Pacers Player Preview: Domantas Sabonis is more than a trade throw-in

Domantas Sabonis can be more than a throw-in on the Paul George, and if he does that, he’ll be part of the Indiana Pacers’ future.

If you asked casual NBA fans, most probably forget Domantas Sabonis was even in the Paul George-Victor Oladipo trade. Even Indiana Pacers fans could be forgiven for forgetting that. For now, he’s the other guys in that trade, but he has a shot at becoming part of the Pacers’ future.

Sabonis’ time with the Oklahoma City Thunder was mostly forgettable. Despite playing 20 minutes a game he averaged only 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds. His defense wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t memorable to anyone but his father watching on the other side of the planet.

But as we saw in the Indiana Pacers’ warp-speed opening night, Sabonis is more than just a throw-in on the trade. That’s not to say the Indiana Pacers will ever ‘win’ or even not ‘lose’ that trade, but they may end up getting more from the trade than originally expected.

Pulling stats predictions from thin air

Role: Reserve Glue Guy

Flexibility and potential fire starter.

Domantas Sabonis’ 17 points on opening night were somewhat unexpected after he only scored in double-digits 13 times in his rookie season, and only twice more than 15 points. So the pace of the game helped the total, but shooting 7 of 7 isn’t something that influenced by that.

Sabonis allows the Pacers some flexibility as he lets Thaddeus Young and Myles Turner rest off the bench. As far as the reserves, he is the center and allows them to play small when T.J. Leaf isn’t in to play power forward.

Sabonis will shoot better than 45% this season

If any of my predictions go wrong, this will be the one. He only shot 39.9% in his rookie season, but as we’ve noted before that was with an Oklahoma City Thunder team built to maximize Russell Westbrook more than anything else.

He isn’t going 7 of 7 every night but in the preseason he shot more than he did in OKC and made almost half of his baskets. There is something to be said about being a year older and a year wiser as well.

He’s still a bit of a mystery

This isn’t a stat prediction as much as admitting that the ceiling and floor on Sabonis are hard to gauge. He looked like a player who might not get a second contract win the NBA when he played with the Thunder but through a handful of preseason and regular season games with the Pacers, he won’t be losing his spot in the rotation anytime soon.

Last season he just looked lost at times and a non-factor despite starting in 66 games for the Thunder. So far in Indiana, he hasn’t repeated some of the same mistakes, but we’ve barely seen him play, either. Perhaps last season’s bumps and bruises as a rookie paid off, but let’s temper any excitement until we see him play consistently.

Player’s Season Summed up in One Bojack GIF

If you follow the Indiana Pacers, you need a sense of humor. Laugh so you don’t cry. And what’s funnier than Bojack Horseman? Nothing. Nothing is the answer.

Domantas Sabonis can and will get better.

Sweatin’ Bullets

Sweatin’ Bullets is an 8p9s tradition started by Jonny Auping in which we offer standalone facts, observations, and commentary, often devoid of context or fairness.

• Sabonis shot 32.1% on 3-pointers last season. That’s not overly impressive, but it is a starting point for a rookie who wants to become a stretch four or five in the future.
• A 4.8 defensive box plus-minus score tells us he was surprisingly competent as a rookie on defense. The corresponding -10.5 offensive box plus-minus reminds us his offense was an abysmal trainwreck.
• His father is Arvydas Sabonis, in case you missed that.

One Key Question

Can Domantas Sabonis learn to play offense?

The Situation: He did next to nothing offensively for the Oklahoma City Thunder despite starting. While his defense kept him on the court, his overall impact was negative.

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Best-case Scenario: Sabonis keeps shooting the lights out and is a scorer coming off the bench for the Pacers. Domantas no longer is a drag on the offense and he forces coach Nate McMillan to start if Thaddeus Young is traded.

Worst-case Scenario: All of the good things we’ve seen from him in the preseason and one regular season game were an anomaly. His offense remains horrendous and he’s stuck as a reserve and one that is replaceable.

Prediction: Sabonis adds to his offense this season but doesn’t have a complete game just yet. He is only in his second year of being an NBA player, so stops and starts in development are par for the course. He won’t shoot the lights out every night, but he ends up showing enough to prove he has a future with the team.

The larger the sample size gets, the better we’ll know what Sabonis brings to the Pacers. Right now he is creating plenty of hype, but a shadow looms from last season if we’re looking at him rationally. So far he’s created his own hype and for a player considered a throw-in on a trade, he is already an overachiever.

Next: Pacers Player Preview: Turning over a new Leaf

Sabonis has the pressure of living up to his dad’s legacy as well as being part of the biggest trade in Pacers history. There is almost nothing Sabonis can do to make the trade seem even, but as long as he starts playing offense passably, then he won’t just be the other guy from that trade.