Braden Smith Wins Pacers Rookie Show at FanJam

Braden Smith won the Indiana Pacers Rookie Show on Sunday at FanJam.

The former Purdue point guard sang Kesha's "Die Young" at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Fox59 reported. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files also reported Smith as the winner.

Undrafted rookie big men Rienk Mast of Nebraska and Keba Keita of BYU were part of the show. Both signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Noblesville Boom on Sept. 19.

Tyrese Haliburton ran it as the emcee. Smith did not get his first choice of song.

"Ever since I've become the emcee over the last two years, I like to run a democracy," Haliburton said. "I like to allow the rookies to pick their song, so just with my approval."

"And [Keba] called me yesterday and said, 'Hey, I know no lyrics to any song,'" Haliburton continued. "And so I said, 'You got to pick one.' And he came back [with] 'Party in the USA,' so I would have thought he had spent all night training. He didn't know a single word, really. [Braden] wanted to do 'Tequila.' I couldn't allow that. It's one word. [Rienk] was good. [Rienk] had a good song right away. So I think they tried their best. That's all I asked for."

Smith was a little nervous going in. He was glad to have it over with.

"You gotta just buy into it," Smith said. "One, I know I'm not a good singer anyways, and I was just like, 'You know what? It's gonna be me getting made fun of either way, so might as well just enjoy it, have fun with it.'"

Indiana got Smith on draft night in June. The Chicago Bulls took him 38th overall, and the Pacers traded Kam Jones, their 2025 second-round pick, to get him.

He signed a two-way contract on Aug. 17. Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan has said Indiana will give the new group roughly 25 to 30 games before judging how it fits.

Smith can appear in up to 50 NBA games under the two-way deal and will split time with the Boom.

At Purdue, he finished with 1,103 career assists, the NCAA Division I record. He passed Bobby Hurley's mark of 1,076 in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

As a senior, Smith averaged 14.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 1.7 steals. He shot 36.2% from 3-point range. His 345 assists led the country.

He won the Bob Cousy Award and Big Ten Player of the Year in 2025. A Pacers assistant told Spotrac's Keith Smith at Summer League that Smith was the best young passer he had ever seen.

Smith has no theater background.

"I like to sing in my car, like when I'm driving," Smith explained. "But [...] I was trying to get the fans going, and they just stared at me."

In Las Vegas, he averaged 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds across five Summer League games.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Smith outlasted everybody in the team's conditioning test the Monday before media day, according to Circle City Spin. The minimum was 11 segments. Carlisle stopped Smith on the 15th.

Pacers On SI reported Smith added 15 to 16 pounds of muscle before camp.

The rookies also had to do the Dougie. Smith thought he had finished when he sat back down.

"I had no clue," Smith said. "No, I thought I was done. I was excited, sat down, and I'm like, 'Hey, actually, come on.' I was like, 'I don't even know how to dance either.'"

Smith played high school basketball at Westfield. He started all 149 games he played at Purdue and helped the Boilermakers reach the 2024 national championship game.

"It's special," Smith said. "Purdue fans are special. The Westfield community, where I'm from, is special. And obviously the Pacer Nation is special. So every place I've been, I've been a part of a really, really special community and fans who care and actually want to see success for whatever players are on that team. And it obviously combined the two, and it makes it pretty good."

Smith wears No. 3 for Indiana, the same number he wore at Purdue.

The Pacers open the preseason Oct. 7 against Minnesota in Ames, Iowa.