January 28, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Orlando Johnson (11) with the ball during the first quarter against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

Paul George has been impressive this season.  David West has been rock solid this season.  Roy Hibbert is holding his own on the defensive side of things, and his offense is slowing there.  George Hill has blossomed as the floor general.  But guess who really has impressed me?  Orlando Johnson.  Now you might be saying, who?  This guy is the second round draft pick for the Pacers, who’s getting more and more playing time thanks to his sudden emergence.  He’s made 16 out of his last 23 three pointers.  He’s out there shooting with confidence. He’s the first guy off the bench in recent games, and he’s looking more and more like the steal of the draft.

Going into last year’s draft, the Pacers went with Miles Plumlee, who we are still shaking our head at.  Especially when he’s bouncing back and forth between the Pacers and the D League.  But then came the pick of the second round in Orlando Johnson.  All I had heard was he could score.  But could he score at the NBA Level?  This answer is more and more apparent that he can indeed score at this level.  Even if he’s not scoring, going out there with confidence is key.  I remember a game against the Miami Heat, where Johnson took on Wade on offense.  He made a move and with Wade in his face, he took the shot.  Now of course, my memory doesn’t help recall if he made that shot. I mean it was just a random moment that I can remember when I saw that Johnson was blossoming into something.  That’s all it takes for me to see something.

Now that he’s getting the minutes to play, and even in last night’s win, he comes in for Lance Stephenson to play some minutes with the starters.  Not Gerald Green.  Not D.J. Augustin.  Not Sam Young. But a rookie, Johnson, gets the call to play some with the four starters.  That’s gotta be the belief this Pacers team has in him. Just think if he can continue to hone his shot, and picks up his game on defense, you will have a great bench player.  Then you move Lance Stephenson back to the bench once Danny Granger gets going. That bench unit could be right where this Pacers team needs it to be.

Keep an eye on this kid. I think he’s got a great ceiling in front of him. I just get giddy seeing him out there with a silky smooth shot.  Come back, and tell me if I am right or wrong about Orlando Johnson.

Personally, I am in wait and see mode for Plumlee.  With a draft pick that late, you’re not going to get this big difference maker anyways.  I’ll say as well this draft didn’t have any guys to me that stood out as guys that will come in and make a difference for a team.

Sure a guy like Anthony Davis is talented, but is that going to translate straight to the pro game like Lebron James did?  I don’t think you can look at Davis and think oh yea future All-Star.  This wasn’t a good draft for that type of player.  It had more along the lines of guys who are talented, but need work.

That’s what Plumlee could be for the Pacers.  He’s got some size for a big man that can play in the NBA.  But his game needs work to make him an actual scoring threat down there in the block.  He never turned into the scoring threat he could at Duke, but in a back up role for the Pacers, maybe he can come in and do all those other things that a center should do.

He’ll need to work on his defense a bit, but he did improve throughout the years on his post up defense, so that’s a good sign for him.  He was able to stay out of foul trouble his senior year at Duke, and you get a guy who is older that has an average feel for the game.

The Pacers also made a move in the second round by getting Sacramento’s pick of Orlando Johnson for some cash consideration.  Here’s a guy that looks to create his own shot, which is something the Pacers will have to take advantage of.  He looks to be very confident in his ability to score and will take a shot when asked.

It looks like the Pacers were able to get a couple of guys who can come off the bench and try to fit into their roles at what they do.  With this draft, I think that’s the best option for what the Pacers could do.  They weren’t going to be drafting some guy to come in and take over the team.  They were filling for the needs that they had, and hopefully it will work out.