Analysis Of The Indiana Pacers

         Already this year, many college basketball players are entering the draft early. Earlier this year, Maurice Taylor from Michigan, has

The third in our trio of best current players in the game could come from a dozen different superstars. A handful are salty seasoned veterans, with the rest emerging from a crop of young talent.

On Tuesday, Duke Blue Devils freshman Harry Giles declared for the 2017 NBA Draft. Having entered the college basketball season as a then sure-fire lock to be a lottery selection, Giles' current stock has him going anywhere from the middle of the first round to the middle of the second.

About a month ago, the Portland Trail Blazers had one of the best starting lineups in the league. They were young and rising and a perennial playoff team. Fast forward a month and the Trail Blazers are without four of their five starting players. Nicolas Batum, Wesley Matthews, Robin Lopez, and LaMarcus Aldridge are no longer with the team.

None of that carried over to 2014-15, though, with the Raptors dropping all the way to 23rd (104.8). It became clear that a majority of players on the team were incapable of executing on the defensive end, which was surprising considering a large percentage of the roster returned from the year before.

The cream-of-the-crop free agents may be gone, but some “impact” free agents still remain on the market. In my opinion these five players are the best remaining available players and potentially could be the difference makers on teams in the hunt for a playoff berth.

The draft has a significant impact on the coaches as much as the players. Coaches for the NBA, NFL, and MLB have to be sure their potential players are skilled enough, fit into their team program, and will make a difference in the team program. Also, they have to evaluate the players they already have so when picking for the draft, coaches won’t pick the same type of player they already have on the rosters. Coaches tend to look at the areas they struggled in the previous season or seasons

Ever since Kevin Garnett, a teenager who by-passed college, was drafted as the fifth overall pick in the 1995 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft, more and more high school teenagers have been making the jump straight to the pros. Since the league draft of 1995, 17 first round picks have been high school players. This means that about 7 percent of first round draft picks in the NBA have been high school teens skipping out on their college education to make the jump to the NBA (Chylinski).

How much do you know about the Indiana Pacers? First, I am going to talk about this team. Secondly, the Indiana Pacers have lots of facts for us to know about. I will answer most facts about the Indiana Pacers.This is going to be my topic.

But the question is how all of these strong personalities and undeniable talents will play out on the court together. It can either be a success for a franchise that hasn’t had many peaks since the days of Chris Webber, Jason “White Chocolate” Williams, and Mike Bibby, just to name a few. But this current roster holds the most talent that this team has seen in years and they can capitalize on that to finally make some noise in a tough Western

So, here are my first batch of waiver-wire players who could impact your fantasy basketball squad going forward:

The 76ers will already improve with a lottery pick(Jahlil Okafor) starting for them next year. Jahlil Okafor was the third pick in the 2015 NBA draft and many consider him to be a potential All-Star. Pairing him with Nerlens Noel, who had an impressive rookie season, would give the Sixers a formidable frontcourt. They have the potential to be the next dynamic front court duo, similar to Tim Duncan and David Robinson.

The 2016 College Basketball All-Americans are a surprising bunch. With the exception of Ben Simmons and Jamal Murray, there is a conspicuous lack of former blue chip prospects on the list. This year it was unheralded players from states not considered to be basketball hotbeds that ended up making huge impacts huge. Jarrod Uthoff was a 90th ranked recruit in his high school class and from the state of Iowa. Georges Niang was ranked 56th and from Massachusetts. Kris Dunn was ranked 23rd and from Connecticut. This didn’t stop them from all eventually becoming all-americans, and when it came draft time Kris Dunn was picked 5th overall, Niang was picked 50th, and Uthoff signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings as an undrafted free agent.

Last season Allen had 35 steals and was selected to the Lone Star Conference Defensive Team, but he’s the guy also who if you don’t know who Draymond green, is the guy who is going to make hustle plays, and do whatever the team needs from him to win games. Overall there are a total of 9 seniors on this year’s squad with the addition of new comers Jevon Thomas a graduate point guard from Seaton hall, Amari Bryant a guard from Dallas Baptist, Trayvond Massenburg a forward from Tennessee Chattanooga, and perimeter shooter, Garret Baggett from Northeastern Junior College in Colorado. This team values having a Close-knit unit with good chemistry and while that is very important to the success for a team on the court, these guys are close off the court as well.

In 1995 Scotty Thurman was on top of the world. Thurman led the Arkansas Razorbacks to a NCAA basketball championship with one great performance after another. After this miracle season, Thurman made a decision that would change his fortunes. Rather than come back for his senior year and get his degree, he elected to make himself eligible for the NBA draft. With a NCAA championship under his belt, Thurman was confident he was ready for the NBA, but NBA scouts had different ideas. Thurman could only sit and watch the draft from start to finish. Today Thurman finds himself without a college education and still chasing his NBA dream in the Continental Basketball Association. With nothing left to turn back on, basketball is all Thurman has