The Pacers and Spurs have agreed to swap places in the second round of the draft, with Indiana moving up one spot to No. 35 and San Antonio moving down to No. 36, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
The Pacers used the No. 35 pick to select Kansas wing Johnny Furphy, while the Spurs picked Spanish point guard Juan Nunez at No. 36.
The Spurs are receiving cash from the Pacers in exchange for moving down one spot, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). That means Indiana will be hard-capped at the second tax apron for the 2024/25 league year, since second-apron teams aren’t permitted to send out cash in trades. That shouldn’t have a major impact on the Pacers’ plans, since they were very unlikely to spend that much on next season’s roster anyway.
Furphy, a 6’9″ Australian who was widely viewed as a potential first-round pick, averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game in his first and only college season with the Jayhawks, posting a shooting line of .466/.352/.765. He’s the first player selected in this draft by the Pacers, who sent their first-round pick to Toronto in the Pascal Siakam trade.
As for Nunez, it’s unclear whether or not he’ll join the Spurs for the 2024/25 season, since he has widely been viewed as a draft-and-stash candidate.
I understand Furphy has some upside, but hard capping yourself for a 2nd round pick?
I don’t think the Pacers were going over the second apron anyway.
Spurs should have gone for Ajay Mitchell. Wouldve been very complementary with Wemby. Too bad…
OKC really traded up to get Mitchell when Spurs didnt take him…