With the NBA draft coming up very quickly, the NBA draft experts have released their latest mock drafts. The Indiana Pacers need to still acquire cheap and talented, athletic big men. The only way for them to reasonably do that is through the draft. Indiana's perimeter players are practically set, so unless they go with a best player available philosophy, they will most likely select an athletic big man.
ESPN.com's Chad Ford: C, Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie: SG, Devin Booker (Kentucky)
CBS Sports' Gary Parrish: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
CBS Sports' Zach Harper: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
Draft Express: PF/C, Myles Turner (Texas)
Basketball Insider's Steve Kyler: C, Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
Basketball Insider's Alex Kennedy: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
Basketball Insider's Moke Hamilton: PF/C, Myles Turner (Texas)
Basketball Insiders' Joel Brigham: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
USA Today's Derek Bodner: PF/C, Myles Turner (Texas)
HoopsHype's Aran Smith: C, Willie Cauley-Stein (Kentucky)
Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix: PG/SG, Cameron Payne (Murray State)
Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman: PF/C, Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin)
Vavel-USA's Grant Afseth: C, Willie Cauley Stein (Kentucky)
The most common names among the main-mock drafts were Cameron Payne, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Myles Turner. If the Pacers don't trade up or down from the 11th overall pick, it is highly likely that one of the previously mentioned players is taken by the Pacers. Myles Turner and Willie Cauley-Stein would be 'need' selections, meanwhile, Cameron Payne would be a 'best-available' selection since they don't need him at all. In all logical sense, Willie Cauley-Stein or Myles Turner would be the most sensible options for a team looking to contend next season.
Since Roy Hibbert has until June 29th to make his decision regarding his player option, drafting an athletic big man could really pressure him into opting-out of his final year player option. Since the NBA draft is on June 25th, a big man selection could influence Hibbert's decision whether or not to test the open market. This seems to be the most logical decision for the Pacers, they need to do whatever it takes to get Hibbert to opt-out of that player option since it would open up so many possibilities to upgrade their roster.
David West has been on a statistical decline for the past three seasons now, with him turning 35-years old and almost certainly accepting his player option, it is time to bring him off of the bench. Lavoy Allen has proven that he can be one of the top rebounders in the game, he will work his hardest on the defensive side of the ball, and he can step out and knock down lengthy jump shots. It is time to not only re-sign Lavoy Allen, but to develop him as the future at power forward for the Pacers. Not only is Lavoy Allen a hard working 'dirty-work' player, he is athletic enough to thrive in this new up-tempo style of play.
Even if David West and Roy Hibbert were to accept their player options after the NBA draft, they could both be easily traded for assets. If the Pacers were to trade one of then they'd be putting faith in either their trading or free agent recruiting abilities for a 'big-fish' free agent. If West and Hibbert were to both decline their options, Indiana could re-sign all of the players that they want, then go after the likes of Greg Monroe, or other 'big-name' free agents. Also, West and Hibbert could very well be traded for future draft picks and a big enough contract to make a deal work, which would allow the Pacers to test free agency for fitting pieces in their front-court.
Either way, the Indiana Pacers are projected to draft a great player in almost all of the expert mock-drafts. It appears most logical for the team to pursue drafting a player like Willie Cauley-Stein or Myles Turner, however, a 'best-available' philosophy wouldn't be bad either. The 'best-available' philosophy would only work if the Pacers magically had Hibbert and/or West decline their player options, then magically managed to somehow lure a big time free agent to sign with them. It's possible, but highly unlikely, so the Pacers should stick with trying to draft an athletic big man.
Of course the Pacers won't be able to address all of their needs with the 11th overall pick, but they would be able to acquire a big building block for the future. Indiana also holds the 43rd overall pick too, which could be used to draft a reserve athletic big men like Dakari Johnson, or a reserve guard like Andrew Harrison. It makes the most logical sense for the Pacers to draft an athletic big man in the second round to replace Ian Mahinmi, then to trade Mahinmi for a future pick of any round to clear nearly $4.0 million in cap space. Indiana may have their mid-level expection and bi-annual exception, but having more cap space could really help re-sign key players and potentially help upgrade some positions.
Indiana wants to re-sign Rodney Stuckey and that alone will likely take up the team's mid-level exception. Indiana could then use their bi-annual exception to re-sign Lavoy Allen and/or Donald Sloan. They will have to sign a minimum contract with their current cap space being less than $1.0 million at the current moment. Indiana still has aspirations for a title, creating cap space to upgrade roster holes is a must. Whether or not trading Roy Hibbert, David West, or Ian Mahinmi for a future pick is the answer, they need to do something to create cap space if they are serious about contending. With likely minimal cap space to work with, getting this 11th overall pick to pan out is a must for the Pacers.