2018 NBA Mock Draft: If need were all that mattered

The Pacers need scoring. They finished with the NBA’s 11th-ranked offense this season, with six players averaging double-digit scoring but no real standout No. 2 to take over when Victor Oladipo faltered. Bates-Diop’s skill set is perfect to fill that role.

The 22-year-old has bucked normal development curves on his way to becoming an efficient and productive scorer. Bates-Diop notched a .577 true shooting percentage and hardly ever turned the ball over as Ohio State’s go-to option throughout their surprising run to the Sweet 16. Indiana’s second-leading scorer this year was Bojan Bogdanovic, as good an indicator as any that they need more support for Oladipo heading into next season.

Using The Stepien’s NCAA shot charts, we see that Bates-Diop was excellent at the rim and solid from NBA 3-point range. The senior shot nearly 70 percent at the rim, good enough to place him in the 81st percentile league-wide, and created over half of those looks for himself. Those are solid indicators that Bates-Diop will be able to get good shots from the interior at the next level.

On the other hand, his deep shooting is a work in progress. He most commonly shot 3s above the break, which are most often at the beginning or end of the clock, as bailout

pull-ups or in transition. But when he stepped out to NBA range, Bates-Diop made 35 percent of his attempts. If he can maintain that level transitioning to the next level, that’s a solid skill.

Indiana has a real opportunity at this point in the draft to add a complementary scoring option if Bates-Diop is available.