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Kevin Pritchard’s Job With Pacers Not In Danger

May 27th, 2021 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

During his end-of-season press conference earlier this week, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard suggested that the team would have to make a decision not just on head coach Nate Bjorkgren, but on Pritchard as well. The veteran executive told reporters that he was being “evaluated” and that team owner Herb Simon would have to decide “if I’m fit for this job.”

The Pacers have made a decision, according to J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star, who hears that Pritchard met with Simon this week and will remain in his current position as Indiana’s president of basketball operations. His job isn’t in any danger at this point, Michael reports.

Pritchard, who joined the Pacers’ front office in 2011, was promoted to his current position in May of 2017. He immediately faced criticism for the July 2017 trade that sent Paul George to Oklahoma City for Domantas Sabonis and Victor Oladipo, but that move ultimately paid off, and he has continued to make savvy roster additions since then. The 2019 trade for T.J. Warren and the 2021 acquisition of Caris LeVert are among Pritchard’s most notable deals.

With a decision made on Pritchard, the Pacers figure to turn their attention to Bjorkgren, whose job is in jeopardy after a tumultuous and disappointing year in Indiana.

Injuries decimated the roster, and Bjorkgren did about as well as could be expected with the talent available. However, he also rubbed players and coaches the wrong way at times and reportedly had some communication problems, as well as a tendency to micro-manage.

Bjorkgren has one guaranteed year left on his contract with the Pacers, so if the club does make a change, ownership will have to pay two head coaches in 2021/22.

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14 NBA Players On Canada’s Preliminary Olympic Qualifying Roster

May 27th, 2021 at 12:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Team Canada has yet to secure a place in the men’s basketball event at the Tokyo Olympics, but the club should have a loaded roster as it looks to lock up a spot in a qualifying tournament next month.

Canada Basketball issued a press release today announcing its 21-player preliminary roster for the Olympic qualifier, and the group includes 14 players who finished the season on NBA contracts. Here’s the full list:

Of the seven players who didn’t play in the NBA this season, one (Bennett) is a former first overall pick, another (Nicholson) was also a first-round selection, and a third (Alexander) has NBA experience. Bell-Haynes has played in the G League, while Doornekamp, Ejim, and Nembhard all have extensive experience representing Canada in past international competitions.

Still, a few noteworthy names are missing from the list. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray is recovering from a torn ACL and won’t be able to participate. Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is also dealing with an injury, announcing on Instagram that rehabbing the plantar fasciitis in his right foot will prevent him from representing Team Canada.

Raptors big man Chris Boucher is a third notable omission. According to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link), Boucher is focused on rehabbing a knee sprain and wants to make sure he’s 100% healthy heading into 2021/22. He also has a somewhat uncertain contract situation — his $7MM salary for next season is non-guaranteed, though I’d be shocked if he’s not retained.

Even without Murray, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Boucher, Canada Basketball is in position to run out a roster stacked with NBA talent and led by former NBA Coach of the Year Nick Nurse.

While the final roster will depend in part on which players are available, none of the 21 players on the preliminary are on teams expected to still be alive for the conference finals. However, a club like Powell’s Mavericks or Barrett’s Knicks could surprise.

Team Canada will compete against Greece, China, Uruguay, Turkey, and the Czech Republic in a qualifying tournament in Victoria, British Columbia between June 29 and July 4. If the club wins that six-team qualifier, it will be part of the 12-team field in Tokyo and would be a legit contender for a medal.

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Pritchard May Retain Core; Examining Indy's Draft Prospects

May 25th, 2021 at 9:37pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
  • Though current Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren may not be long for Indiana, Bob Kravitz of The Athletic predicts that Indiana’s front office will not be making many significant changes to the team’s on-court personnel. Key players T.J. Warren, Caris LeVert, Jeremy Lamb, Malcolm Brogdon, and Myles Turner all missed significant time for Indiana this season. Kravtiz anticipates that team president Kevin Pritchard will want to assess what a healthy iteration of this lineup looks like before making major moves.
  • The Pacers are returning to the NBA draft lottery for the first time in six seasons. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files examines the team’s (slight) odds at landing a top-four pick this season. Ahead of the lottery, the Pacers possess the No. 13 pick in the 2021 draft, with a 1% chance of landing the top pick.
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Draft Notes: Prkacin, Mock Draft, Combine

May 25th, 2021 at 8:35am CST by Luke Adams

Croatian power forward Roko Prkacin has officially declared for the 2021 NBA draft, according to a report from Uroš Vezonik of Sportando.

