Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle on the 2023 NBA Draft class: 'Looks good to me'
It's now May, meaning the focus for NBA teams that aren't in the playoffs is on team building and development. The draft lottery is later this month, and the NBA Draft is less than eight weeks away.
The Indiana Pacers have three first-round picks in the draft and five selections in total, so scouting will be their focus in the coming days and weeks. They could add major talent to their core alongside Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Andrew Nembhard.
"Looks good to me," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of the draft at his exit interview last month.
Since Carlisle became the head coach, the Pacers have had success with their picks. They chose Chris Duarte in the first round of the 2021 draft, and he was named to second-team All-Rookie. Isaiah Jackson was selected 22nd overall, and his athleticism has stood out at the NBA level. Neither player took a meaningful step forward this season, but both have promise at the pro level.
This past summer, Indiana drafted both Mathurin and Nembhard. Both could end up on an All-Rookie team and look to be fantastic picks given their draft position. Mathurin recently finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting.
Indiana will hope to nail another draft. If they do, they will have a terrific young core to guide them for the next few seasons, especially with All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton at the helm.
Carlisle thinks the draft has talent that the Pacers can acquire. They sit seventh in the pre-lottery draft order.
"The very top of it is obviously impactful. When you get to the next tier, you're looking at some really talented guys. But you're also looking at youth," Carlisle said of the draft class. "It would be guys that would need to be developed. It would be hard to say how much they could help a team right away, but they're guys that have skill and bring elements to the NBA game that are needed. Looks to me like a pretty good draft."
The Pacers want to be better next season and push for the playoffs, so adding multiple rookies may be tough. But they can certainly add one or two, and doing so would give them chances to both get better this coming season while preserving a long-term growth path.
Because the draft class is so strong, the Pacers have a better chance of accomplishing their offseason goals in a typical year.
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- Indiana Pacers exit interviews: Bennedict Mathurin didn't accomplish what he wanted to in his rookie season. That should encourage the Pacers. CLICK HERE.
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