Draft Reaction Podcast: The Indiana Pacers add Johnny Furphy, Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman!

Draft Reaction Podcast: The Indiana Pacers add Johnny Furphy, Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman!

and the 2024 Draft is officially over the Indiana Pacers don’t trade any other picks they actually trade up in the draft using cash considerations and move to 35 and take Johnny Fury from Kansas they also take Tristan Newton from Ukon and Enrique Freeman from akan and here to talk with me about the Pacers draft is Michael J FY FY how we feeling today feel pretty good NBA draft is always one of my most favorite times of the year it hurt not a first round pick but the Pacers had plenty picks in the second round and I think there were some names that maybe we were intrigued by but you know in the end I think the Pacers probably went with the best available talent in Johnny Fury a guy who most mock drafts big boards had him going in the top 20 so I think the Pacers got fantastic value with Johnny Fury the man from Down Under from Australia a 6 foot n Wing out of Kansas I think there’s a lot to like about Johnny Fury yeah Johnny Fury man I went through and looked up about five different mock drafts fi and it was kind of all over the place but nobody had him lower than 29 and that was one CBS analyst they did I think six different uh six or seven different analysts shared information I think one guy uh didn’t have him in the first round but 1920 23 and 29 was what I saw from from from CBS ton had him at 26 MBA draft had him at 26 the ringer had him at 20 No Ceilings had him at 20 ESPN had him at 18 so a lot of people had a first round grade on Johnny Fury and what’s really interesting is this is a young player 19 years old that had was the was on the all Big 12 freshman team here for Kansas and it’s just interesting to me because he wasn’t a starter for the beginning of the year and then Bill self put him in the starting lineup his numbers did get a little bit better when he became a starter and Bill self said I think we found our our fifth guy and he said no offense to my player that I’m taking out but I just feel like fur is a better fit for our starting five so cool to kind of see him Embrace that role a little bit coming off the bench and then becoming a starter kind of shows the growth that he had throughout the season but every person that you see talk about Johnny Fury you don’t really see a lot of negative criticism especially at pick 35 yeah this was a this was fantastic value uh you know when you mentioned all those numbers you know pretty much everybody had him as a first round pick uh his stats on the season nine points per game 49% shooting did 35% from three and averaged about five rebounds per game you mentioned when he went to that starting lineup over the final 18 games of the Season he raised those numbers to 12 points per game seven rebounds per game that makes me feel like that rebounding is no fluke and when you talk about his strengths it’s being able to get open it’s being able to move around without the ball really good three-point shooter like I mentioned 35% from the field I think that this is someone that can rebound knock down threes create spacing move around without the ball and most grades that I saw gave the pace an a across the board I saw an a an A minus and some of the player comps because those are always fun here’s what we got cam Johnson Trey Murphy II and you ready for this Doug McDermot I mean of course that gets sneaked in there just you can’t escape mcbuckets we might have just drafted his replacement yeah I don’t know if I see Trey Murphy the third I would loved to see that but uh Doug mcder it does kind of feel a little bit interesting I will say this with with what tape I’ve seen of him very good at cutting right does a good job not one that really puts the ball on the floor though so I think that he’s more of a catch and choot guy and not an on ball guy right so that’s not a bad thing because Indiana has so many creators now I I I would be surprised if he really gets a lot of playing time this year just because Indiana’s roster so deep unless they make some kind of big trade here and they and they don’t trade him in that in that deal but I actually really think that he is a guy that could benefit from learning how the Pacers offense works and the catch and shoot stuff is going to be so easy for him when you’re playing with McConnell and Halbert and guys like that so if he can just constantly keep moving I think that this feels like a very very good pick for Indiana especially projecting long term knowing he’s only 19 years old I think we knew whoever was stepping into to this pick originally going pick 36 ends up being pick 35 we knew playing time was going to be really hard for them to come by and I really do think that t Talent is there Indiana clearly when they traded up ponied up a decent amount of cash because I would like to imagine there was probably others that were trying to trade with San Antonio to get this deal done so I think the Pacers went found a guy that they did not think would be available and went after him I love it but yes I don’t think that he should be playing much this year pretty much all the analysis that I saw after they gave compliments to Johnny was he’s probably not ready this year and needs a little bit more time and that’s okay I think there’s a lot of players in this draft in specific that are not ready and I think that he could you know learn benefit