Nicholas Dillon May 1, 2013 Dr.

Micer WR 100 Perfecting a Winning Formula: A Mock Draft of the Indiana Pacers When someone has five minutes to complete a task, peoples minds will jump to meaningless chores, and quick trips. In five minutes you could make some hot pockets in the microwave, watch the new trailer for a movie, open some hardcore packaging, or maybe fold some laundry. But what if someone told you that in a few months that you would have five minutes to select one person from a sample of a hundred plus elite athletes, that you would have to pay him anywhere from $500,000 to $4+ million dollars, and that an entire nationwide fan base will judge your decision. That is NBA Draft night, and that is the situation that each NBA franchise will experience once or even a few times on a late June night every year. This year on June 27th, in the Barclays Center, in New York this hectic night will occur, and 60 players will see their lifelong dream come true. Down the coast in a small Jesuit college in Maryland, a college freshman breaks down the needs and potential decisions of a team close to his heart since he was young and that he fallows religiously. He is going to argue why their first round pick should be a experienced college player, one who knows the game and is a mature individual. He also will argue why the second pick should go to a player who will be developed and bring a powerful rock in the middle in seasons to come. The Indiana Pacers, migrant from the ABA induction in 1976, not far down the road will gather their top ranking officials together for Draft Night. Scouts, assistant coaches, advisors and other high-ranking officials, surround General

Manager Kevin Pritchard and Head Coach Frank Vogel. Along with the living bustle, within the War Room are phones, white boards adorned with post-its and marker scribbles, and TVs. There is constant talk back and forth between members on potential situations and picks during the draft. And for the Pacers this draft is a lot more important then most teams in their situation. For the past few seasons this franchise has made a steady surge up the eastern conference rankings, and every year making a deeper push into the post season. In the 2012 Playoffs, they even gave the future champion Miami Heat, an exciting six game series, something that the Oklahoma City Thunder couldnt even achieve later in the NBA Finals against Miami. This proved to the NBA fandom that the Pacers were a legitimate contender. Yet come the 2012 Draft, the young author sits at his computer watching the draft streaming on espn.com, and witnesses his favorite team choose, to his utter chagrin, Miles Plumlee, who as of now still has yet to make a significant impact. So consequently they have moved away from the mid-tier team category, and now are the dark horse contender, skulking in the Heats shadow waiting to pounce. And with a successful pick this draft, the Pacers could make them a lethal franchise. In order to determine the selections the Pacers head honchos should aim to obtain on draft night, the coaching staff will examine their existing roster, which includes the players in the rotation, the reserves, and the players playing in the DLeague. This is important because teams must try and find holes in their roster, places where a backup could be used or a player who may be retiring in the near seasons. For the Pacers, like most contending teams, their starting roster is a solid one. Even with their team captain Danny Granger (favorite player actually), injured

they ended up 3rd in the eastern conference. Along with this, their eldest player, David West, is only 32 meaning he still has plenty of years left in him, and retirement isnt a worry either, due to a heavy amount of young big men on the squad as well. This continues to keep in tie with a make-up of the contending team category. So why should the Pacers high-ups care much about their 23rd pick or even bother with their 53rd pick in this years draft? They seem insubstantial, they seem to have a solid rotation and these rookies will have little impact. However, there is a lot riding on those picks, especially that seemingly insubstantial 23rd pick, from both a game production and financial aspect. As stated before the Pacers need that one piece to put them into serious contention. Dr. Kerry Tan, professor of Economics at Loyola University (MD), says that, If you gotta win now, get a player who can come in and contribute right now. A teams investment is related to a short window to win. The Pacers franchise is in a position where their window to win is not closing fast, however as any team in the top knows without good picks and a constantly developing roster it is hard to stay there. The window to win is not small, yet their investment length with their first round pick needs to be a short one. Like a farmer and his crops, they want a quick return, rather then a big boom later on. So therefor they need a pick with instant solid production, someone who will come in and play good ball, with a small transition period. Therefor they should delve into the selection of experienced players on the board. This is because they want to avoid as much risk as possible with this pick. However with the 53rd pick, the Pacers will be able to go for that raw

