​Jul. 18—LAS VEGAS — The hierarchy of opportunities for NBA hopefuls who don’t get selected in the draft usually begins with a traditional two-way contract, followed by an Exhibit 10 contract and then a Summer League invitation.Usually being the principal word there.Jalen Warley wasn’t hearing from teams on the first day of the NBA draft last month, but activity and communication started to escalate on Day 2. By the end of the second round, Warley’s cell phone was pulsating with a steady buzz as his agent relayed interest from different NBA organizations.At least two wanted to bring him in on an Exhibit 10 deal, which would guarantee a Summer League opportunity and put the Gonzaga wing in solid position to earn a G League spot, if not a two-way contract.The Indiana Pacers couldn’t offer an “E-10″ contract, but Warley was still a priority Summer League target for the Eastern Conference franchise after the 23-year-old visited Indianapolis for one of his seven pre-draft workouts.Warley had a good feeling about Indiana, so he took a somewhat unconventional path, passing on multiple E-10’s to sign on with the Pacers’ summer squad.”I thought I had a really good workout with them,” Warley said in Las Vegas last Friday after a Summer League game against the Philadelphia 76ers. “A couple of the staff members, I actually had one that overlapped with me at Virginia. I had a really good relationship with him. But yeah, overall just kind of they stayed consistent, they reached out since the workout and I saw a really good opportunity, so I was just excited to get to Indiana.”The opportunity was enticing to Warley for a handful of reasons.Indianapolis reminded the 6-foot-7 wing of Spokane, in part because of the rich basketball culture both cities share. Warley was also impressed with how the Pacers’ organization operated — something else that struck the former Florida State and Virginia player when he took an official visit to Gonzaga in October 2024, committing to Mark Few’s program the following month.”It’s just a really well-run organization, kind of reminds me of Gonzaga from top to bottom,” Warley said. “It’s just a joy to be in the building every day, so yeah, hopefully there will be some more opportunities after.”As they typically are for undrafted players, opportunities have been hit and miss for Warley at NBA Summer League, where the rookie has seen time in two of Indiana’s four games, averaging 3.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 14.9 minutes.The Pacers are primarily using Warley as a wing at the “3” or “4,” but he’s fulfilled a variety of roles at both ends of the floor, not too different from last season at Gonzaga, where he frequently guarded four or five positions and took on secondary ball-handling responsibilities.”I love the energy he plays with, especially defensively,” Pacers Summer League coach Bryce Tucker said. “He’s really good on the ball, fights over ball screens, just very active. Offensively he’s a slasher, good ball-handler. He ca