Indiana Pacers GM eager to get to know former KU Jayhawks freshman Johnny Furphy

In advance of the 2024 NBA Draft, the Eastern Conference runner-up Indiana Pacers brought several college and international players to their practice facility in Indianapolis for interviews and workouts.

Kansas freshman wing Johnny Furphy was not one of the hopefuls to visit in person with Pacers GM Chad Buchanan, coach Rick Carlisle or president Kevin Pritchard.

“We had very limited access to Johnny. He’s not going to know who I am or KP (former KU guard Pritchard). It’ll be an introductory meeting the first time we see him,” Buchanan said Thursday, referring to Furphy, who was selected by Indiana with the fifth pick of the second round.

The Pacers saw no need to bring the 6-foot-8, 19-year-old Melbourne, Australia native to Indy for the simple reason they had no first-round picks in the two-round, 58-player draft which was held Wednesday and Thursday in New York.

Furphy had been projected to hear his name called anywhere from late lottery to late first round. Instead he went ignored during Wednesday’s day one proceedings.

“You don’t necessarily get access to some of those guys who are probably not expecting to go where you are picking,” Buchanan explained.

Despite not having met Furphy, the Pacers’ brass felt confident enough in trading up one slot — from No. 36 to 35 — when the Jayhawk remained available on day two.

“We’re going based on a lot of intelligence we gather,” Buchanan told media at a post-draft news conference Thursday night. “We saw Johnny play a lot. When he was still available … at a certain point it doesn’t matter if you’ve met the kid or not. You like the talent. You like what the (KU) coaches and staff and teammates are telling you about him. You feel comfortable with drafting him. At 36, where he was at talent-wise, with his age, it felt like a no-brainer for us.”

The Pacers in weeks leading up to the draft researched dozens of players, including Furphy.

“Obviously coach (Bill) Self is a close friend of ours, the entire KU people, also the people in Australia who knew him earlier,” said Buchanan. Self has been a friend of former KU standout Pritchard and other members of Indy’s front office for many years.

Entering second-round proceedings Thursday, the Pacers, who had the sixth pick of the round, were determined to find a way to land Furphy. They made a trade with San Antonio to acquire the Spurs’ pick No. 35.

“He was the guy we had targeted to go get (on Day 2),” Buchanan said. “We wanted to make sure we got him. We didn’t want to leave any room to chance that we weren’t going to get him. It happens lots of times in this business. I’ve experienced it several times where the guy you have targeted gets picked right in front of you. We had an opportunity to ensure that we were going to get him and we took advantage and made it happen.”

The Pacers GM faced several questions from media members regarding Furphy’s game. Buchanan grinned when asked to identify an NBA player that reminds him of Furphy.

“We asked coach Self that, actually. He had Christian Braun, who plays for the Nuggets,” Buchanan said. “It’s kind of an easy comparison because he’s a KU guy, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily the right comparison.

“Johnny is a young enough player he could turn into a couple different types of guys if he’s the worker we think he is and if he fits into our system the way we think he will. It’s a tough comparison I think. We talk about that a lot. He’s a tough one to ‘comp.’ He’s got a little bit of several different guys.”

The 23-year-old Braun has completed two years in the NBA. He’s been a rotation player in both 2022-23 and ’23-24. Furphy frankly may be ticketed for a different role. He figures to spend a lot of time in the G League for a season or two.

“We wanted to look at some players that have some long-term potential that maybe are going to take a little time to develop. The reality is our roster is at a situation it’s going to be tough for a young guy to come in and play,” Buchanan said. “We have a lot of good young players already on the roster. We have a lot of established roles already.

“We feel we are going to be able to be patient with a young player like Johnny. We feel like he’s a guy who has a lot of room to grow — both his body physically and his game. He’s very young. There are a lot of things about him we felt aligned with who we are as an organization, how we play. Obviously he comes from a great program at Kansas. I know Kevin is pretty excited about getting a fellow Jayhawk here, back in.”

He’s the first Jayhawk to play for Indiana since Brandon Rush (2011).

The Pacers had three second round picks: Furphy, UConn guard Tristen Newton and Akron forward Enrique Freeman.

“Obviously second-round percentages aren’t great for those guys (making it in NBA), but we do like a lot of the qualities he possesses,” Buchanan said of Furphy.

Furphy could end up signing a two-way contract, which would have him split time between the Pacers and their G League team in Noblesville, Indiana.

“We’ve got three two-way spots obviously we’ll be filling. There’s probably a decent chance we will have discussions about that for a couple of these guys,” Buchanan said. “We do have a little bit of roster flexibility, but I think our team has a lot of defined roles already and like I said with Johnny in particular, where we’re thinking long term with him, trying to develop him for down the road. Having three two-ways (instead of two) now gives you a little more flexibility to add guys like this.”

Furphy, who averaged 9.0 points and 4.9 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game last season at KU, said he’s enthused about playing for Indiana.

Of the Pacers, Furphy told SportsCenter Australia: “Coach (Rick) Carlisle gave me a call and congratulated me. He is very excited with the way I’ll be able to fit in with their play style, a very exciting team dynamic. He said, ‘We can’t wait to get to work.’ I’m going to be coached hard, which is good. It’s all a dream-come-true.”