On NBA draft night, after selecting Chris Duarte at pick 13, then 19-year old, Isaiah Jackson with the 22nd overall pick, general manager Chad Buchanan had this to say about the Pacers draft process.
“We kind of had the philosophy tonight that we had two opportunities to take a swing at the plate,” Buchanan said. “And we wanted to kind of go for what we felt was a pretty sure thing and we wanted to take a swing with the other one (at) a younger, more high-upside potential.”
To extend the baseball metaphor, they wanted to smoke a double in the gap with Duarte as a player who could produce immediately, and then swing for the fences with Jackson, as a developmental player who could mature into an upper deck home run.