athlete section of players. Dr. Tan believes the roster and even the GMs job itself are secure they can take a risk. And with a raw player the impact isnt expected to be immediate like the first rounder, so they can send this raw talent to the NBA DLeague, to be honed and developed. The D-League used to be a place that players dreaded to be sent, but that is no longer the case. According to Ian Thompson, of Sports Illustrated, NBA teams are embracing the 12-year-old D-League more then ever as a resource to develop talent. The D-League is an ever-growing operation. Thompson says that the value of these teams have risen as well. A decade ago they were worth less than half a million dollars, but now they can be worth as much as $4 million. The increase in worth shows that it is becoming more popular in a fan sense. The increase has been making players satisfied with playing in the D-League early on. Being able to play heavy minutes with a good crowed is something that has made it so attractive. So the Pacers could take a shot at an athlete in the second round. The importance of that first rounder however has a lot more riding on the quick transition from college to NBA, then just game impact. GM Pritchard will want to get his moneys worth for that player. According to Alicia Jessop, of Forbes magazine, the money owed to that 23rd pick is $1,003,800, which is about 2% of the salary cap. While that might not seem much when you put it into the sense of cost per unit of production, that small salary becomes much more substantial. Tom Ziller, a sports journalist, did a study on the most productive players in accordance with their salary. In this study he found something which makes that 23rd pick that the pacers hold much more important. Among this group, Ziller writes, you wont find

any max players, lottery picks, or big name free agents. This shows that pick should be as a productive as at can be right off the bat. Add this to the amount teams put down on player development. Steve Kerr, a former NBA player and sports analyst, says that NBA teams spend a few million (dollars) per year evaluating and developing players. So in total, if the pick isnt successful, the Pritchard will have to go at least a season with a several million-dollar thorn in his financial backside. So armed with this knowledge the Pacers staff are ready to take on, the highly anticipated and nerve-racking, NBA Draft. Through twenty plus picks they will watch names leave the board and join franchises choosing ahead of them. After every pick, they will be revaluating the situation. However when that 22nd pick is decided its crunch time, the walls start closing in, and the team has their mere five minutes to pick which door to exit by. For that first pick, the Pacers will go for the most reliable player on the board, an instant offensive threat, at the 2, 3, or 4 spots. Their first target will be DeShaun Thomas, small forward out of Ohio State. The reason for a small forward being the target is that according to Ethan Grant, of Bleacher Report, the Pacers were shopping Granger at the Trade Deadline. While Granger is a former all-star, writes Grant, hes also been usurped by Paul George in terms of immediate value. They feel that Georges value has already made Grangers salary next year ($13-plus million) expendable in a potential trade. To help the Pacers more, Grant says that theyre plenty of teams who would aggressively seek Granger, including the Dallas Mavericks, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Utah Jazz. So now that the Pacers know that a small forward is ideal, why does the versatile Thomas fit the bill?

Standing at 67, arms that spread more then two inches longer then his vertical length, DeShaun Thomas is not the most incredible physical player on the board (nbadraft.net). However what Thomas brings to the table are what exactly why the Pacers should place their gold and navy flat brim hat on his head on draft night. The first thing about Thomass game that is important is actually his age. At 21 years old, he is a fully mature college player and will come into the NBA with a lot experience. Steve Kerr believes the factor of age is important to a players immediate impact for a team because of their multiple years in college, they learned to deal with media scrutiny, how to handle game pressure, even how to handle success and failure under a pretty sizeable spotlight. Kerr is adamant that because of those extra years players will not only be able to cope with the transition easily, they will have a strong impact right as they arrive there. Almost in addition to Kerrs belief in the age importance, Dr. Tan says that most people do not realize the very low success rate of the high-risk high reward draft picks. For every Lebron James, there have been several who have shown why those young players who get drafted are not as reliable as people think. The other element of Thomass game that calls for the Pacers pick, is his shooting. Thomas is a natural scorer. While his athletic ability isnt anything special, he has a great shooting touch. His junior season Thomas shot a solid 44.5% from the field while averaging about 20 points per game (draftexpress.com). This scoring ability combined with that factor of age, places Thomas in a different category then the other players in the 3 position in that area of the NBA Draft board.

