The Pacers have announced the signings of first-round picks Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard.
As the eighth overall choice, Walker will receive a little more than $6MM, which is 120% of the rookie scale, in the first season of his four-year contract. The 6’8″ power forward averaged 11.2 points and 6.8 rebounds during his lone season at Houston and was named Freshman of the Year in the American Athletic Conference.
The Pacers were believed to be targeting Walker at No. 7, but they selected Bilal Coulibaly in a pre-arranged deal with the Wizards and traded him to Washington for the No. 8 pick.
Sheppard made a strong impression during the pre-draft process and was able to work his way up to the 26th choice. He’ll be eligible to receive $2,537,160 in his first season of his four-year deal.
A 6’6″ guard, Sheppard averaged 18.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior at Belmont and was a first-team All-Missouri Valley Conference selection.