Johnny Furphy is set to join the Indiana Pacers after a solid freshman season with Kansas. The 19-year-old, 6-foot-8 wing from Australia made the Big 12 All-Freshman team and was the 35th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He was projected to go earlier but, on the bright side, did end up with an Eastern Conference finalist with a young, intriguing roster

The Pacers traded up one spot with the San Antonio Spurs to land the young forward. He shot the three-ball very well for the Jayhawks, making 35.2 percent of his 3.8 three-point attempts per game, while also showing an ability to get open off the ball, attack in transition, defend on the ball and even crash the glass.

In an interview with ESPN's Kane Pitman, Furphy talked about the excitement of heading to the NBA and how it still hasn’t hit him yet.

“We had a few different landing spots. We knew some teams were super keen to get in earlier than where they were initially, with Indiana being one of those,” Furphy said. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle congratulated Furphy on being drafted and sold him on the vision that Indiana is a great fit for him.

“The more I talk about it and think about it, it sounds more and more perfect,” the Kansas product said, adding that joining the Pacers “gets me really excited.”

Johnny Furphy is a great fit with the Pacers

In last year’s draft, after selecting a versatile, big player in Jarace Walker, the Pacers drafted a sharpshooting wing. Ben Sheppard made his way up the rotation as the season went on and Furphy has the chance to earn minutes, too, even if he has to face the rookie learning curve first.

Furphy gives the Pacers a type of player they didn’t yet have on their roster: an athletic, big forward who projects more as a shooting guard or small forward than a typical power forward. His athleticism on the wing makes him impactful on both ends of the floor and should help him make the jump to the NBA. His style of play would fit a lot of different teams — a credit to his game — but Indy should suit him particularly well.

Playing at the Pacers' breakneck pace will help Furphy as he tries to gain the strength to beat defenders and finish in the paint in the halfcourt. A diet of less contested shots in the meantime can allow him to develop into a more well-rounded scorer. Having Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam lead the fast breaks will make it much easier for him to do his thing, which is hitting spot-up threes and throwing down dunks.

The path to minutes in Indiana won’t be super clear for Furphy. The Pacers have a good team in place and may look to upgrade the roster even further as the offseason gets underway. But he’s the type of player that should thrive in Indy and have the chance to play off the bench from the get-go.

The Pacers also added UConn guard Tristen Newton and Akron forward Enrique Freeman with their later second-round picks in the 2024 NBA Draft.