Prkacin, who will turn 19 in November, is ranked No. 39 on ESPN’s big board of 2021 prospects. The 6’9″ forward spent the 2020/21 season with KK Cibona in the Adriatic League and played well, averaging 13.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game in 24 contests (27.7 MPG), with a shooting line of .492/.394/.654.

Prkacin will have until July 19 to decide whether to keep his name in the draft pool or withdraw, but given that he has a strong chance of being selected this summer, I’d be a little surprised if he pulls out.

Here are a few more draft-related items:

  • ESPN’s Jonathan Givony (Insider link) has updated his mock draft to reflect the newest tentative draft order and specific team needs. The Pacers and Warriors, who were eliminated in the final games of the play-in tournament, now project to draft 13th and 14th overall, and Givony has them selecting the top two international prospects in this year’s draft — Josh Giddey to Indiana and Alperen Sengun to Golden State.
  • The NBA has let teams know that team and league personnel must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to attend the June combine in Chicago, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The league will consider exceptions for those who have medical or religious reasons for not being vaccinated, Charania adds. Previous reports stated that negative coronavirus tests would be required for those attending the combine.
  • The tiebreakers to determine the lottery standings and the draft order outside of the top 14 will reportedly be conducted early on Tuesday afternoon, so we should have more information for you later today on those results, along with the full pre-lottery draft order. Key tiebreakers include the Thunder vs. the Cavaliers for the No. 4 spot, and the Kings vs. the Pelicans vs. the Bulls for the No. 8 spot, as we outlined last week.
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Central Notes: Turner, Markkanen, Hayes, Pistons

May 24th, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Myles Turner heard his name pop up in trade rumors last offseason, specifically regarding the Celtics, and there’s a good chance the Pacers will see what they could get for Turner in talks this summer. Turner says his preference would be to stay put, as he told Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney.

“I love Indianapolis and there’s no place I’d rather be than here – it’s my second home and the fans are the best the NBA has to offer. In terms of any trade rumors, I’m really just trying to stick to basketball,” Turner said. “I’m laser-focused on being the best I can be on the court, supporting my teammates and trying not to get wrapped up in rumors.”

We have more from the Central Division:

  • The Mavericks and Knicks are two potential landing spots for Bulls free agent Lauri Markkanen, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times speculates. According to Cowley, Markkanen would prefer to join forces with Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis, but Markkanen and Porzingis possess similar skill sets, so that might not be a fit for the Mavericks. However, the Knicks will have the most cap room this offseason and could use more shooting, Cowley adds. Chicago will have to extend a $9MM offer to make Markkanen a restricted free agent.
  • Killian Hayes needs more time to develop before anyone can determine whether he’s a long-term fit with the Pistons, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. The abbreviated preseason put all rookies behind the proverbial eight-ball and Hayes missed a significant chunk of time with a hip injury. The summer will be crucial for Hayes to develop his game.
  • The Pistons hold the No. 2 spot heading into next month’s draft lottery. The Athletic’s James Edwards III examines some potential scenarios, depending upon where the team sits after the lottery is held.
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Pacers’ Pritchard Talks Bjorkgren, Frontcourt, FAs, More

May 24th, 2021 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Pacers president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said no decisions have been made yet on the future of head coach Nate Bjorkgren, as J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star writes. Bjorkgren isn’t the only one whose future is up in the air, according to Pritchard, who pointed out that his own performance is still being evaluated by team ownership as well.

“I’m being evaluated. I’m being evaluated every day,” Pritchard said. “(Pacers owner) Herb (Simon) has to decide if I’m fit for this job and what I need to improve on. Then Nate and I will have a long conversation over many days on what he needs to improve on. … He is our coach as of now and I’ll have a fair discussion with him.”

The Pacers’ president of basketball operations acknowledged that Bjorkgren’s first year on the job was far from perfect. While Pritchard liked Bjorkgren’s handle on X’s and O’s, he said that the first-year coach did have a tendency to micromanage. Still, Pacers players didn’t express during their exit meetings that they were unhappy with Bjorkgren, Pritchard added.

Pritchard also pushed back against the idea that the Pacers hadn’t adequately done their homework on Bjorkgren before hiring him last summer, as Michael tweets.

“We probably did 15 interviews around Nate,” Pritchard said. “We knew that he’s very specific in the way he likes things. We knew that. You got to give a coach some flexibility to do what he likes to do.”

