INDIANAPOLIS — A sharpshooter who spent his time as a Jayhawk in college is headed to the Pacers, along with a National Champion and a forward from Akron!
Indiana traded up one spot in Thursday's second round of the NBA Draft to select Kansas forward Johnny Furphy with the 35th overall pick. The Pacers swapped their 36th overall pick, Juan Núñez, to the Spurs for the rights to Furphy.
Johnny Furphy
The 6'8", 189-pound Furphy averaged 9 points and nearly 5 rebounds per game in his 2023-24 season with Jayhawks. The 19-year-old is entering the NBA after just one year of college ball.
Furphy was projected by many NBA draft analysts to be selected in the first round of the draft on Wednesday night, but ended up falling to the top of the second round for Indiana to select him.
ESPN Draft Expert Jonathan Givony describes Furphy as a "late-blooming" swingman whose size and shooting altered Kansas' offense last season and propelled him to the NBA Draft earlier than originally expected. Givony writes that Furphy has a "willingness to play with intensity."
Furphy was taken with one of three second-round picks that Indiana held. The Pacers then selected two more players - a guard and a forward - with their next two picks.
Newton and Freeman
With the 49th overall pick in the Draft, the Pacers selected UConn guard Tristen Newton. The 6'3", 192-pound Newton won back-to-back championships in 2023 and 2024 with the Huskies.
In his two seasons with the Huskies, the 23-year-old Florida native averaged 12.6 points, 1 steal and 5.5 assists per game.
With the next pick at 50th overall, the Pacers then selected Akron's Enrique Freeman. The 6'7", 212-pound forward was ranked 57th overall in the draft by ESPN.
Future for the picks
While it is unknown what roles Furphy, Newton and Freeman are expected to play in the Pacers organization, they will likely not see much playing time on a team full of young prospects and budding stars that went to the Eastern Conference Finals last season.
With a starting lineup of Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner, the Pacers lost the ECF in 4 games to the eventual-champion Boston Celtics.
For more information on Furphy, click here.