Indiana Pacers VP of Player Personnel Ryan Carr excited for Pacers' options and opportunities
Indiana Pacers Vice President of Player Personnel Ryan Carr met with the media on Monday, and he couldn't help but repeat two words over and over again — options and opportunities.
"I keep saying those two 'O' words, but it seems to be what it is," Carr said when discussing the Pacers draft this week.
Carr helps run the pre-draft process for the Pacers, and he's been with the franchise for decades. He worked his way up from the video room and has been in his current role since 2019. He's been a part of many drafts.
Few drafts have had this many options, though. Indiana has five picks in Thursday's draft, including three in the first round. They have cap space and flexibility to move around in the draft too. They also brought in more than 60 players for pre-draft workouts. They are prepared for anything, a must since they have so many options.
"With the number of picks, it's an awesome opportunity to get way more guys in, get to know them," Carr said. "It's been a lot of fun."
With the workouts now complete, the Pacers can finalize their draft board. Doing so is helpful for knowing who they could pick, of course, but it also makes trading more feasible when all the players are ranked. Activity could heat up this week.
The blue and gold have the chance to do a lot. They have five selections, but they don't plan on bringing in five rookies this year. Instead, the Pacers will be active on the trade market this week as they look to optimize their assets and approach.
"I think there are just a ton of opportunities this year with all these picks. Different things that could come up," Carr said. "With all the picks, there's other teams that may be interested in getting some of those picks. We're interested in the picks and finding out where we can get value for players in each place that we could pick," he added.
The Pacers best pick is seventh overall. It's their third-straight year with a lottery pick, and they have drafted an All-Rookie team member in the last two in Chris Duarte and Bennedict Mathurin. They'll hope to repeat that, and they learned a lot about the right mentality for young players after picking Mathurin, who was in the mix for Rookie of the Year.
They also own picks 26 and 29 late in the first round. After that, it's pick 32, which is near where they have had success with selections (Andrew Nembhard) and trades (Isaiah Jackson) in recent drafts. Then, the blue and gold end their night with the 55th pick.
"A ton of options," Carr said.
"The more options, the better. The more picks, the more things you can do with it. More opportunities," he added. There's those 'O' words again, but they perfectly detail the wide range of outcomes for Indiana is facing Thursday.
They could trade up, which has been reported as an option. They could move their later picks for veterans, which would make logical sense. Other reports have connected the Pacers' seventh overall pick to possible deals involving talented wing players. The Pacers have that many strong options for this year's draft.
They could simply just make a few picks, too. This draft class is regarded as a strong one, and they have seen many players up close.
"Every year, in terms of preparations, it's the same," Carr said. They rank the players one through 60 for draft purposes, and then they have further rankings for undrafted free agent decisions. More prep is better.
So are more eyeballs, which is why it has been beneficial that All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton has been watching the pre-draft workouts and providing input. Nobody knows the Pacers as a team better than Haliburton, and his insight will be valuable in the process.
The NBA is constantly changing, and the Pacers know that. They review those changes and how to adjust their team. That's why they need wings and forwards so badly, they are critical to success in the modern NBA.
That is also why they could pick a forward on Thursday. But they could trade for an established one. Or they could move up, or down. Everything is on the table for the building-yet-stocked Pacers.
"We talk about all different scenarios. Different combinations of guys being there," Carr said. That is a requirement for the blue and gold this year given their number of options and opportunities.
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