Pacers acquire Johnny Furphy in draft day trade

(WISH) — The Indiana Pacers acquired Johnny Furphy with the 35th overall pick of the NBA Draft after trading up one pick.

The Pacers were originally selecting 36th overall, but traded up one pick with the San Antonio Spurs to get Furphy.

Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said he was pleasantly surprised Furphy was still available early in the second round. He was the guy they were targeting heading into the day and didn’t want to leave any room for chance, so they traded up the one slot to get him.

The Pacers have had success taking experienced players outside of the lottery recently, specifically with Ben Sheppard and Andrew Nembhard, who both played four years in college. But, with this pick, Buchanan and the front office were looking for a longer term prospect.

“We feel like we’re willing to be a little more patient with a young player like Johnny,” Buchanan said. “(I) feel like he’s a guy who’s got a lot of room to grow, both his body physically, his game, 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.”

Buchanan thinks that Furphy fits the Pacers offensive style nicely.

“He’s a very aggressive, assertive player who knows how to play without the ball, which is beneficial for the way we play,” Buchanan said.

The Pacers did not bring Furphy in for a pre-draft workout, as Furphy was projected to go higher up in the draft. They had limited access to him in the pre-draft process, but did talk a lot Bill Self and the rest of the coaching staff at Kansas as well as people in Australia that knew him before college.

Furphy spent one year at Kansas, averaging 9.0 points per game and 4.9 rebounds per game.

The 6-9 wing from Melbourne, Australia shot 35.2% from three-point range on almost four attempts per game.

The Pacers selected Tristen Newton and Enrique Freedom later in the second round.