Six players the Pacers could target in the NBA Draft second round

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Pacers didn't have a first-round pick Wednesday's NBA Draft after trading it last week to the Pelicans to retrieve their 2026 first-round pick. However, Wednesday evening, they traded back into the draft to get another second-rounder, acquiring the No. 38 pick from the Spurs for a second-round pick from 2030 and cash.
That means the Pacers have the No. 38 and No. 54 overall pick in the second round, which begins Thursday at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
The Pacers could potentially use those picks for any type of players. If they re-sign center Myles Turner, they will return key players from their NBA Finals run at every position and they have enough depth that they might not necessarily need anyone they draft to play right away. However, with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton likely to miss all of next season thanks to an Achilles tendon tear, they could use some depth at each spot. They will need a third point guard behind Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell, who will handle the job in Haliburton's absence. Bennedict Mathurin will likely move into the starting lineup at shooting guard, so the Pacers could use a wing to backfill that move and they could also use perimeter shooting with Haliburton having led the team with 218 3-pointers in 2024-25. And the Pacers could go in a number of directions for depth at center, and the draft is one of them.
With that in mind, here are six players the Pacers could target with Round 1 in the books.
The 6-10, 235-pound Broome was the only other unanimous Associated Press first-team All-America pick along with NBA No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg and helped lead Auburn to its second Final Four in school history. The 22-year-old Broome obviously doesn't have anywhere near Flagg's ceiling, but he has the frame, athleticism and motor to be a very effective backup center or power forward in the NBA.
Broome averaged 18.6 points per game as a fifth-year senior, making 55.9% of his 2-point shots including 78.6% of his field goals at the rim according to hoop-math.com. He led the SEC in rebounding (10.8 per game) and blocks (2.1 per game) to earn SEC Player of the Year honors. He also averaged 2.9 assists per game, showing excellent feel for the game as a passer out of the post. He's not a great outside shooter, making just 30.2% of his career 3-pointers including 27.8% (25 of 90) in his fifth year. However, his motor on defense and at the glass and ability to score around the rim and pass should be enough for him to make an impact as a backup center and he should be game-ready to step in behind Turner or share minutes with Isaiah Jackson or Thomas Bryant if the Pacers decide to keep one of them.
The 6-7, 210-pound Watkins blossomed in his last two years at Florida State after starting his career at Virginia Commonwealth, averaging 15.6 points per game as a junior and 18.4 as a senior to earn All-ACC honors.
He has some offensive inefficiencies, shooting just 32.1% from 3-point range this season. However, he's a strong ball-handler and creator and perhaps most importantly for the Pacers, a long-armed, switchable defender. His wingspan is nearly 7-feet and he has a 37-inch vertical leap, so he can keep ball-handlers in front of him and rebound well for his position. He averaged 1.9 steals and 6.0 rebounds per game as a junior. He could give the Pacers a fourth multi-positional wing option off the bench behind Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker and Johnny Furphy.
The Pacers could use another player capable of handling the point beyond Nembhard and McConnell who could still serve a purpose after Haliburton returns. Jones fits that bill, having operated both as a shooting guard next to Tyler Kolek and then a starting point guard at Marquette.
Jones can create off the bounce for himself or for others, and is an excellent passer and rim finisher. He averaged 17.2 points per game as a junior, but then as a senior Kolek went to the NBA, Jones averaged 19.2 points and 5.9 assists per game, career-highs in both categories. The 6-4, 185-pounder is a strong defender, willing to pick up ball-handlers full-court, and he averaged 1.4 steals per game as a senior.
He is a streaky shooter. He made 40.6% of his 3-pointers as a junior but just 31.1% as a senior. He's been strong as a spot-up shooter but not as accurate shooting off the dribble and if the Pacers need him to handle the ball off the bench, that might be an issue. But he can give the Pacers another creator and pressure defender and as a third point guard, that's plenty.
The Pacers might be able to wait until No. 54 to get Andrew's younger brother, but they might not considering how well he played at the NBA Draft Combine, following in his older brother's footsteps.
Like Andrew, Ryan thrives by doing whatever his team requires and by making his teammates better. He led Division I in assists with 9.8 per game against just 2.5 turnovers per game, and he put pressure on the ball, averaging a West Coast Conference-leading 1.7 steals per game. After earning Big East Rookie of the Year honors at Creighton to start his career, Nembhard was named first-team All-West Coast Conference in each of his last two seasons at Gonzaga. He won at least one NCAA Tournament game in each of his four seasons, helping Creighton to the Elite Eight as a sophomore and Gonzaga to the Sweet 16 as a junior.
One thing Ryan doesn't have that Andrew does have is size. While Andrew is listed at 6-5, 195 pounds, Ryan was measured at 5-11 without shoes at the NBA Draft Combine and 176 pounds. The lack of size will make it difficult for Ryan to defend multiple positions the way Andrew can, but he can run an offense and pressure the ball and that could give him a chance to make an NBA team and possibly the Pacers.
The 6-7, 218-pound Thiero followed John Calipari from Kentucky to Arkansas and broke out as a junior from Fayetteville. He averaged 15.6 points per game, more than double the 7.2 per game he averaged as a sophomore at Kentucky, but more importantly he established himself as one of the top wing defenders in the class. He's powerfully built with lateral quickness and good hands and a 7-foot wingspan, and that combination led to 1.6 steals per game in his junior year.
Whoever lands him will certainly want to see better outside shooting from him as he made just 11 of 43 3-pointers this year (25.6%) and 21 of 74 for his career (28.4%). But his defense should be enough to get him on the floor as a second-unit wing.
The 7-1, 235-pound Kalkbrenner's dominating length could make him an elite-level rim protector, not to mention an excellent lob finisher. He led the Big East in blocks in each of the last three seasons and field goal percentage the last four. He made 65.8% of his career field goals including 69.6% of his 2-point shots and averaged 2.4 blocks per game in his career including 2.7 per game this year.