National Basketball Association

Pacers take Iowa State's Georges Niang in second round of NBA draft

Published Jun. 24, 2016 12:04 a.m. ET

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After giving up their first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets in a trade for Thaddeus Young, the Indiana Pacers used their next selection -- Round 2, pick 50 -- on Iowa State's Georges Niang, a 6-foot-9, 231-pound senior.

An NBA insider took to Twitter to commend the selection.

And the tweeting wasn't done -- Niang got a shoutout from another special source:

Niang averaged 16.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.1 steals during his four-year college career but was knocked by scouts for his athleticism. The Pacers expect him to add depth to their bench.

"The game is athletic, but I think he has gotten by because he's crafty. My boss is pretty crafty, too," Pacers GM Kevin Pritchard said, referring to Larry Bird. "That spread four is something we've really longed for. So that was really important to us as well."

It's likely to be the start of a busy few weeks for the Pacers.

Four players on last season's roster, including starting center Ian Mahinmi and 2013 first-round pick Solomon Hill, will become unrestricted free agents. Indiana also is expected to have plenty of room under the luxury tax threshold to spend.

Pritchard didn't drop any hints about how Indiana plans to use that cash.

"I don't think we're done," he said. "I think we have to get to July 1 and that will be a highly competitive (free agent) market."

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