Johnny Furphy is off to the Indiana Pacers after the rising Eastern Conference team took the Victorian at 35th overall in what ESPN’s Jonathan Givony described as a “steal”.
ESPN ranked Furphy as its 18th overall ranked player in this year’s class and the Pacers traded up from 36th in the draft to take him, where he will join an emerging young core in Indiana headlined by two-time All-Star Tyrese Haliburton.
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As Givony mentioned on ESPN’s broadcast, Furphy was a “complete unknown” — at least for international scouts — a year ago before breaking out at the NBA Academy Games in July.
Furphy averaged 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 steals a game and had around 30 high major offers from programs including Kansas, Gonzaga, Providence and North Carolina after the tournament.
For context, before the Games Furphy had just one college scholarship offer and was leaning towards staying at Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence and developing his game further.
But his standout showing in Atlanta forced Furphy to re-evaluate and he committed to the Kansas Jayhawks, where he initially settled into a rotation role off the bench before emerging as a key piece of the starting line-up down the stretch.
“He brings physicality, toughness and a feel for the game,” Givony said.
“This is a quality pick for the Pacers. We had Johnny Furphy projected to go 18th in our mock draft, for them to get him here is a steal.”
Former Warriors general manager Bob Myers, who was part of ESPN’s coverage, said Indiana was a great landing spot for Furphy given their record of developing young players.
“[Pacers president] Kevin Pritchard has done a masterclass in terms of drafting and developing Bennedict Mathurin, Ben Sheppard, Jarace Walker, Andrew Nembhard, the list goes on.
“We can add Furphy to that group.”
The Pacers finished the most recent NBA season as the sixth seed in the East, defeating the Bucks and Knicks before falling short against eventual champions Boston in the Conference Finals.
ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski said they will be a “formidable” team moving forward.
“This is a team with lots of really good young assets if they wanted to go out and do a deal for the next big veteran that becomes available, especially when you have Haliburton who everyone in the league wants to play with,” he said.
Duke forward Kyle Filipowski was the other surprise name to slide out of the first round, having also received an invite to the green room ahead of Thursday’s Barclays Center event.
He was taken 32nd overall by the Utah Jazz, with championship-winning Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum clearly a fan of his.
While the invite is no guarantee a prospect will be selected, 23 of 25 players in the green room were selected in the opening round, with Furphy and Filipowski the only ones to miss out.
Elsewhere, later in the draft attention will turn to whether LeBron James’ son Bronny is drafted, with the Lakers selecting at 55th overall.
Phoenix was the only other team to work out Bronny ahead of the draft but the Suns traded back and selected Ryan Dunn at No.28, leaving the Lakers as the most likely landing spot for the USC guard — unless the Suns trade up from No.56.
NBA DRAFT SECOND ROUND ORDER
31. Toronto (from Detroit via New York and LA Clippers) – Jonathan Mogbo, center, San Francisco
32. Utah (from Washington via Detroit and Brooklyn) – Kyle Filipowski, center, Duke
33. Milwaukee (from Portland via Sacramento) – Tyler Smith, forward, G League Ignite
34. New York (Portland from Charlotte via Denver, Oklahoma City and New Orleans) – Tyler Kolek, guard, Marquette
35. Indiana (from San Antonio) – Johnny Furphy, wing, Kansas
36. San Antonio (from Indiana via Toronto, Philadelphia, LA Clippers and Memphis)
37. Detroit (from Minnesota via Memphis, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington and Oklahoma City)
38. New York (from Utah)
39. Memphis (from Brooklyn via Houston)
40. Portland (from Atlanta)
41. Philadelphia (from Chicago via Boston, San Antonio and New Orleans)
42. Charlotte (from Houston via Oklahoma City)
43. Miami
44. Atlanta (from Houston and Golden State via Atlanta)
45. Toronto from Sacramento
46. LA Clippers (from Indiana via Memphis and Milwaukee)
47. Orlando
48. San Antonio (from Los Angeles Lakers via Memphis)
— Philadelphia (forfeited)
49. Indiana (from Cleveland)
50. Indiana (from New Orleans)
51. New York (from Phoenix via Washington)
52. Oklahoma City (from Golden State via Milwaukee and Indiana)
53. Minnesota (from Detroit via New York, Philadelphia and Charlotte)
54. Boston (from Dallas via Sacramento)
55. Los Angeles Lakers (from LA Clippers)
56. Phoenix (from Minnesota via Oklahoma City and Denver)
57. Memphis (from Oklahoma City via Houston and Atlanta)
— Phoenix (from Denver via Orlando; forfeited by Phoenix)
58. Boston (from Dallas and Boston via Charlotte)
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