BROOKLYN — If you’re an Indiana Pacers fan you’re beginning to feel like a New York Knicks fan on draft night. Everybody and their baby’s momma is hyped up all day looking forward to the possibility of what the team will do and then they throw a pie in your face and tie your shoes together while you’re sleep.
Indiana had the 18th pick of the first round and drafted Goga Bitadze from Sagarejo, Georgia who is a 6’11 center that played in Montenegro last year. When Nate McMillan came out to speak with the press he knew as much about the guy as I did based on how he was answering the question of “what was it about this guy that made you guys pick him.”
His first answer was “Based on what they’ve told me.” I was like WHAT!!? Is this really happening right now?
You really just wasted another first round draft pick on a guy that may not even see the floor AGIAN? How many times have we seen this movie with the Pacers? Remember TJ Leaf in 2017 or let’s go back to Tyler Hansbrough etc.? C’mon bruh!!
So now Bitadze is buried behind the two centers they already have that aren’t going anywhere. They’ve got Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis. So where is this guy going to fit in? Sure, it’s always good to have a third center but do you waste a first round draft pick on him? Well…I guess so.
The Pacers did get creative before the draft by acquiring the 32nd pick from Phoenix by taking on the final three years of TJ Warren’s contract. They however, turned that into three future second round picks from Miami. Not sure what those will become but at least they were trying to do something besides waste their time. They also traded their 50th pick with Utah for a future second round pick.
I’m not sure what you’re ever going to get with second round picks in the future that you couldn’t get now in the second round. The second round is always the second round. Stop me when I start lyin’!
