Pacers Officially Sign Braden Smith

The Indiana Pacers have officially signed Braden Smith to a two-way contract. After being selected with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, the Purdue Boilermaker finally inks a deal nearly two months later.

During the second-round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers landed a deal with their division rival, the Chicago Bulls. The blue and gold sent two second-round pick swaps and Kameron Jones --the No. 38 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft--for the rights to Braden Smith.

It was on that night that when Dustin Dopirak of the Indy Star reported the news that Smith would sign on a two-way deal. This would open up much-needed financial flexibility for the Pacers this offseason and allow them to make a handful of moves.

The Indiana Pacers have officially signed Braden Smith to a two-way contract per Pacers PR. pic.twitter.com/o5XBoxWLqs
— Alex Golden (@AlexGoldenNBA) August 17, 2026

But it wasn't just financial why Indiana made this move. Pacers general manager, Chad Buchanan, shared that the team was high on the Purdue standout at his post draft media availability:

"Braden has a competitive will that is very hard to put a measure on, a value on. He's always won. I talked to Coach Painter about him and the biggest thing he says is he impacts winning. Which is really the best quality you could ask for. He's tough, he loves the game, [and has a] high basketball IQ. He's overcome a lot of challenges and this will be the biggest challenge he's faced."

Smith was a standout point guard at Purdue and after four seasons with the program, and leads the entire NCAA in total assists with 1,103 overall. He was a terrific leader for their team and despite the challenges he faced by being a shorter guard and having a smaller frame, it did not impact the level of success the team was able to find with him as their go-to guy.

"All these second-rounders have something they have to overcome," Buchanan told the media. "For him, it's going to be his size. We're betting on his toughness, we're betting on his IQ, we're betting on his will to win."

The Westfield High School guard was named Mr. Basketball in 2022 and understands that his size will always be a challenge to overcome. During his pre-draft workout with the Pacers he acknowledged that by saying, "Size has always been an issue and I've always found a way around it."

Expectations are that Smith will spend a majority of the season with the Indiana Pacers G-League affiliate, the Noblesville Boom. This will allow for Smith to grow as a player and learn the pace and speed of the NBA game.

During 5 games for the Pacers Summer League team, Smith struggled to score the basketball but was solid in finding his teammates. He scored 34 points on 9-34 shooting (26.4%). Went 5-17 from 3 (29.4%), dished out 35 assists, gathered 22 rebounds, had 8 steals, and committed 14 turnovers.

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