The Indiana Pacers have five draft picks to work with on Thursday night including the seventh overall selection. The Pacers have their future backcourt set with Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin, but there’s still work to do for a team that finished outside the play-in tournament.
It’ll be interesting to see what the Pacers do during free agency, but the Pacers are still a bit ahead of schedule in their rebuild. Just about everybody will be looking for more outside shooters, and that’s not a bad way for Indiana to go on draft night.
Pacers 2023 NBA Draft selections
No. 8 (via Washington): Jarace Walker, F, Houston
No. 26: Ben Sheppard, F, Belmont
No. 47: Mojave King, G, G League Ignite
No. 55: Isaiah Wong, G, Miami (FL)
At 6’8”, 240 pounds, Walker has a good build to him and could potentially muscle around other wings and small forwards on the defensive end. He could use his size to box out and capitalize on second chance opportunities.
Sheppard arrives to the Pacers as a 6’6” wing out of Belmont. He was an excellent shooter from the field throughout his collegiate career, averaging 47.5% from the field and 37% from three.
Fantasy basketball outlook
He won’t be a huge scoring threat for the Pacers out the gate, but has the chance to rack up plenty of rebounds and steals for any fantasy manager that decides to use a late-round pick on him this year. Meanwhile, Sheppard could be a potential steal off the waiver wire as his shooting off the bench could be a boon for savvy fantasy managers.