big time being in the g-league being able to move at his own pace and I think that as time goes on when you’re looking at to say how do we replace the Buddy heels or the Doug mcdermit from a three-point shooting standpoint and you know that Wing position that size that’s been a need for the Pacers I think they might have found their guy and give it a year or two be patient I think there’s a big difference between drafting jarus Walker a pick eight and expecting something and then drafting Johnny Fury at pick 35 and I think the expectations just a lot lower and probably where they should be from this stand point of this year I mean if if so many of these draft analysts had higher grades on him why do you think he fell to 35 with other GMS in the league that I can’t find anything on it you know sometimes you could find that someone might not have interviewed well or anything of the sort I cannot find why this guy who was projected to be on many you know mock drafts like we saw 18 20 21 to fall to 35 is very surprising and I have not seen anyone point to why defense yeah he’s got a ways to go on that and you know other than that I mean I just don’t think there’s some sort of knock where it’s like cam Whitmore sliding because due to Medicals or Kyle filipowski potentially sliding because of the situation with his girlfriend going on like there’s nothing that I’ve been able to find about Johnny Fury yeah I I think part of it for me fi is just the fact that he is so new to the call game right nobody really expected him to jump on the scene right away and I think there was even speculation that he might go back for his sophomore season at Kansas until he got some pretty good Intel from from people across the league that okay maybe he might have something there that’s a little bit more special but I just think the fact that he is Australian we don’t have a ton of Australian players in the league which we we still have some but a lot of them have not panned out as well as you maybe H they would have so maybe that’s got like some kind of stereotype attached to it but I I just say he’s a totally different player than than most Australians I saw an an Instagram reel where an Australian basketball analysis was talking about that and he’s like everything that you know normally see from Australian basketball players Johnny furf is the opposite he’s not this defensive minded guy he’s more of a guy that can actually shoot where a lot of Australians really can’t shoot uh in previous in previous prospects so I thought that was pretty interesting to kind of hear someone else’s take on that but I think it does make a lot of sense only average nine points like we said for the season for Kansas so so maybe they felt like he was more of a beneficiary of the players around him that were really good but overall I just think that this is a guy that moves well without the basketball if you really watch his without the ball movement it’s very very good and I think that’s one of the reasons that the Pacers love Ben Shepard last year so not saying that they’re the same player because Ben sheeper to me is much much better defensively but I I would say that the the shot that I’ve seen the set shot that I’ve seen from Johnny Fury does look a little bit more polished than Ben Shephard it does look good to me and they they had him as one of the better Shooters in this draft not saying he’s a top five shooter by any means or anything like that like Ben Shepard was viewed as one of the best Shooters in last year’s draft Ben Shepard was a four-year college guy I mean if Johnny Fury return to college he probably would have been far more of a household name next year but I think there’s a lot of guys in this draft that would have benefited from returning to college maybe that’s just the old man and me but I think there was enough scene to say hey yeah like you mentioned moves really good without the ball and you know knock down open shots you that’s what the the Pacers offense is like they want to play in transition pery you know plays well in transition I think this was a really good pick and when you’re looking at pick 35 36 depending on where the Pacers were initially you know it’s kind of gonna be a little bit of a tossup if this guy works out I feel really good about Johnny Fury having a good NBA career long term just as a rookie I want you to set those expectations real low so he can you know exceed the them kind of like Ben Shepard when that pick happened we were like there’s what path to playing time is there and then this guy starting in the Eastern Conference Finals so never say never but I I think that the Pacers are going to bring him along the way that he should be brought along and to me I think that’s the best thing for him I will say one of the things that’s really interesting is the Pacers got this pick pick 36 in the Buddy heel deal and so you basically think about it you trade buddy Hill you get Doug mcder back in the deal and then basically you might get a 19-year-old version of Doug McDermot you know on a much cheaper contract that makes a lot more sense for your team moving forward and I think he has like a different skill set than Doug mcder they’re both good three-point Shooters but I think they’re different in how they’ll play and I think furphy has potential to be a better defensive player than Doug mcder is so that to me is interesting but I will say this what’ you say definitely a better rebounder too like yeah that’s for sure I mean the fact that he’s rebounding so