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Pacers trade up to pick Kansas wing Johnny Furphy with No. 35 pick in draft

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Pacers trade up to pick Kansas wing Johnny Furphy with No. 35 pick in draft

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INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers spent most of the pre-draft process looking at experienced players with high basketball IQs. However, when a talented young player graded as a first-rounder by many was still on the board, they took him.

The Pacers moved up one spot from No. 36 to 35 to pick 19-year-old Kansas wing Johnny Furphy in the second round of the NBA draft on Friday. They sent the No. 36 pick and cash to the San Antonio Spurs, a league source confirmed to the IndyStar.

Furphy, a 6-9, 202-pounder from Australia, was a top-35 recruit in the Class of 2023 and earned Big-12 All-Freshman honors in his lone season at Kansas. He averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game. Outside shooting is considered his biggest strength, and he knocked down 44 of his 125 3-point attempts (35.2%) in his freshman season. He also averaged 1.0 assists and 0.9 steals per game.

Beyond shooting 3s, Furphy also proved adept at finishing at the rim, getting there either at the rim or on cuts. According to website hoop-math.com, he made 48 of his 60 field goal attempts at the rim (80%) this season to finish 46.6% from the field overall. Of those 48 buckets at the rim, 75% were assisted which showed how well he used off-the-ball movement on a Kansas team with a number of other high-caliber players. He struggled in the mid-range, however, hitting just 4 of 21 2-point jump shots. Defense is considered an area in which he needs work, but his length gives him the opportunity to defend multiple positions.

Furphy was one of two players invited to the green room for the first round of the draft who was not taken. The other was Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, who was taken No. 32 overall by the Utah Jazz. Though the Pacers entered the draft seemingly focused on experienced talent, general manager Chad Buchanan said they thought Furphy’s upside was too much to pass up.

“We feel like he’s a guy who has a lot of room to grow, both his body physically and his game,” Buchanan said. “He’s obviously very young in age, but we liked a lot of things about him that felt like aligned with who we are as an organization and how we play.”

Buchanan said he believed Furphy would fit in well as a wing in the Pacers uptempo, hyperkinetic offense that finished first in the NBA in scoring and assists and second in offensive efficiency and pace this season, carrying Indiana to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2014. He consistently gets himself in position to score without having to be ball-dominant.

“He’s a very aggressive and assertive player who knows how to play without the ball, which is beneficial for the way we play,” Buchanan said. “We put the ball in the hands of a lot of great playmakers, and if you get guys who know how to play without it, they know how to cut, they know how to crash the offensive glass, which is one of his best traits. They know how to run the floor. They know how to play in transition. But he can also catch and shoot. I think that’s a skill that will continue to develop with us because he’ll get lots of opportunities to do that.”

Buchanan said Furphy will obviously have to develop physically, which in turn should help him on the defensive end. But he noted Furphy will also have time to grow. Not only do the Pacers already have nine of the 11 players on their first and second units under contract, they also drafted two more experienced players in Connecticut guard Tristen Newton and Akron forward Enrique Freeman with the 49th and 50th pick.

“We were pleasantly surprised that he was there,” Buchanan said. “He’s a younger guy. Obviously you’ve mentioned targeting some older players. We’ve had success with that, but we also want to look a little bit long-term. Who are some players who have some long-term potential that maybe are going to take a little time to develop? The reality is our roster is in a situation where it’s going to be tough for a young guy to come in and play. We have a lot of good young players already on the roster. We have a lot of established roles already. We feel like we’re willing to be a little bit more patient with a young player like Johnny.”

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