2019 NBA Draft: 7 p.m. Thursday, ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS – What if the fairy tale didn’t end, after all? Romeo Langford, I’m talking about. His story. And not his basketball story, which of course hasn’t ended. But his basketball story right here in Indiana. The fairy tale.

What if it’s not over?

What if he ends up with the Indiana Pacers? And what if he’s the solution to their problem?

It could happen, all of it. The 2019 NBA Draft is Thursday, and the Pacers have the No. 18 overall draft pick, and back in October this whole thing would have looked ridiculous. Romeo to the Pacers? Romeo going 18th overall? Impossible.

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Before the fairy tale took a wrong turn, before the thumb injury and the shooting issues, before the Indiana Hoosiers failed to make the 2019 NCAA tournament and some IndyStar writer was suggesting he return for his sophomore season – fine, it was me – Romeo was a lock for the draft lottery. And to be clear, he still could go in the lottery. Not nearly as early as he was projected back in October, when he was seen as a top-five pick, but he could go in the top 13. He could be gone when the Pacers are on the clock at No. 18.

But he could be there. His stock has been falling for months, most of it through no fault of his own.

Which brings me to the second part: What if he ends up with the Indiana Pacers … and is the solution to their perimeter problem?

What a story that would be. For Romeo, for the Pacers, for our basketball state. For us. Imagine: Romeo Langford, beloved New Albany legend, the missing piece to the Pacers’ puzzle.

Hey, it could happen. All of it. As I was saying earlier, Romeo Langford’s draft stock has been falling for reasons beyond his control. That thumb injury of his, it was serious enough to require surgery. But he played anyway, played through it, never took even one game off until a back ailment arose in the Big Ten Tournament and sidelined him for the NIT.

In fact, the next game after he suffered the thumb injury in practice – a torn ligament – was the Hoosiers’ highest-profile date on the schedule. Nov. 27, at Duke. National television. Dozens of NBA scouts at Cameron Indoor Stadium to watch Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish and, yes, to watch Romeo Langford.

And it didn’t go well. Not for Romeo, and not for IU. The Hoosiers lost 90-69, and Romeo? Perhaps his worst game of the season: 3-for-15 from the floor, 0-for-4 on 3-pointers. His slide on draft boards, it started right there. And it kept going as the season rolled along and Romeo’s 3-point shot never came around (27.2%), and his scoring average dipped from 18.5 ppg entering the Duke game to 16.5 ppg for the season.

The thumb surgery has prevented Romeo from working out for NBA teams as the draft approaches, which makes his recovery, his future, all the more unknown. But he still has that elite NBA body, 6-6 and 215 pounds of fast-twitching, high-flying muscle. He still has those long arms, those quick feet, that ability to defend multiple positions. He still can get to the rim when he decides to do it. He still can finish.

What if he can still shoot?

Romeo could shoot in high school. What, you thought he dunked his way to 3,002 points at New Albany? No sir. Romeo was a 3-point sniper as well.

At his best, and Romeo played near his best all the time in those days – before the thumb injury – Romeo was ridiculous. One time he went 8-for-12 on 3-pointers, scoring 46 points on just 24 shots. That was the 2016 semistate game against Southport. Romeo was a sophomore.

What, he forgot how to shoot?

No chance. No telling how much better he’ll shoot in the NBA than he shot at IU, but this could happen. He still could be the player – the future NBA star – we’ve foreseen since his sophomore season at New Albany. Nothing that happened as a junior or a senior swayed that projection. Only what happened at IU, after he injured his thumb in late November and made the decision to play through it, playing for four months with a wrap on his thumb and a secret in his heart: His thumb needed surgery.

What happens next is a crapshoot, starting with where Romeo is drafted. Projected to go in the mid-teens, will he be available at No. 18? No, according to Romeo and his agent, who have decided not to visit with teams that low in the draft pecking order. That includes the Pacers, who met with Romeo at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago but have been rebuffed in their efforts to get him into their facility in recent weeks.

That suggests a team in the lottery, or drafting just outside the lottery, has given Romeo a guarantee: If you’re available, we’re taking you. One team enamored with Romeo is the San Antonio Spurs – they love what the analytics say about him – but the Spurs are picking 19th, one spot after the Pacers.

It’s conjecture, all of it, but so is this. And it’s much more fun: According to the latest mock draft by Yahoo.com, Romeo is sitting there when the Pacers are up with the 18th pick – and the Pacers take him. Would be crazy, right?

The fairy tale factor is enormous. The Pacers have three foundational pieces in Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, but it’s not enough. They’ve tried spackling the holes with quality veterans and a strong team culture, and while that has led to back-to-back 48-victory seasons – that 48-34 record this past season happening despite Oladipo’s season-ending injury in the 47th game – the talent gap between the Pacers and the Eastern Conference elite is obvious. The Pacers need another scorer, another star, and they need him on the perimeter.

And there’s Romeo Langford and his surgically repaired thumb, slipping in the draft, sliding toward the possibility of the Pacers and the fairy-tale finish:

Happily ever after.

Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at @GreggDoyelStar or at www.facebook.com/gregg.doyel.