2017 NBA Mock Draft 3.0

Ferguson passed up  on the opportunity to play with Arizona this season, as the fomrmer McDonald’s All-American decided to instead play a season of professional ball overseas with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia. The young sharpshooter still has a relatively limited all-around game on the offensive end, but does one very important thing at an extremely high level — shoot.

The 18-year-old Texas native is one of the better pure shooters in this year’s class, utilizing his quickness to bolt around screens and free up space when he’s off the ball, helping to space the offense and keep the unit in motion, even when he’s not touching the basketball. He doesn’t let the ball sit in one place much, and can use his quickness to attack off up-fakes and get inside the teeth of the defense on straight-line drives. He doesn’t necessarily create his own shot much off the dribble, but has shown enough flashes to deem that a feasible improvement in time.

This is a Pacers team that needs some depth elsewhere in the rotation, but could view a shooter of Ferguson’s caliber as too good to pass up on. Not only is shooting one of the more essential commodities in today’s league, but his defensive upside is also one of the highest among swingmen. Having a knockdown shooter who can defend multiple positions at a high level fills the mold of prototypical 3-and-D contributor to a virtual T.

He’s essentially a better version of Glenn Robinson III, and someone who gives them the added youth factor that guys like C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey don’t. They aren’t necessarily set on building around Paul George long term either — there’s a decent chance he ends up elsewhere in the coming seasons — meaning the extra insurance could prove to be enticing.