Lady Luck was not on the side of the Indiana Pacers during the 2022 NBA Draft Lottery. They were one of four teams who moved down in the draft order that night, as they fell from the 5th spot to No. 6 in the draft.
While that pick should still net them a very good prospect, they are now in a position where they could miss out on the two players that they have been linked to the most; Jaden Ivey out of Purdue and Keegan Murray out of Iowa. The Big 10 standouts could both come off the board right ahead of the Pacers.
Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated recently detailed the potential dilemma for the Indiana Pacers in his latest NBA mock draft.
“The two prospects most commonly connected to the Pacers by rival teams are Keegan Murray and Jaden Ivey. If either player falls out of the top five, I’d make an educated guess Indiana would pounce. This naturally raises the question of whether the Pacers might try to trade up to ensure they get their guy, considering neither might be available.”
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There have been reports that Ivey could go as high as No. 2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder if they are sold on his star potential. That would leave Indiana crossing their fingers that Murray fell to them.
As Woo pointed out, a trade-up is the only way Indiana can ensure they land one of the prospects that they covet. The Sacramento Kings, who own the No. 4 pick, have been long rumored as a team looking to acquire an established talent and would be willing to move down or out of the first round altogether for the right player.
Could Indiana and Sacramento come together on another deal after the Domantas Sabonis and Tyrese Haliburton blockbuster at the deadline? Malcolm Brogdon is someone that the Kings are reportedly interested in, so another deal could be in the works.
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Indiana would benefit greatly from moving up those two spots, as it would pretty much guarantee them one of Ivey or Murray.
If something drastic occurred and both were selected in the top three, they would then have their choice of whoever fell between Jabari Smith Jr. out of Auburn, Paolo Banchero out of Duke and Chet Holmgren out of Gonzaga, who seems to be the consensus top-three in the 2022 NBA Draft class.
