2017 NBA Mock Draft: The final predictions

The Indiana Pacers are in the disastrous situation of having to try to find a trade partner for small forward Paul George after he has already announced his intentions to leave the team next summer. With George on his way out, the good news is that the franchise has a talented young player in Myles Turner to start building around as they look to re-tool the roster.

UCLA’s TJ Leaf could form an interesting frontcourt pairing alongside Turner as both players have the ability to spread the floor and Turner’s rim protection could help limit some of the defensive problems that Leaf has. The 6-foot-10 power forward was a highly efficient scorer in the Bruins’ offense as he showed the ability to get buckets at all three levels of the floor. His 3-point percentage was tremendous on a low level of attempts, but it will probably take him some time to be above league average in the NBA given his poor free throw shooting.

Defensively, Leaf is a concerning prospect. He’s not a great athlete and his pick-and-roll coverage at UCLA was kind of a disaster. Leaf will need to figure out a way to contribute on this end as team’s go smaller and try to play him off the floor.

Learn more about TJ Leaf at The Step Back.