The 2022 NBA Draft lottery will drastically alter the future of the Indiana Pacers.
Indy hasn’t made the top 10 in the NBA draft since the 1989 season.
Prior to this year, the Pacers’ most significant drafts of the top 10 picks were in 1986 and 1988.
Indiana drafted Chuck “The Rifleman” Person fourth overall in 1986.
Person not only won NBA Rookie of the Year honors in 1987, but the soft-firing, trash-talking hotshot also helped the Pacers become playoff contenders at the turn of the decade in the 1990s. .
The team’s fortunes also changed significantly after drafting 7-foot-4 tall man Rik “The Dunking Dutchman” Smits from Marist College in 1988.
Smits played 12 seasons at Indy — he anchored the midfield from 1988 to 2000 and helped the Pacers reach the Eastern Conference Finals four times in the 1990s.
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On this day 25 years ago, Rik Smits hit the winner of Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals in one of the craziest finishes you’ve ever seen.
???? “HE HITS, HE HITS, HE HITS, HE HITS” pic.twitter.com/YMuJbJmutU
— Pacers de l’Indiana (@Pacers) May 29, 2020
Smits also stood up to guys like Patrick Ewing and Shaquille O’Neal in their memorable playoff battles.
Smits’ most memorable moment in a Pacers uniform was his buzzer-beater in the 1995 Eastern Conference Finals against Shaq’s Orlando Magic.
Long live the “Remembrance Day Miracle”.
Smits was the middle man when Indy reached the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
Unfortunately, Smits retired after that year due to persistent foot issues.
Honorable mention goes to Wayman Tisdale, the left-handed forward for the Indy Oklahoma Sooners, drafted second overall behind Patrick Ewing in 1985.
Tisdale was a solid force at the bottom who complemented big man Steve Stipanovich well during the Pacers’ struggles of the mid-to-late 1980s.
The selections of Stipanovich (second overall in 1983) and Clark Kellogg (eighth overall in 1982) also deserve praise.
They were solid cornerstones of bad teams at Indiana in the 1980s until knee injuries had a huge impact on their NBA careers.
On the other hand, the Pacers also had a few hiccups when they drafted in the top ten picks.
The biggest disaster was removing George McCloud of the Florida State Seminoles from the NBA draft pool in 1989.
McCloud was a one-time shooter who never did well in the professional ranks.
The Pacers’ record of drafting in the top 10 picks bodes well for the team’s future
For the most part, the Pacers have a respectable record of drafting top-10 draft picks.
Although Indiana hasn’t had that opportunity since 1989, the team’s first-round selection in 2022 — whoever it is — will dramatically change the fortunes of the Pacers over the next few years.
Indy has a 10.5% chance of landing the first overall pick — something that has never happened in its NBA franchise history.
Could the Pacers make history on May 17?
The Pacers are now 0.5 games clear of the 4th-worst league record.
Speaking Jaden Ivey stay home in existence pic.twitter.com/spGllQAidz
— AKRiley (@AKRileyy5) January 5, 2022
Some local fans are clamoring for Purdue Boilermakers hotshot Jaden Ivey to stay in the state and play for the Pacers.
Ivey and Tyrese Haliburton would form a hell of a tandem in the backcourt for the Bleu et Or.
The Pacers also can’t go wrong with forward Jabari Smith Jr. or center Chet Holmgren, who would make Goga Bitadze useless.
Whoever the Pacers’ next first-round selection is, it all starts with the NBA Draft lottery on Tuesday night.
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