well for that position is good like what’ you say it was 12 and seven whenever he took over the final 18 games so to me the the you know the rebounding is not a fluke yeah I mean when you’re playing at a great school like Kansas one of the best schools in the entire country and one of the just the best schools period especially better than West Virginia you really have to love I know what Alex is doing I’m sitting here trying to let him talk I hate Kansas because of how much of a West Virginia fan I am and I went to college so that is our rival so I’m gonna be honest I’m just gonna rip the Bandit off I never liked Johnny Fury I never did did and that’s because he played for Kansas so now I need to just swallow my pride and I need to jump on the train yeah you got sheo on the Pacer still so you can figure it out you know it’s a good balance but getting back to serious stuff here I had to give f a little bit of a joke uh Jonathan gavon on his on his uh Instagram account said that the 19-year-old is a late blooming Swingman whose size and shooting in a complimentary role changed the complexion of Kansas season and paved his way to the draft earlier than anyone expected so I think that that is um a really good point there gavone is one of the best if not the best at knowing these prospects knowing their Intel um I think that he does a great job and then one of our good friends Nathan grbl he does not work with No Ceilings anymore because he took on a different role with his job but he put out a great tweet about Johnny Fury I know he really pays attention to the draft he said Johnny Fury to the Indiana Pacers makes so much sense I Envision a role for him similar to what the team wanted out of late season at Doug mcder but Fury much better transition athlete and someone who can play to the PACE and tempo of halberton and Company so guys that have really studied Johnny Fury really like him and his fit with Indiana so I think that means to me like I I I we haven’t seen it yet so it’s hard to give it a gray but I’d say it’s a it’s a win-win for both sides I absolutely think so and the guys that know ceilings who do great work I actually saw they had an article back in February before Fury struggled a little bit uh from the field to March Madness they had him as a lottery pick at one point this is just back in February so you’re talking about about a lottery Talent being snagged at pick 35 that’s really As Good As It Gets when you’re talking about that there’s no off- the court issues that made him slide so that makes you just feel really good overall the Pacers coaching staff’s been able to get so much out of every player and a guy that we had on our Show recently Ryan Hammer Ryan Hammer loved the Pacers draft and when you’re talking about all second round picks and you love it that that says that they did the most with what they had to work with absolutely and I think you know Chad Buchanan did talk with the Pacers media uh about the draft and so basically said that you know he said that he feels there is a lot of areas where Fury has what they need really likes his ability to move without the ball catch and shoot and also crash AB boards which you mentioned so that is U exciting to talk about with fur and I know that we have a lot of Australian listeners the pacero podcast they do a great job Alex Riley does a great job with his videos uh Woody from from W wo MBA I think is his name on Twitter uh he does a great job covering stuff and I met him in person as well so a lot of a lot of great a Justin Beckman I think he came on our show too so maybe I’m saying the last name wrong I apologize but Justin U is another staple from Australia and part of the pacero too so uh they they’ve got a great fan base there in Indiana in Australia for the Indiana Pacers so for them to have another guy here that’s Australian on the team I think that’s so cool for them as well I think it’s awesome because the second he got drafted you know felt like all the you know the passionate you know Australian Pacer fans immediately hit to Twitter and you know they were saying great things about Johnny and I love that and they’re obviously very knowledgeable of you know’s game and you rooting for one of their own so I think that will bring them even closer to the Indiana Pacers and I think something like that is always awesome when you have a guy from either your country your college or whatever it is goes to your favorite team it just brings you that much closer and uh I’m happy for those guys absolutely well let’s move on to the next pick the Pacers took and that was a guard from Yukon Tristan Newton and I think this may have been a bit of a surprise for a lot of people because Tristan Newton was kind of all over the place in terms of where people had him ranked most people had him ranked closer to 50 in in later uh the Pacers took him at 49 in the draft maybe it was I think it was 49 in the draft because there’s only 58 picks so 49 overall but like I said earlier with Fury being um you know up there in in terms of like a first round pick NBA draft from had Freeman or excuse me Newton at a at 43 tangon at him at 54 CBS did not have him ranked uh the ringer had him at 57 on their big board did not have him going in the draft at all No Ceilings had him 57 in their mock draft ESPN did not have him drafted at all either so this was a guy that was kind of like I said all over the place and not really sure what people thought of him but I I think that the fact that he led Yukon in scoring fji with