Jarrod Uthoff deserves a shot with the Indiana Pacers, but currently, there are no spots left for the team to sign the current Fort Wayne Mad Ants forward.
Let’s just start this by saying that I don’t think current Fort Wayne Mad Ants forward Jarrod Uthoff is the next Jeremy Lin or anything. I don’t believe he going to rise from being an afterthought and then take the NBA by storm. Uthoffmania likely won’t start in Indiana.
But I do think Uthoff deserves a chance. And it isn’t as if there isn’t room for him on the Indiana Pacers as far as (garbage) minutes go.
However, the Pacers already have their 15-man roster full. Most of the players are young with potential upside, but at least two older veterans won’t have a future playing for Indiana.
While the Al Jefferson signing can be chalked up to an unfortunate mistake (who thought he would be completely out of the rotation now?), signing Damien Wilkins still feels like a mistake. Not because of Wilkins, but because of the opportunity cost.
Seeing Damien Wilkins play the last 1:30 brings to mind that Moore had 28 points on 7-of-12 shooting for the Mad Ants last night & Uthoff is averaging 21 & 9 on 50/39/85 shooting at five.
— Caitlin Cooper (@C2_Cooper) November 30, 2017
Just saying.
As Caitlin Cooper pointed out during the recent loss to the Rockets, the Pacers were playing the 37-year-old Wilkins. While they play different positions, Wilkins still occupies a roster spot that the Pacers could use on a younger player who might just need an opportunity to break through.
The former Iowa Hawkeye has bounced around the G-League and played 9 games in the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks. While his rookie season in the G-League produced mix results — 11.1 points and 6.4 rebounds a game — he is settling into a comfort zone with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Uthoff averages 21.3 points, 9.2 rebounds. and 1.3 blocks with the Mad Ants.
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Fort Wayne is 8-1 thanks in part to their second-leading scorer and lead rebounder. He makes over half his shots and shots 39.5% on his roughly 5 3-point attempts per a game.
How those numbers might translate to the NBA is hard to say. In 12.8 minutes a game with the Mavericks last season, Uthoff averaged 4.4 points, 2.6 rebounds, and only shot 42.1% from the field.
But what if he can do better than that? Just as he settled in during his second season in the G-League, Uthoff might be better as an NBA player now too.
Unfortunately, we won’t know anytime soon as far as the Pacers go. He doesn’t have a two-way contract like rookies Edmond Sumner and Alex Poythress, so Indiana can’t summon him at a moments notice. Even if it isn’t Uthoff, why can’t Poythress play more garbage time?
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While Kevin Pritchard’s reign as the Pacers head executive is off to a good start, not having a spot open for another Fort Wayne Mad Ant for a try-out feels like a misstep, even if it is a minor one.