Here’s more from Pritchard’s end-of-season presser:

  • Pritchard remains convinced that the Pacers can succeed without moving one of Myles Turner or Domantas Sabonis (Twitter link via Michael). “We like them both,” Pritchard said of the frontcourt duo. “They can definitely play together. You can stagger them.“
  • Pritchard referred to Doug McDermott and T.J. McConnell as “core to what we’ve done” (Twitter link via Michael). Both players will be unrestricted free agents this summer, but it sounds like there’s mutual interest in continuing those relationships.
  • Although Pritchard stressed that the Pacers won’t be desperate to make deals this summer, he said he’d prefer not to get stuck in the “middle ground” between contending and rebuilding. “I want to get in or get out,” Pritchard said, according to Michael (Twitter links). “Out means getting picks (and revamping the roster).”
  • Pritchard referred to the Pacers’ defense as “by far the most important thing that we have to take a look at,” as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets. It remains to be seen whether that means addressing the personnel or the coaching staff and schemes.
  • Caris LeVert is one Pacer who has yet to have his exit meeting with team management, since he remains in isolation due to the COVID-19 protocols and wants to conduct his meeting in person (Twitter link via Agness).
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Pacers Notes: Warren, McConnell, Bjorkgren, Stanley

May 23rd, 2021 at 3:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pacers forward T.J. Warren, who missed all but four games this season due to a stress fracture in his left foot, discussed his lost 2020/21 season, as Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files details. “I just know it can’t storm forever and the sun has to come out,” Warren said of his extended rehab process. Warren has one year and $12.9MM remaining on his current contract after this season.

Warren also had harsh words in response to a report claiming that he was had requested a trade because he was at odds with embattled head coach Nate Bjorkgren.

“Seeing that report was really, really terrible,” Warren said, adding that Bjorkgren has been “nothing but a great guy” since becoming the Pacers’ head coach. “Not cool.”

There’s more out of Indianapolis:

  • Pacers reserve point guard T.J. McConnell appears hopeful about returning to Indiana as he reaches unrestricted free agency during the 2021 offseason, tweets J. Michael of the Indianapolis Star. “I would love to be back here,” McConnell said. “I absolutely love it here. … I don’t have a bad thing to say about anything or anyone.” McConnell signed a two-year, $7MM deal with Indiana in the summer of 2019.
  • The Pacers are not expected to make an immediate decision on the future of head coach Nate Bjorkgren, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. A report detailing locker room tensions surfaced earlier this month that appeared to put Bjorkgren’s long-term fate in doubt. “My focus is on the players right now,” Bjorkgren himself responded when asked about the situation earlier this week. “And I’m not thinking about myself, I’m really not. I want to do what’s best for these guys.” The Pacers lost Thursday’s play-in game to slide out of the postseason and into the lottery during Bjorkgren’s first season at the helm.
  • Following his rookie season, Pacers first-year shooting guard Cassius Stanley will play in the Summer League, scheduled for this August in Las Vegas, tweets Agness.
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Pacers Notes: Bjorkgren, McDermott, Turner, Draft

May 21st, 2021 at 10:28am CST by Luke Adams

Following a Thursday loss in the East’s final 2021 play-in game, the Pacers‘ season is over, raising questions about the future of head coach Nate Bjorkgren. Although he was just hired last fall, Bjorkgren is said to be very much on the hot seat after a tumultuous, disappointing season in Indiana. For his part, the first-year coach was evasive on Thursday when asked whether he expects to be back.

“My focus is on the players right now,” Bjorkgren said, per J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). “I’m not thinking about myself. I’m really not. I just want to do what’s best for these guys.”

It’s decision time for the Pacers, according to Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files, who advises not to be surprised if the club takes a little time to make a call on Bjorkgren’s status, one way or the other.

Bob Kravitz of The Athletic suggests that Bjorkgren probably took a banged-up Pacers team about as far could be realistically expected, but if he’s to return for the 2021/22, there must be changes — “both with Bjorkgren himself and with his coaching staff,” Kravitz writes.

