The Pacers hosted their second pre-draft workout in as many days on Wednesday morning, welcoming six more prospects to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. After bringing in a veteran crew of projected second-round picks on Tuesday, Wednesday's workout featured two players that have a solid chance of hearing their name called in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft next month.
Vanderbilt point guard Wade Baldwin IV is considered a consensus first-round pick in all of the major mock drafts, with most projections having him go in the top 20 (the Pacers own the 20th overall selection in this year's draft, scheduled to take place on June 23 at the Barclays Center).
UNLV combo guard Patrick McCaw is considered a borderline first-round pick at this stage, but his stock appears to be on the rise. National outlets like USA Today and ESPN.com moved McCaw into the first round of their latest mock drafts after a strong performance at the NBA Draft Combine last week in Chicago.
Both Baldwin and McCaw elected to turn pro after their sophomore seasons, a surprising turn considering neither was considered a serious NBA prospect coming out of high school. ESPN.com ranked Baldwin as the 22nd-best point guard and McCaw as the 38th-best shooting guard in the Class of 2014. Rivals ranked Baldwin as the 100th-best player in their overall class rankings, while McCaw didn't crack the top 150.
Yet there they were on an NBA practice court on Wednesday morning, auditioning for new head coach Nate McMillan, team president Larry Bird, and the rest of the Pacers' brass.
It's hard not to see what scouts love about Baldwin. At 6-foot-4, he has great size for a point guard, especially when you factor in his massive wingspan, which measured at a jaw-dropping 6-11 1/4 at the Combine. To put that into perspective, Pacers players have dubbed point guard George Hill "The Creature" for his own freakish length which has helped him develop into one of the NBA's best defensive point guards (just ask Kyle Lowry). Hill, who is 6-foot-3, has a 6-9 wingspan. Baldwin's wingspan is actually the exact same length as 6-9 Pacers All-Star Paul George's measurement at the 2010 Combine.
That wingspan figures to serve him well in the NBA, especially on the defensive end. He has the potential to guard bigger shooting guards and small forwards and showed promise with his ability to close out on shooters at times at Vanderbilt.
Offensively, Baldwin put up solid numbers in college, increasing his scoring average from 9.4 points per game as a freshman to 14.1 as a sophomore. He is a good playmaker, dishing out 326 assists in just two seasons, and an excellent shooter, converting 44 percent of his 3-point attempts in his first year on campus and 41 percent in his second year with the Commodores.
Though he's just 20 years old, Baldwin has a lot of positive influences in his life. His mother works for the FBI while his father is a retired DEA agent. He was also high school teammates and close friends with Karl-Anthony Towns, the reigning Rookie of the Year, at Saint Joseph High School in New Jersey.
Baldwin said he walked away from Wednesday's workout with a favorable impression of McMillan and the Pacers' coaching staff. For what it's worth, McMillan spent the entire portion of the workout open to the media watching Baldwin go through shooting drills with Villanova guard Ryan Arcidiacono and Michigan State center Matt Costello, occasionally offering instruction.
"I didn't come in here expecting there to be a lot of teaching, but these guys were doing a hell of a job just teaching us coming in," Baldwin said.
"I just want to be a sponge to everything that the coaching staff and players have for me."
Baldwin is aware that the Pacers could be in the market for a point guard this summer. He believes his skillset will allow him to fit in wherever he ends up, regardless of system or style of play.
"I have full confidence that I'll be somewhere that believes in me and builds me to be a great player," Baldwin said.
While Baldwin has the tools to be an excellent NBA defender, McCaw could be even better. The 6-7 guard was a menace on that end at UNLV. He has a real knack for seeing the floor and using his athleticism to jump passing lanes. His 2.5 steals per game as a sophomore tied him with Providence All-American and projected lottery pick Kris Dunn for fourth in the nation. His 6-10 wingspan isn't as eye-popping as Baldwin's, but is still very solid for a guard.
"I take a lot of pride in my defense," McCaw said. "I think that's going to take me a very long way...I feel like as long as my NBA career lasts, I'm going to be one of those known guys like Tony Allen, Kawhi Leonard, those defensive (standouts)."
Offensively, McCaw has shown promise as a scoring guard. He improved his field goal percentage from .402 as a freshman to .465 as a sophomore while also increasing his scoring average from 9.6 to 14.7. He is a decent outside shooter, making 37 percent of his 3-pointers in each of his two seasons in Vegas.
McCaw played mostly off the ball in college and projects primarily as a two guard at the next level, but he's also gotten some looks at point guard. He acquitted himself well at that position at the Combine, dishing out four assists with no turnovers in 22 minutes at the point in 5-on-5 action. McCaw said on Wednesday that he wants to prove he can play and defend both guard positions at the next level and envisions himself playing a role similar to that of Shaun Livingston or Michael Carter-Williams, bigger guards who can also handle the ball.
One of his mentors is Stacey Augmon, a 15-year NBA veteran and an assistant coach during McCaw's two years at UNLV. Augmon traveled to Chicago to support McCaw at the Combine and has been a source of support as the 20-year-old navigates unfamiliar waters.
"He's had a huge influence on me just growing into a young man and a basketball player," McCaw said. "He's helped me understand the game better on and off the floor because he's been through so much. It's good to have somebody like that in your corner."
Wednesday's workout was just the latest stop in a whirlwind week for McCaw, who stayed in Chicago after the Combine to work out with the Bulls on Monday before traveling to Indianapolis. That's a lot of attention for a player who barely registered on the high school recruiting radar just two seasons ago.
