The Pacers have made their final roster cuts, and Damien Wilkins is still here.
The Pacers finalized their 15-man roster on Saturday, announcing they would waive DeQuan Jones, Ben Moore and Trey Mckinney-Jones.
The Indiana Pacers have waived DeQuan Jones, Ben Moore and Trey McKinney-Jones in order to pare their roster down to 15 players to start the regular season.
OFFICIAL: We have waived three players - forward DeQuan Jones, guard Trey McKinney Jones and forward Ben Moore. https://t.co/s1WA2HOodG
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 14, 2017
It’s very likely that the three players waived will spend at least some time in Ft. Wayne playing for the Mad Ants, provided another NBA team doesn’t decide to bring any of them on.
With the departure of these three, the Pacers are left with 15 players and their two-way guys, Alex Poythress and Edmond Sumner. We still aren’t entirely sure what lies ahead for Jared Uthoff, so it’s still possible that Indiana has a spot to fill going into the season.
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This announcement all but guarantees that 37-year-old Damien Wilkins will be taking the lion’s share of minutes vacated by Glenn Robinson III’s absence. The veteran forward shone brightly in the Pacers’ few preseason outings, and even though he’s obviously not a part of the future in Indiana, there’s no denying he’s outplayed his competition.
As of now, head coach Nate McMillan seems poised to fill minutes at the wing with a combination of Bojan Bogdanovic, Wilkins and Lance Stephenson. Poythress could potentially sneak a few minutes here and there, but the constraints of his two-way contract make it difficult for him to see much time at all.
The Pacers roster will like remain fluid throughout the season, and I will certainly be shocked if it stays in tact all year or even past the trade deadline.
Next: Player preview – Bojan Bogdanovic
That being said, this current crop of guys will be around for a few months at least, and there are several questions that the first half of the season will hopefully answer.