Castle and M Donovan kingan 18 point uh excuse me 15.1 points per game 6.6 rebounds and 6.2 assist he was stuff in the stat sheets fi and the shooting wasn’t great from three but just or really from two 41% from two is not great but definitely a leader and I think a lot of people can get behind someone that’s one of those guys that knows how to lead a team to a championship 6′ three point guard out of Yukon like you mentioned two national titles fifth year senior so he is you know more mature that’s the easier way to say than being a little bit older uh 23 years old but you’re getting a really good on the- ball Defender you could score inside Kevin OK Conor labeled him as having that dog in them you know you love that but also uh I think it was chavanon was saying that they’re really excited to have you know him be someone that they could develop like that type of point guard that type of guard that can you know be able to lead and I think that he’s very well coached uh coming from Dan Hurley I think that that’s going to be awesome uh to have another winner and I feel the Pacers when they’re taking those like flyers on guys late in the draft or afterwards I love when they’re going after players with accolades I mean this was someone that was the final four most outstanding player he was a first team All-American this is not just some like well we don’t really know what we got here this is a guy that in the national championship had 20 points seven assists and five rebounds he’s labeled as a glue guy who brings those winning intangibles I think that this is just a pick that how could you hate on it at at 49 you know if if it doesn’t work out from long term I think you’re going to get a guy who’s going to work really hard and take advantage of every opportunity that he has and bring a little bit of that winning culture to the Pacers I thought that this was a pick that got some really good grades saw a lot of B pluses things like that and I think at pick 49 it it’s pretty much as good as it gets you know you talked about it before not a really efficient shooter from three-point land about a 33% three-point shooter uh in his in his five years in college he’s at Eastern Carolina before Yukon so I think there’s a lot to like probably a little bit more of a lower ceiling but at pick 49 I think the Pacers did well I think a lot of people are kind of wondering what Indiana’s point guard depth might be with MC only having one year left on his contract you know there’s been talks about an extension but if they can’t get that done do they want to have some more point guard depth obviously Andrew NIMH hard’s a big talking point as well so you’re kind of probably thinking well why do they draft another point guard and I do want to say this in terms of his height you said he was 63 according to what you found it’s all over the place I I’ve looked two different places one said he was 6’5 one said he was 64 and A2 so if he’s closer to 64 and a half 65 that does help a little bit but um I think that it’s really hard to get accurate measurements because so many people’s all over the place with what they get information wise but six uh almost a six foot uh seven wingspan FY according to No Ceilings and I think that’s really interesting as well but very good player um like you said the shooting is is something that he’s going to have to work on to really stay in this league and be better which I told you I’m not worried about shooting if they can get with Coach Jenny busek I I will say this though definitely feels like a two-way player to me yes if you look at the two-way guys from last year they they you know promoted Kendall Brown made him a standard contract guy they brought in I think it was Quinton flowers his name I can’t remember his name now I’m having a quint Jackson Quinton Jackson I’m thinking of I’m thinking of flowers from from the uh from the draft but anyway quent Jackson I feel really stupid uh Quenton Jackson Oscar sheway and Isaiah Wong are the guys currently on their two-way deals and chabu Canon did mention about two-way contracts for these guys so to me it feels very clear to me that maybe Oscar sheway might get promoted to the roster of Jaylen Smith walks or at least keep him on that two-way deal still and then it seems like Jackson and Wong might be on the outside looking in with the two guys they brought in this year so I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen but I I do feel pretty Prett good about Newton making the Pacers g-league roster specifically on a two-way deal because of what he did as a point guard and a leader I think that they probably would feel more comfortable with him as their point guard guard than a guy like Isaiah Wong I’m right there with you look no knock on Isaiah Wong you know I’ve said it before it’s just a little bit of a low ceiling type of situation I thought he was a good player in college but he doesn’t have the resume um that of of um Tristan so I think that right now I think it’s like that’s a two a guy that you want to give a little bit more time with like you said before McConnell nard it’s not a guarantee there’s not a lot of years on those contracts so who knows what happens but I think that to take a flyer on a on a two-way player right now I I think that you have to U you have to go with Tristan Newton on this one and I I think that Quinton Jackson was probably more of a blinking on that guy that we promoted a couple years ago from the g- league that played really well in G league but couldn’t make that