.
He also noted that the value had to be right. The Pacers front office didn't want to send away significant assets for "four or five more wins next season." That didn't make sense for the franchise.
Indiana was also reportedly interested in moving up in the draft. They had the assets to do it, if they were so inclined.
Apparently, they were, especially as Villanova wing Cam Whitmore slid down. He ultimately went 20th overall to the Houston Rockets. As Buchanan detailed in an interview on 1075 The Fan's morning show Kevin And Query, the Pacers did try, unsuccessfully, to trade into that range.
"We tried as hard as we possibly could on that one. We called basically from about pick 10 down until his name came off the board," Buchanan shared. "It was a frantic room trying to be aggressive to move up into that range. Unfortunately, it takes two teams to tango on that one, and most of those teams had their guy and didn't want to move. We were very aggressive, that's why we had those extra picks."
The team still has those additional selections and could look to be aggressive in the future. As the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is implemented, deals could be available for the blue and gold soon.
In the end, the Pacers entered draft week with picks seven, 26, 29, 32, and 55. They exited with Jarace Walker, Ben Sheppard, Mojave King, Isaiah Wong, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2028 second-round pick, a 2029 second-round pick, and cash considerations. It was a solid week for the franchise, and they will hope to build on it in free agency come July.
- Jarace Walker is built like a linebacker and is a near-perfect fit with the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
- One-on-one with Indiana Pacers first-round pick Ben Sheppard. CLICK HERE.
- Source: Indiana Pacers receive two second round draft picks in draft-night trade with Washington Wizards. CLICK HERE.
- Sources: Indiana Pacers to sign Oscar Tshiebwe to two-way contract. CLICK HERE.
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