Indiana Pacers Draft Rumors: Team Eyeing Taurean Prince

Diamond Stone was not the only potential first round pick to participate in the Indiana Pacers‘ sixth pre-draft workout. Baylor’s Taurean Prince also worked out in front of team officials Wednesday.

Prince used all four years of his college eligibility at Baylor. In his Baylor career, he averaged 10.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game.

However, the 21-year-old prospect drastically improved during his final two years of college. He recorded 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game as a senior.

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An ideal NBA role for Prince is a “3-and-D” role player. He is able to guard multiple positions and can shoot from the outside.

Specifically, Prince is an alright three-point shooter. He had a 37.6 three-point percentage in his college career with his season best being 39.5% in his junior year. He needs to be more efficient at the next level.

Meanwhile, Prince has solid defensive capabilities. His 6-7 height and 6-11.5 wingspan will allow him to be a versatile defensive player in the NBA.

Often times at Baylor, he was asked to guard players much bigger than him and did pretty well in those situations. He always accepted the challenge of guarding bigger foes and rarely complained about it.

Prince is not putting any labels on himself. His only goal is doing whatever it takes to help a team win.

"“I definitely feel I can guard 1-4. I can play 2, 3, 4, whatever the team needs…It doesn’t matter if it’s just playing defense and hitting open shots, or being that third option or fourth option offensively, or just playing defense and just swinging the ball. Whatever needs to be done to win games.”"

Prince’s overall draft stock varies among NBA draft writers and analysts. DraftExpress.com lists Prince as the 18th-best prospect in this 2016 rookie class while ESPN’s Chad Ford thinks Prince is the 34th-best prospect in the draft.

The large disparity between draft pundits is due to Prince’s lack of star potential. Most people believe Prince’s full potential will be as a role player (starter or off the bench). However, DraftExpress.com‘s Jonathan Givony stills believe teams will draft Prince in the first round because Prince’s skill set is coveted in today’s NBA.

"“While unlikely to develop into a star or a go-to guy, every NBA team these days needs at least one player like Taurean Prince on their roster. It’s very easy to project him into a (highly coveted) tailor-made role in today’s NBA, and he looks ready both physically and skill-wise to step in and contribute fairly early on.”"

Most draft pundits believe Prince will be a first round pick. Specifically, they anticipate Prince being selected anywhere in the back half of the first round. This means the Indiana Pacers could possibly take him with the 20th overall pick.

The Indiana Pacers already have Paul George at small forward, but not much depth behind him. Prince would give them some depth, and he can play in different spots on the floor. He can play power forward if the Pacers want to go small and is capable of guarding position in key defensive situations.

Next: Pacers Draft Rumors: Team Interested in Diamond Stone

While the Indiana Pacers are interested in Prince, it would not be surprising to see them go in a different direction. They need a third go-to-guy to help George and Myles Turner in the scoring department. Prince does not have the skill set to be one of the Pacers’ top three scorers.

While Prince is a talented basketball player, the Indiana Pacers can find a better offensive scorer with the 20th overall pick. For this reason, they should still pass on Prince even if he is available for them to take.

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