next step like it on his name Gabe York is exactly the guy I feel like Gabe York was that guy they rewarded at the end hey you know whatever I think at this point Quinton Jackson and Isaiah Wong their time is two-ways done at minimum Oscar sheway is absolutely deserving of holding down that other two-way spot we’re talking about the the reigning g-league player of the year so to me I think that both Pacers picks aren’t going to be stashes I think these will be two and I say both I meant both of the later um second round picks I think will be two-way guys not stashed like last year with Mojave King that didn’t nail down that two-way spot yeah there’s no doubt about it and I don’t want to like sugar coat anything because I haven’t watched much of Newton play besides probably the championship game I didn’t watch a ton of Yukon being so busy with the Pacer stuff so to sit here and act like I watch a ton of them would be a bunch of crap I’m not going to lie to you guys so if there’s people out there that know more about him that’d be great but I will say this Ryan Hammer kind of compared the draft pick of Newton to Andrew NIMH hard and I think that to me was very very high praise because of of how well NIMH hard was at Gonzaga I can kind of understand where you draft an upper classman point guard that you feel confident in that can probably play a little bit of two if you need him to but probably the Pacers love having multiple ball handlers I mean that’s that’s for sure so the fact they could have him on a two-way deal and if somebody gets injured or things like that they could call him up have him as an emergency point guard but the fact that he was on both National Championship team is a back-to-back years for Coach Hurley you know that he’s got uh as a point guard of that team he possesses leadership and that’s one thing that you can’t unell and I I think the Pacers definitely could use more of a leader as their third string point guard and their g- league kind of point guard um and I think he is going to be that person for them just because of what everybody has said about him in terms of what you read and how he was that kind of leader and most outstanding player and things like that so the stats don’t lie though I mean the guy was averaging 156 and six that’s hard to do at that position like we said First Team all americ I think that that’s something it’s crazy how you could find those guys at you know just about pick 50 so that says a lot um and I just think the Pacers are always interested in bringing those High character individuals the guys that are going to work really really hard and that you don’t have any questions about I can’t remember the last time that the Patriot have drafted someone that was there was a little bit of an issue with or anything of the sort I just feel like you’re going to get someone who’s going to work really hard who’s going to be a leader even if he’s a rookie it’s just someone that you’re not going to have to worry about well this guy likes to play a lot of video games and his work ethics a little you know iffy no you’re going to get someone who’s ready to go to work who’s fighting for you know their spot on team and I thought that this was you know this was a good pick you could have went a different direction and gone with someone younger that maybe never materializes or anything of the sort I think it’s perfectly good to stick Newton in the g-league on a two-way deal see what he’s got and uh see if that dog that’s in him really comes out and shows something all right let’s move on to the last pick the guy they picked immediately after uh Tristan Newton and I was kind of surprised they took both picks here F I thought they might trade one out just just because why why I take somebody but you know what it it seemed like guys didn’t want to be drafted for some reason some guys that fell out of the draft kind of like we saw with Trace Jackson Davis last year like he ended up getting picked later but trying to position him s to get picked in the right spot so that’s why the second round is always interesting but they get a guy that a lot of people were high on and that’s Enrique Freeman fi uh played for akan I I I think anybody’d be lying if they said they were watching aan akan regularly I’ve got a family that lives in akan I’m not watching their college basketball team okay I I love my family but Enrique Freeman FY read those stats to everybody because those stats pretty much pop off the page oh I got those stats so 6’7 with the 7 foot2 two wingspan 18.6 points correction he’s 6’8 and a half so he’s a lot taller than what Kevin oconor is telling you over there yeah I mean look it’s just crazy out here I think some people go with the shoes some people go without whatever it is these players are getting better by the moment because every player’s gr with the shoes on we had this conversation about jarus last year he’s wearing shoes when he plays basketball I know I mean look I’m with you we just got to go with that I think it’s crazy to to put someone’s measurements without shoes when they’re never playing Barefoot so stupid that tonight has grown all right so 6’8 and a half or whatever with a 7 foot2 Wings span 18.6 points per game 13 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game now if you’re saying are the 13 rebounds legit or not he’s been one of the best rebounders in the nation for the last few years one of the most efficient players in the nation for the last few years and he just added a three-point shot