As we wait on the Pacers’ decision, let’s round up a few more notes out of Indiana…

  • While it’s possible that Bjorkgren was the problem for the Pacers, Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star isn’t entirely convinced of that, and writes an offseason roster shakeup might not be the worst idea for the organization.
  • Most of the Pacers’ key rotation players are under contract for next season, but Doug McDermott is one important contributor who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. McDermott addressed his situation after Thursday’s game, as J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star relays (via Twitter): “I want to be a Pacer. It’s been a great three years. It’s been a great place to call home. I hope I can continue that.”
  • Although Myles Turner‘s toe injury didn’t heal in time for him to rejoin the Pacers before they were eliminated from postseason contention, he’s hoping to be healthy enough to compete for a spot on Team USA’s Olympic roster this summer, he tells Sean Deveney of Forbes.
  • As we outlined earlier today, the Pacers are now in line for the 13th pick in the 2021 draft, as long as their position isn’t affected by the lottery results. Nat Newell of The Indianapolis Star, noting that Indiana’s two most recent lottery picks were Turner and Paul George, examines the recent history of the No. 13 pick to get an idea of what sort of player the team could realistically land.
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Latest On NBA’s Lottery Standings, Draft Order

May 21st, 2021 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we took an in-depth look at what we knew about the NBA’s 2021 draft lottery standings and projected draft order so far based on the regular season standings, and what was still to be determined based on play-in results, random tiebreakers, and the lottery results.

With the play-in tournament nearly over, we can fill in a few more gaps. Let’s dive in…

Lottery standings

Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Pacers will be at No. 13 in the lottery standings, giving them a 1% chance at the first overall pick and a 4.8% shot at a top-five selection, per Tankathon.

A tiebreaker will be necessary to determine whether the Spurs or Hornets get the edge in the lottery standings, but they’ll occupy the Nos. 11 and 12 spots in the lottery standings. The winner of the tiebreaker – to be conducted next Tuesday – will have a slightly higher chance of earning the first overall pick (1.8% to 1.7%) and a top-four pick (8.5% to 8.0%).

The No. 14 spot in the lottery will be held by the loser of Friday’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game.

Draft order

Having clinched playoff spots, the Wizards and Celtics will draft 15th and 16th, respectively, in the first round.

The winner of tonight’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game will draft 17th, while the Lakers will be part of a Tuesday tiebreaker to determine their exact position — they could draft as high as 21st and as low as 23rd.

If the Lakers had missed the postseason, teams like the Heat, Knicks, and Hawks each would have been pushed down one spot in the draft. Since L.A. made it, those teams will stay put, starting with Miami at No. 18.

Notable traded second-round picks

On Monday, we focused on what would happen with 2021’s traded first-round picks. So many of this year’s second-round picks have been traded that we’re not going to run through all of them in this space (you can check our tracker for the full details), but here are a few notable second-round swaps worth flagging:

The Pacers traded their second-round pick to the Nets with 45-60 protection. Because Indiana’s second-rounder is going to land at No. 44, that pick will be sent to Brooklyn rather than being protected.

The Bulls, who will be involved in a first-round tiebreaker with the Pelicans (and Kings) to determine their spots in the lottery standings, also have the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans. In the event of a random tiebreaker, the second-round order is always the inverse of the first-round order — for instance, if Team A wins a first-round tiebreaker over Team B, then Team B would get the higher pick in the second round. But in this case, the Bulls could win the first-round tiebreaker, then use their second-round swap to make sure they pick ahead of the Pelicans in both rounds.

Because the Warriors‘ first-round pick will fall in the top 20, Golden State will keep it and will instead have to send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick to the Thunder to complete last year’s Kelly Oubre trade. That pick will be No. 36.

The Suns had agreed to send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it landed between 31-35 and to the Nets if it landed between 36-60. It’ll go to Brooklyn, since it’s the No. 59 overall selection. Memphis is simply out of luck, as Phoenix’s obligation to the Grizzlies is now extinguished.

The Bucks will get the first pick of the second round (No. 31), since the Rockets have the ability to swap their second-rounder for Milwaukee’s first-rounder (No. 24).

Other early second-round picks that will change hands include the Pistons‘ No. 32 pick (to the Knicks), the Cavaliers‘ pick at either No. 34 or 35 (to the Pelicans), and the Raptors‘ No. 37 pick (to the Pistons).

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Pacers Need To Hone Transition D Against Wiz

May 20th, 2021 at 8:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum
  • The Pacers will need to key in on transition defense for success in tonight’s in-progress play-in game against the Wizards, writes Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files. “It’s a very big game for us to control the tempo and the pace that we want to play at,” head coach Nate Bjorkgren said. “(Russell) Westbrook will rebound that thing, push it on the dribble, push it on the throw ahead. Their bigs run the floor very well. They got shooters running to the wings and the corners.” As of this writing, the Pacers have failed to contain Washington in the game’s first half.
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