"It's been quite an experience for me," McCaw said. "Just being a less-heralded kid from St. Louis who really hasn't had any pub behind to now people are talking about my name as an NBA prospect, it's crazy."
National Title Game Hero Arcidiacono Ready to Move on to the Next Level
The name Ryan Arcidiacono won't soon be forgotten by college basketball fans. Arcidiacono lived out every sports fan's fantasy, leading his hometown school of Villanova to a national title as a senior.
He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2016 Final Four, but he will forever be best remembered for his pass to Kris Jenkins to set up a buzzer-beating shot that is sure to become a staple of NCAA Tournament montages for decades still to come.
After that dramatic finish, Arcidiacono returned to school for a whirlwind final few weeks on campus. While he enjoyed his newfound celebrity status, the 22-year-old admitted he was a little relieved to be able to turn his attention to the pre-draft process rather than just rest on his laurels.
"It's always great to go out that way, to win a national championship," Arcidiacono said. "But you just have to move on with your life. That's a moment that's not going to define me as a person. That's going to define one portion of my life."
Arcidiacono's trademark is his hustle. He is a gritty point guard who has good size and strength and isn't afraid to dive for loose balls. He said on Wednesday that he likes to play "with a football mentality," a mindset he picked up from his father, who was teammates with Howie Long on the Villanova football team.
Despite his many accolades in college, the 2015 Big East Player of the Year's name doesn't appear in many mock drafts, but that doesn't deter his drive in pre-draft workouts. Wednesday's workout was the first of many for Arcidiacono, who has visits scheduled with the Jazz, Lakers, and Sixers in the next week.
"All it takes is for one person to like you to make it in this league," Arcidiacono said. "That's how I try to think every single day when I work out."
Local Kid Landis Gets to Live Out His Dream
When Indianapolis native Max Landis was playing at Perry Meridian, he never could have imagined getting a call from his hometown Pacers asking him to work out for the team.
But that's exactly what he did on Wednesday morning, making the 10-minute drive from his house to The Fieldhouse before suiting up for Bird and Co.
"I didn't think this would ever be possible," Landis admitted after the workout.
But Landis absolutely earned an invite to workout for an NBA team with his play in college at IPFW, especially his senior year. The 6-2 guard spent two seasons at Gardner-Webb before joining the Mastodons as a transfer. He put up solid numbers in his first three seasons, but his production skyrocketed in his final year on campus.
Landis made 121 3-pointers in his senior season, more than any Division 1 player aside from National Player of the Year Buddy Hield. Despite shooting a massive volume of treys, Landis' 3-point percentage actually improved by leaps and bounds, going from .357 in his junior year to a blistering .456 as a senior.
He drew national attention in early February, when he scored 44 points and drilled 11 threes in a win at South Dakota.
His breakout season — Landis averaged 18.8 points and 3.6 assists in 2015-16 — earned him Summit League Player of the Year honors, a distinction he now shares with former IUPUI star George Hill.
His shooting touch was on full display on Wednesday and even drew the attention of his fellow workout participants.
"He can really shoot the lights out," Arcidiacono said after watching Landis play for the first time.
Landis is realistic about his prospects at the next level. He mostly played shooting guard in college, but is small even for a point guard at the NBA level. He does not expect to hear his name called on draft night, but is hoping to earn an invitation to play for an NBA team in Summer League.
But even if he can't earn a spot in the NBA, a shooter of his caliber is sure to draw a lot of offers to play overseas and Landis said he's open to whatever possibilities emerge that will allow him to keep playing the game he loves.
But for one day at least, he got to experience a taste of life in the NBA. It's an experience he won't ever forget.
Pacers Bring in First Two Big Men
While Tuesday's workout featured only point guards and wings, there were a pair of experienced big men in Indianapolis for Wednesday's session: Michigan State center Matt Costello and Arizona 7-footer Kaleb Tarczewski.
Costello was a little more familiar with his surroundings, as he helped the Spartans win Big Ten tournament titles in the Fieldhouse in both 2014 and 2016. Tarczewski, meanwhile, joked about not being prepared for the unseasonably cold spring weather in Indianapolis after spending the last four years in the Arizona heat.
The two players enjoyed remarkably similar careers, serving as interior anchors for their schools during a stretch of prolonged success. Both players earned second-team all-conference honors in their senior season and Tarczewski actually graduated as the winningest player in Arizona history.
Though they played on opposite ends of the country, Costello and Tarczewski both shared great respect for one another before and after Wednesday's workout.
"He's a strong dude, he's a competitor," Costello said. "It was fun playing with him."
Both players are hopeful that they can fight their way onto an NBA roster and are willing to do the dirty work necessary to be a backup post player.
""To have the opportunity to play in the NBA, I'd do just about anything," Tarczewski said.
Costello concurred: "I see myself being a role player. I'm not going to come out there and be KD or LeBron, nothing like that. But coming in, doing my job, setting screens, rebounding...that's what I see."
While spending four years in college can hurt a player's draft stock, both Costello and Tarczewski are hopeful that their experience in school better prepared them for the transition into the pros.
"Being there for four years, I feel like I kind of went in as a kid and came out a man," Tarczewski said.
Still, there are many examples of four-year college players who have carved out a niche for themselves in the NBA. One of those is Pacers forward Solomon Hill, Tarczewski's teammate during his freshman year at Arizona.
"My freshman year, kind of being one of the younger guys on the team, Solomon really helped me out," Tarczewski said. "He really taught me how to act, how to play out there on the court. I owe a lot of my success at U of A to Solomon."