to his game he had only attempted six threes in his first first four seasons in college he put up 54 threes uh last year hit 20 of them that’s good for 37% yeah I was going to say that’s a good point to bring up just because he he developed that three-point shot which made him better and and I saw Kevin o’ Conor’s comparison to Tar E I was getting a little excited went and watched some film on him there’s a great article that I tweeted out from No Ceilings Tyler metf did a great job breaking down his game do not see tar een whatsoever uh in his game at all so maybe that’s just on me for not seeing it but what I see here fi is I see a little bit more of a polished kall Brown when I watch him play and and we know how raw Kendall Brown was was when he came into the league and we thought man if they can really turn him into something like that’s some good size with some ability to like dunk the basketball but like no like Freeman has like a back to the basket game a little bit here that I was a little bit surprised with based on tar e because T eon’s not a back to the basket kind of player so he might have had a few of those moments there for LSU back in the day but I I I see Freeman more as a almost like a he’s considered a wing right but he played more big man at AAR I feel like he’s like a hybrid big man that’s got a little bit of Kendall Brown in him I’m trying to think if there’s another player that I could come up with for a player comp but I I definitely do think that athletic active and he covers a lot of space that is one thing I really noticed when watching some of the film that I did before we did this podcast when he’s out there FY it is crowded in the paint because of his wingspan and his ability to cover ground blocks a lot of shots has great timing so I just I really do feel like I’m not going to overhype a guy that got picked 51st 50th whatever in the draft but he’s got some skill to him I think that there’s potential for him to maybe carve out a roll there’s rumors that apparently the Knicks were prepared to take him at 51 so I don’t think this is like some player that you know all of a sudden like w what is this I’m G to be honest that was my reaction when the pat drafted who’s that but then when when you do further research I realized that we actually had some things in common both me and Enrique entered College as students and that’s where it ended he ended up walking on the team and playing five years and being a really good player I never you know even stepped on the court or anything like that your last name starts with what was that your last name starts with F that there’s another similarity so for Enrique Freeman to be a player that was not even recruited at all didn’t even have a scholarship to akan walks on and ends up becoming one of the best rebounders in the nation and one of the best players that they’ve probably had in you know quite some time maybe even ever I think he owns a bunch of Records there points rebounds field goal percentage a lot of things like that it it says a lot to his work ethic because this guy got better and better every single year and I just feel like and to add that three-point shot and shoot 37 % even if it is limited to just 54 attempts it it shows that it could happen it could be there so I think that there’s there’s a lot to like yes he definitely is one of the older players in this draft but when you’re talking about the intangibles like that wingspan and being able to rebound like that man it just feels like the Pacers have some Talent here that they could hone over time they don’t need to rush it but I think that there there’s enough there to feel that our two-way contracts to me this feels like the most upside that all of our two-way players have had in quite some time I I I feel like there’s you got to remember in the past there was guys like yeah I always think of cashy Stanley but there was plenty of other guys that and um can’t remember that guy he was actually also he played in Australia but he went to Louisville it didn’t work out there it took some money Brian Bowman uh Brian Bowman Brian Bowman second yeah but I was about to say it those guys just could not ever crack like the team and do anything with this I look at this and I see Oscar sheway I see Tristan Newton I see Enrique Freeman and I’m like I don’t know man there there’s definitely something there where these guys could become NBA players and uh I just think for that there there is a decent amount to be excited about when I kind of just expected the Pacers to trade pick 49 or 50 for any future second round pick down the road yeah it was a little bit surprising to not see them trade the pick like I said earlier but to me that says a lot about the Pacers belief in this guy right because yeah they could have easily traded pick 50 Kick the Can down the road a little bit get a few more assets right that would make a lot of sense if you’re trying to do that but the fact that they were like no we want to take him at 50 we potentially want to put him on a two-way deal it feels very like it feels very safe to say the guys pretty much after 45 and later are are two-way deal level players in the league so I think that that pretty much wraps it up there with Indiana saying okay this guy is’s more than likely going to be on a two-way deal it it’s just who are they going to not have on a two-way deal anymore and I think that’s where it gets interesting but the fact that they were willing to take him and not trade this pick to me shows me how