Indiana Pacers will not make any selections in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers don’t have a pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft. Their top selection of the draft process is only the 36th overall pick, and they didn’t fall into the top 30 on Wednesday night.

“This year’s draft, we’re a little bit limited because we don’t have a first-round pick,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said late last month. “But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to try to be aggressive if there’s anything to try to address some of the needs that we have.”

A few teams advanced to the late first round, including the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC traded five future second-round picks for the 26th overall selection, and both Washington and Denver made deals to move up in the 20s.

Indiana has three second-round picks this year and was one of seven teams with more than two picks on Wednesday. They also have additional second-rounders in future drafts, and that could have made for an attractive trade package. But Indiana, which already has a deep roster and plenty of youth, has less need for another first-round pick than other franchises. Their future assets can be put to better use.

The Blue and Gold also only have three roster spots at the moment, so it may be difficult to fit draft picks into their plans. They ran into a similar problem last year, which is another consequence of having so much depth.

Now the Pacers move on to night two. They will be one of the busiest teams in the NBA on Thursday when they pick their three picks (36, 49 and 50). Indiana may be looking for two-way contract talent with their later picks or perhaps draft-and-stash candidates. With their top pick, Buchanan said the team will get the best player they can.

“We’re looking at it with the sixth pick in the draft on Thursday night,” the GM said of the two-night draft.

Second-round coverage begins Thursday at 4:00 PM EST. There are four minutes between the choices and the procedure takes place on ESPN‘s Seaport District Studios. Recent mock drafts show there are a number of things the Pacers could do on Thursday, and there’s no bad strategy.