Pacers Address Long-Term Issue by Drafting ABA Star in 2025 Mock

Even with their ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals now punched, the Indiana Pacers could still look to flesh out their roster this summer by selecting a rising young star in the 2025 NBA Draft.

The Pacers finished off the Eastern Conference's top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in a brisk five-game series.

Granted, the Cavaliers' three All-Stars — guards Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell and Defensive Player of the Year power forward Evan Mobley — plus and sixth man De'Andre Hunter were all dealing with injuries, but the team was still badly outplayed by Indiana, which relied on speed, depth, and a motion offense to submit some truly spectacular offensive performances.

Now, the Pacers await the winner of the Eastern Conference's other semifinal matchup, a clash between the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics and the No. 3-seeded New York Knicks. New York leads Boston 3-1, and with six-time All-Star Celtics power forward Jayson Tatum now done for the postseason (and, probably, most of 2025-26) as he recuperates from a right Achilles tendon tear, it seems likely that the Knicks will move on, sooner or later.

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Indiana has mostly employed a three-big rotation, with starters Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner augmented by reserve power forward Obi Toppin. Bench center Thomas Bryant has played occasional spot minutes to spell Turner, but he's an unrestricted free agent this summer and has limited upside.

Thus, Sam Vecenie of The Athletic predicts that Indiana will use the No. 23 pick to select a potential long-term Bryant upgrade: 6-10 big big man Joan Beringer, 19, who's currently plying his trade with Slovenian pro club Cedevita Olimpija.

The Dallas Mavericks have won the right to select Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick.

But the surprising NBA Draft order impacts the other lottery teams immensely.@Sam_Vecenie's post-lottery mock draft ⤵️https://t.co/MVd0ekFxSd pic.twitter.com/gL08WTJ6jR
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) May 13, 2025

"Indiana loves these athletic big men and could use another player to develop into a backup role this summer, even if Myles Turner decides to stick around," writes Vecenie. "The Pacers need a long-term backup center solution. Beringer might not be ready to step into that role from day one, but he possesses the kind of tools necessary to turn into a tremendous running partner out in transition for Tyrese Haliburton down the road."

Turner, a terrific 3-and-D big man, has presumably earned himself a ton of money with his modern two-way play so far in this postseason. He'll be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

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"He’s a tremendous leaper who can sky for the basketball, but more than that, his hands are phenomenal," Vecenie raves of Beringer. "He catches everything both in and outside of his area with ease. He fits the archetype of a rim-running, shot-swatting big man who will have low offensive usage but be able to play in versatile situations on defense if his game develops well over the next three years."

In 30 ABA games with Cedevita Olimpija this season, Beringer averaged 4.9 points on 59.4 percent field goal shooting and 60 percent free throw shooting, 4.1 rebounds, 1.5 blocks, 0.6 assists and 0.5 steals in 18.5 minutes per.

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