Pacers Unlikely to Keep All Five Draft Picks, Insiders Say

It’s hard to know which direction Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard will go with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, because Indiana could still use a little of everything, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggested in a call with reporters.

“They’re looking at guards. They’re looking at wings. They’re looking at forwards,” Givony said, via Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “I think that they’re at the stage of their rebuilding right now where they can go in a lot of different directions. I don’t think they’re going to be hamstrung by position. Knowing KP for a while now, he’s always been a guy who is focused on talent.

“He wants to make sure that five years from now he’s coming away with the best player he can in this draft. Rosters change. Guys come. Guys go, but, like, you want to make sure that you’re getting the best player possible.”

The Pacers actually have five picks in the draft — Nos. 7, 26, 29, 32 and 55. We can assume they won’t have five rookies on the roster next season. So if the Pacers are unable to trade some of the picks, they likely will select a couple of those draft-and-stash types.

“I’d be stunned if they walked away with five picks the night of the draft,” added ESPN’s Bobby Marks on the call, via Dopirak. “You look at where their roster is. They really only have three free agents with (Oshae Brissett), (James Johnson) and George Hill. It’s the quality over quantity, which is what they’re looking at.”

Four things to know about the Pacers' draft approach: What kind of players they might look for at No. 7, their prospects for moving up, and what team picking ahead of them might be most interested in the guys they also want: https://t.co/bmgTmMvgLT

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) May 23, 2023