much they believe in him and I will say the story that you mentioned the fact that he wasn’t even a recruit to akan and then walked his way into the NBA on a on a professional basketball team that to me embodies what the Indiana Pacers are all about they love going after guys that have a chip on their shoulder that feel like they’ve not like they’ve had to earn everything right they have to prove themselves over and over and over again and one other guy with the Wei the Pacers took as a two-way guy I think they actually might have had him uh undrafted but that’s Terry Taylor we love Terry Taylor when they picked him up right because Terry Taylor was like the super undersized big that just got a ton of rebounds well with Freeman you’ve got a big that’s got some potential because of his size and his wingspan and things like that so he’s not got the disadvantage of being shorter like a Terry Taylor did and you mentioned it he’s working on that three-point shot developing that and I think the Pacers probably feel comfortable with the fact that he’s improving in that area the fact that he shot better than Tristan Newton from three last year is a telling sign to me a little bit of of Newton’s in ability to shot the three and Freeman’s ability to kind of grow and become a decent three-point shooter even though it is on a very very small sample size so I don’t have a lot of hot takes on him right now fi but I I I do feel like this is a guy the Pacers are clearly invested in and someone they want to see so you know my my comparison of the Kendall like a better version of Kendall brown or a more polished version of Kendall brown maybe a little bit of a bigger Kendall Brown in terms of like the way he played style-wise I I I think that might be a hard to say after only watching probably 5 to 10 minutes of some clips that were thrown together on on a video so I don’t want to like say that I’m putting my stamp on that but I definitely feel like if you watch some of the movements and things like that you will see why I see Kendall Brown if you watch it closely but I uh I definitely feel like interesting Prospect I I’m very intrigued by him and the hope that he grows because hey cool story yeah I I think it’s probably the coolest story in the draft I think this is someone that like you said Indiana’s always targeting those individuals that are just such hard workers and I feel like this is the last guy that you got to be worried about in terms of if he’s going to work hard or not he’s f for everything to be able to get to this stage and I think it’s really impressive and and I was reading that it’s not even like he was just like you know gonna go to the draft and then and that was you know a done deal it was like he received it was the Portsmith Invitational Tournament invite played well there g-league uh Elite Camp invite played really well there became a participant in the draft combine impressed from there it was like this guy had to fight so much just to be able to have a chance to get drafted and I feel like um it all paid off and and I think with that you look at this draft I think we all had low expectations P Pacers picking at originally 36 49 and 50 what could you even do I think everybody thought they draft one player I think it turned out pretty well given the situation you got extreme value in Johnny Fury with Tristan Newton and Enrique Freeman I think you got two good two-way players that you could spend the full year in the g-league have them develop and not be like what are we doing with them why isn’t that guy playing no everything is just fine we got a great team in place these are just you know good players to be able to add to our core be a part of this environment with coaching staff and be able to just get to work and make this team better by being committed and working hard absolutely F Well we are going to wrap it up here I know there’s a lot of things that we could talk uh talk about and I do feel bad because I did reply to somebody on Twitter today and said that I would touch on the Mel Bridges going uh to New York deal and how salary cap stuff works look I unfortunately with the draft and the Pacers taking three people don’t have as much time to cover that on today’s show so if you’re listening to this and you’re waiting for that I I don’t want to be rude about it if you really want to know and and you want my answer immediately I will get that to you on social media reach out to me on Twitter and I’ll respond to you there but if you’re if you’re wanting me to kind of explain it in detail on the podcast we can save that for Monday when we have our free agency reaction show we record that Sunday night after free agency starts to take place and we’ve already seen a lot of movement fi so I would expect a lot more movement across the league it feels like people are trying to make some deals here and there and then you know you said it’s your favorite time of the year so hey uh got a lot to be excited for on Sunday and we’re going to have a live reaction show to that absolutely and look no matter what move happens I remember when the pat opened up free agency signed toy Craig right away it’s still a move it’s something to get excited about like you know the Pacers haven’t made these huge splashes typically like a Doug mcdermit or like a Tory Craig or you know those type of guys but at the same point you just want to see what can this team do to get better because we saw a lot of other teams get better and we know there’s other teams that are just itching