The Indiana Pacers have built a roster that looks almost upside-down for a small-market team. Instead of leaning on the draft as the main engine, they’ve pieced together much of this group through trades - four of the five presumed starters, plus half of the presumed bench contributors. And that approach exists, at least in part, because so many of their draft swings have missed.
The rebuild really begins in 2021, after the Victor Oladipo era had reached its sad little end. Indiana’s starting point was Chris Duarte going 13th overall. He flashed as a rookie, but the Pacers later sent him to Sacramento for a few second-rounders while he was still on his rookie deal.
Then came the move that changed everything: the 2022 trade of Domantas Sabonis (and bits) for Tyrese Haliburton (and bits). Sacramento dealt away its second-year floor general to satisfy its franchise star, and Indiana came out on the right side of one of the most lopsided trades in recent memory.
That left the Pacers with a cornerstone. What they couldn’t do was find the next one.
Across four first-round picks - including two in the top 10 - they came up empty. And those misses now hang over the Haliburton era.
In the first offseason after landing Haliburton, Indiana held the sixth pick. Paolo Banchero was gone, but the Pacers still had a chance to add a real partner for their pass-first point guard.
Instead, they chose Bennedict Mathurin, the score-first wing from Arizona. Mathurin had his moments, including some vital scoring in that Finals run, but he never quite matched the expectations attached to a pick that high, and he was eventually included in the home run trade for Ivica Zubac.
Mathurin wasn’t the worst lottery pick in that class - Johnny Davis was a top-ten selection, after all - but it’s hard not to look at what could have been. Shaedon Sharpe went seventh.
Dyson Daniels went eighth. Sharpe would have brought a similar scoring-wing look, only with more shooting and creation upside, even with his injury concerns.
Daniels would have given Indiana many of the defensive traits of TJ McConnell in a much bigger body, though there are a few things outside of shooting that he doesn’t do at an excellent level.
The Pacers did find Andrew Nembhard in the second round, but that doesn’t erase the sting of missing on the first real pick of the rebuild.
A year later, Indiana came back with three first-round picks, including No. 7.
The Pacers traded down to No. 8 and selected Houston forward Jarace Walker. Walker remains an underexplored bundle of talent and upside, but calling him a success story would be too generous.
At minimum, he hasn’t been significantly worse than the players taken around him, and this was a very weak class once Victor Wembanyama went first.
The bigger problem came later in the round. Indiana took Ben Sheppard at No. 26, then moved the No. 29 pick to Denver.
In return, they got Mojave King, who has not played an NBA game yet, plus a first-round pick that later became part of the Pascal Siakam trade. The process did eventually help them land a piece for that deal, but Brice Sensabaugh off the bench instead of Sheppard has a certain appeal.
Sensabaugh is the kind of versatile forward with some creation juice that Indiana could use right now.
By 2024, the Pacers no longer had any picks of their own. The 19th and 29th selections belonged to Toronto, and while Indiana could and should celebrate the move, it also meant the end of their shot at drafting another young cornerstone.
The last first-round pick the Pacers truly hit on was probably Myles Turner in 2015.
That’s the flaw at the center of a front office that is otherwise generally excellent. If Indiana eventually runs out of runway with its veteran-heavy supporting cast around Haliburton, this is likely why: a trail of wasted draft picks that never should have piled up like this.
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Aaron Nesmith Just Said Something Pacers Fans Will Absolutely Love
Aaron Nesmith has gone from a piece in the Malcolm Brogdon trade to one of the Pacers most dependable two-way wings, the kind of player Indiana can trust to space the floor and take on tough defensive assignments when the games tighten up. He has carved out real value as a classic 3-and-D contributor, and his rise has fit neatly with the Pacers push to build around speed, shooting and versatility.
Nesmiths confidence in where this group is headed is part of what makes him such a popular figure in Indiana right now. After helping the Pacers in recent playoff runs and continuing to shoot well from deep, he recently made it clear he believes this team belongs on the NBAs biggest stage, a bold statement that will only feed the optimism around a roster trying to turn progress into something bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Suddenly Face A Spacing Problem That Could Define Next Season
Losing Myles Turner to the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2025 offseason left Indiana with more than just a familiar face to replace. Turners value went beyond rim protection and scoring, because he gave the Pacers a big man who could stretch the floor and keep the offense spaced the way it likes to play, and that kind of fit is not easy to duplicate. The front office then sent its 2026 first-round pick to get Ivica Zubac, a move that upgraded the interior in one sense but also sharpened the question of how much shooting this roster can afford to lose.
For a team built around pace and room to operate, the issue is less about finding one perfect Turner clone than making sure the lineup still has enough threats to keep defenses honest. Indiana can look at the current roster, explore the trade market, or simply get more shooting from the margins, but the next season may hinge on how creatively it solves the spacing squeeze. The challenge is real enough that every option now has to be weighed not just for talent, but for whether it helps the Pacers keep the floor open. [Read more 🡒]