Even a second round draft pick could make an impact immediately. The author will always remember when in 2000, he opened a pack of Tops Basketball cards, and mixed in the bunch he found a rookie card. However to his disappointment it was a guy from Argentina who was drafted 57th overall. A few minutes later the young boy had traded the rookie to his brother, in return for Vince Carter and a forgettable forward on the Nuggets. He believed he would never hear about that player again or ever think about that trade. However, that seemingly insignificant late second rounder was none other then future superstar, Manu Genbili. So even in the second round, a star can be found. For the second rounder, the Pacers should aim at a raw physical player and the first target should be Mouhammadou Jaiteh. Jaiteh is an international player out of Pantin, France. At just 18 years of Age, he is already six foot eleven and almost 250 pounds of young powerful muscle. He plays with buckets of energy, much like a child who got picked by the big kids at recess and is eager to prove himself. While Jaiteh is young, as a second round pick he will not be expected to be as productive as Thomas, and be able to spend time either on the bench learning or in one of the DLeague affiliates getting big minutes and raising his skills. With no real backup to replace the massive seven-foot tall Hibbert when he needs a rest, the addition of Jaiteh will be an effective and comparable physical sub for Hibbert. Adding to this, while international players arent guaranteed successes. But Jaiteh will be a second rounder and therefor the young migrant will face less pressure then most international prospects. To help his case, the majority of specifically French

international players who have come over have been a great success, and the young Jaiteh is being hailed by French media as the revelation of the season (fiba.com). So on that beautiful June evening a few months down the road, NBA Commissioner David Stern will walk to the podium with an a card and read to the fans, With the 23rd pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers selectDeShaun Thomas, from Ohio State University. A little later, and after 30 picks have come and gone, a tall young Frenchman will be welcomed into the Pacers Franchise. So at the end of the night the Pacers will have gotten what they needed. They will have gained an experienced player, who will give them scoring off the bench almost instantly, and they will have coupled him with a young man from France, who will be entering a world at the young age of 18 (turning 19 before the start of the season), who will continue to grow and become an incredibly intimidating force in the middle of a sea of blue gold defenders.

Works Cited "DeShaun Thomas | NBADraft.net." DeShaun Thomas | NBADraft.net. Sports Phenoms Inc., 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://nbadraft.net/players/deshaun-thomas>.

"DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Deshaun Thomas, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook." DraftExpress NBA Draft Prospect Profile: Deshaun Thomas, Stats, Comparisons, and Outlook. Draft Express LLC, 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Deshaun-Thomas-1290/>.

"FRA - The Jaiteh Warrior | FIBA.COM." FIBA.COM. FIBA, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fc/news/lateNews/p/newsid/54501/arti. html>.

"NBA.com, Official Site of the National Basketball Association." NBA.com. Turner Sports Digital, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.nba.com/>.

Grant, Ethan. "Danny Granger Trade Speculation: Teams That Should Go All-in on Pacers Forward." Bleacher Report. Turner Sports, 20 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1537459-danny-granger-traderumors-teams-that-should-go-all-in-on-pacers-star-forward>.

Jessop, Alicia. "The Structure of NBA Rookie Contracts." Forbes. 28 June 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciajessop/2012/06/28/thestructure-of-nba-rookie-contracts/>.

Kerr, Steve. "The Case for the 20-Year-Old Age Limit in the NBA." Grantland.com. 8 May 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <The Case for the 20-Year-Old Age Limit in the NBA>.

Tan, Kerry, Dr. Personal interview. 9 Apr. 2013.

Thompson, Ian. "NBA Teams Embracing D-League More Than Ever." SI.com. 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nba/news/20130110/nba-d-leagueportland-trail-blazers-nolan-smith/>.

Ziller, Tom. "Value Added: Late Draft Picks, Cheap Veterans the Most Cost-effective Producers in The NBA." SBNation.com. SB Nation, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.sbnation.com/2013/3/18/4118412/nba-contract-valuedraft-free-agency-chandler-parsons>.