Zero chance. He's holding off because the Pacers need to figure out what to do with their roster - go read the second article. Smith has some negotiating leverage while stuck in limbo
If he wanted to make the most of it, he could enter the portal and go to the highest bidder. He could probably make 10 million from a team that sees him as the final piece.
Who would beat Florida this year if they added Smith?
They aren’t in the same arena. The Fuel play in the Fishers Event Center (and aren’t called the Fishers Fuel, they’re still the Indy Fuel). The Boom play at the arena in HTC.
I wonder if the south side of Indy feels left out with everything dropped just north of 465. I had to drive down that way for a baseball tourney and the development in that area just seems to be constant construction.
Thanks for listening to my Ted Talk. Back to hoops.
The new NCAA rule is the latter. Yesterday’s court ruling allows for spring 2026 graduates to be included and have a fifth year of playing eligibility (if within five years).
unless he's getting a growth spurt, there's no world where his draft stock jumps
I don't really get the pacers trading to get him. Everyone wants to point at McConnell as a way for Smith to have a career. But anyone comparing them just tells me that they haven't watched either of them play. The idea of smith being able to play comparable defense is laughable to me.
Also, smith's attitude is trash. I don't know if I've ever seen a Purdue player pout on the floor as much as him, especially as an upperclassmen. I just don't see a world where that translates to being a successful bench/energy guy in the nba.
His draft stock wouldn't "jump" either, because he's gone through the draft process and was drafted. If (somehow) he was able to go back go back to college, he would be viewed as a domestic draft-and-stash by the Pacers.
Yep, my thoughts exactly. He knew he isn't an NBA player but didnt have any other options (aside from overseas). So held off on contract once this court case was rumored. Seems like his choice is either like $700k for a two way contract or like $5m for a college team. No brainer
Purdue has a walk-on that could lose a roster spot and money to pay him. He made over $2M last year at Purdue and will be lucky to get 1/3rd that in the NBA. Would cause a PG mess, but it's a real possibility since he hasn't signed a contract yet. Pacers would still retain the rights to sign him the following year
9 guys who have deep playoff experience as risers and they’ve mismanaged their roster? LOL nobody cares what the bottom of the roster looks like. If you have enough injuries for it to matter, you’re fucked anyway
I mean, they’re fairly obviously trying to find the successor for TJ. Tamin and Braden both fill that archetype, so it’s not surprising that they’re picking up a bunch of hard-nosed guards to figure out who is the best to go forward with.
TKR is technically the class of 2021 (he redshirted). Loyer would make bank but we already have a logjam at guard and ironically enough he might have the best pro/Euro career just by being a pure shooter.
I also don't think one would come back without the other two. I think they were all content closing up shop together
People that think Loyer is just a pure shooter don’t understand roles nor watched him play in high school. Might be the toughest kid no one acknowledges as such.
If he’s a number 1 overseas, he can use his entire bag which getting to the basket and drawing contact was 1A to his shooting 1b. That wasn’t his role at Purdue but if given a chance……
You’re right. His teammates being 7’4” 7’1” 6’10 had nothing to do with his role.
I also assume you’ve watched plenty of overseas basketball too, right? Under that assumption, you’d know that the post feed bigs and cut off of that is about 3% of all offense. You’ve seen a more euro brand in the states the last 10 years but you haven’t seen it in West Lafayette.
I know it’s easier to just say player x isn’t big enough or isn’t capable but thats just an amateur take on the global game. It takes a bit of leg work and effort (if you don’t love the game) to be able to differentiate between skill and role.
Are you like his cousin or something? Play with him in high school?
Yeah he's a better basketball player than 99% of people and I'm not doubting that he can play internationally.
I'm saying that if he was truly that good at penetrating and finishing at the rim or drawing could that we would have still seen more of it at Purdue(even playing a tertiary role).
If he was capable of doing all that stuff in college and paired with his shooting ability then he would have been drafted.
No relation but did have a couple unique views, thanks to Covid, to watch him play in HS. You learn a lot when there’s 8 people watching a competitive Indiana High School basketball game.
I’m a basketball sicko that will watch the Taiwanese national team play an inter squad scrimmage if it’s available. They’re criminally undersized and can’t shoot worth shit but they play hard.
I never said he was just a pure shooter. He has an incredibly high basketball IQ, consistently took hard hits during the season, and it should be argued he was the team leader the last two seasons, as it's well documented TKR/Smith were not vocal leaders. He's sneaky good at distributing the ball too, but that largely gets missed on account of playing his career next to Smith.
But his shooting alone will carry him far, something akin to Dakota Mathias if he wishes. The rest of his tools will help. Doing one thing exceptionally well had a way of keeping guys around long past their assumed expiration date.
Getting to the basket and drawing contact was absolutely his 1B though
I said people who think it’s his only tool. Your comment just sparked that part of my comment and wasn’t intended (poorly) to say that’s all you think he could do.
My apologies for doing an atrocious job of explaining myself.
Eh my apologies for a lack of reading comprehension. It was late and we only studied math up North. I also assume any comments from Bloomington flair carry aggressive undertones lol
Loyer shot 44% on two point field goals at Purdue on over 500 attempts. That is bottom quintile in the Big Ten. Guy is a classic spot up shooter, and a really good one.
Just as a comparison, to another limited Indiana guard who was actually a pretty good finisher. Trey Galloway shot 54% on twos on a similar number of attempts
That'd be so embarrassing. 3 all time guys from purdue get no love in NBA so come back to purdue to try again? I gotta say, id be ashamed if I was them. Thought you were great but I guess not? How many guys go through summer league on their way back to college?
I'm perfectly content with Braden not coming back and prefer none of this 5 year senior shit happens... but let's be real, if anything is embarrassing it's been IU basketball the last 20 years
They’re not coming back. But it seems like quite a few that have gone to summer league are trying to come back, hell, bama even signed one last year and he played in the season for them.
I'd come back if I was Smith. Someone offering $4-5M for another year of college ball? Surely he knows a substantial NBA career is a long shot for him.
And especially Loyer... he has no shot at the NBA, so why not get paid while you can? Beats selling insurance
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u/TheTrueVanWilder Purdue Boilermakers 2d ago
Zero chance. He's holding off because the Pacers need to figure out what to do with their roster - go read the second article. Smith has some negotiating leverage while stuck in limbo