to make moves so I think the Pacers uh on draft night yeah they didn’t make that that big move or anything of the sort but they still got some money to spend a maybe not too much but they got a little bit some they got some decisions to make with Obi toppen all that good stuff we’re going to be covering that you know as free agency you know begins continues it’s it’s one of the best times of the year in the NBA B I will say this your your excitement about Tory Craig just made me think of a childhood story of mine where I got in big trouble at Christmas you ever you ever know like you want something right and then someone get you like a knockoff brain and you’re supposed to act like you like it but you just hate it right so I was a Hot Wheels kid growing up I loved Hot Wheels right my grandparents who have a lot of money decided they would spend $20 or 20 cents cheaper than the Hot Wheels and buy me some Matchbox cars because they were all about saving like 30 cents I open up my my stocking from them and I say Matchbox and I was like so disappointed and as a kid you just give an honest reaction you’re not even trying to be mean but it’s just like why would you give me this I want Hot Wheels I don’t want Matchbox and to me it felt like the Tory Craig signing was a matchbox you know you’re not getting your Hot Wheels but you’re getting something it’s not a bad it’s not a bad toy but it’s not a Hot Wheel so uh I’m hard to impress I guess but I got in trouble my parents whooped me for it my mom she was not happy she was like go out there and apologize you don’t act like that and get over yourself well you know I I deserve that re response from my mother but I will just say this it is funny when you talk about things like that the things that get you excited and don’t get you excited like if the Pacers were to sign on Tory Craig level player I’m not going to come on here and get excited about it but hey if fi will I appreciate you enjoying the the smaller things in life I mean here’s the thing I remember we did a live podcast once free agency started and we’re like okay what’s gonna happen like whoa we signed Tory Craig like okay well surely there’ll be another move let’s just keep talking and then they’re just like we like I think we like extended TJ McConnell shortly after and that was it for the day and it was like wait what like free agency open and we signed toy Craig and resigned McConnell like that’s it and sometimes that’s what happens a lot of the moves happen so quickly that I feel like after an hour or two you’re like wait who’s even there or sometimes you’re waiting days for the DeAndre Aon situation to get resolv you never know what’s going to happen right when free agency begins but at this point I’m just itching for the Pacers to make some sort of move and I know that’s never the just make a move just to make a move but I think that’s where we’re at in the league where we’re seeing some big trades go down Pacers are coming off a great season you just want to see them get better and not just run it back absolutely and one more thing F you we forgot to bring this up Lance Jones will be joining the Pacers summer league roster Scott Agnes had a report on that Lance Jones is a Purdue guard so if you don’t know who that is Pacers giving some love to a local guy here letting him play with their summer league team maybe he makes her g-league team who knows but Lance Jones will be playing for the Indiana Pacers summer league team and if you’re an IU fan and you don’t care about this like me I’m right there with you so uh you know fi can hate Kansas I can hate Purdue uh Chuck and James you know I appreciate you guys going to bat for Zack Edy getting picked ninth overall on Twitter Kristen Peak from yahooo Sports wasn’t a fan said it was a terrible pick but only gave him a grade C and she said shocking n shocking Nest I mean it was the funniest thing she made up a word because she was so surprised that Zack e was taking ninth overall but uh we’re not we don’t have any time to get into that right now but FY go ahead and let everybody know where they can find us out on social media absolutely so you can find us on Twitter at Pacers pod STP you can find Alex on Twitter at Alex golden NBA I can be found on Twitter _ FCI you can find us on Instagram at ppot STP you can find us on Facebook at setting the pace you can find us on Tik Tok setting the pace and Alex tell them where they can check us out on YouTube yeah ladies and gentlemen go to youtube.com setting the pace of Pacers podcast where we can find all of our video content unfortunately was not able to get the NBA Draft preview up but hey we have our NBA Draft recap up there and you guys can check out what F and I had to say like today’s episode there’ll be future episodes coming out and on tu Tuesday Aaron n Smith Pacer starting small forward joins the podcast to re to talk about the season relive those Great Moments and then talk about the future talk about some of the guys on the team so think you’re going to enjoy the bad fi if you’re hoping the Pacers sign a Tory Craig level player and free agency then hit me with those three words let’s go Pacers

Alex Golden and Mike Facci breakdown the Indiana Pacers Draft selections of Johnny Furphy, Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman! They share what draft experts had to say about their games, share their stats from the previous college year, why they think the Pacers took them and what they can bring to the team next season and in the future.