The Other Guy: Domantas Sabonis is in no one’s shadow

Domantas Sabonis was hardly mentioned after the Paul George trade, but once he got on the floor it was clear the Indiana Pacers found something special.

When critics were savaging the Indiana Pacers’ return on the Paul George trade, most of the criticism was focused on then non-All-Star Victor Oladipo. Poor Domantas Sabonis was an afterthought at best. People were so low on him— or just uninformed — that he barely earned a mention.

But as soon as he was on the court wearing blue and gold, opinions were formed very quickly.

His chemistry with Lance Stephenson showed early on, but it wasn’t until he got the chance to start that it was apparent he wasn’t the same player we watched a season before with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

In the games he started — unfortunately thanks to Myles Turner being hurt — he averaged a double-double with 11.3 points and 10.4 rebounds. It’s clear he’s destined to be a starter, the only real question is when and where.

You learned Domantas Sabonis’ name quickly

From the first preseason game, Sabonis displayed his basketball IQ in a number of ways. The most obvious way was how he positioned himself in relation to both his defenders and his teammates.

Getting away from defenders is one thing, but finding a spot where they’re far enough away and a teammate can pass the ball to you isn’t as easy as it sounds. Sabonis quietly creates room while also positioning himself at an angle where Stephenson or any of his other teammates could feed him the ball.

Sabonis averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds in the preseason, but that’s just preseason, right?

Apparently not.

In his first regular season game with the Pacers, he put up 16 points and 7 rebounds coming off the bench. A good enough sign in itself, but once he was starting games he was more than capable of stepping into the role.

Turner’s concussion sidelined him for seven games, allowing Sabonis to audition for a bigger role. During that stretch, he averaged a double-double with 12.9 points and 11 rebounds. Domas put up a trio of perfect shooting performances in the first six games to quickly catapult himself into the heart of Pacers fans.

Turner returned, but Sabonis started a conversation on whether or not he was worthy of a starting role on a more permanent basis.

Sabonis finished up November strongly, but December showed that the 21-year-old still needed some polish. There’s nothing wrong with 10.1 points and 7.5 rebounds a game, but his shooting slipped below 50% in the final month of the year. The calls for him to start quieted, but they would return soon enough.

Despite a relatively strong stretch from Turner, a pair of single-digit scoring games turned up the pressure on him. He’s the future of the franchise, right? While Sabonis was coming off his worst month with the Pacers, January presented another opportunity for the Lithuanian as Turner strained his elbow on a dunk just eight days into the new year.

It was another stretch of averaging a double-double for Sabonis, even if barely so. His 13.3 points and 10 rebounds came during a 7-4 stretch for the Pacers that propelled them to their first 10-win month since 2015. His shooting once again rose above 50% in what was arguably his best month as a pro.

Turner returned and after two games of coming off the bench took back over his starting job, but the prospect of him starting — either in Turner of Thaddeus Young’s place — was more real than ever.

Sabonis showed that now that he was in the right position and in the right role, he simply was a much better basketball player than he was in Oklahoma City.

Domantas Sabonis will start — eventually

At this point, it’s hard not to see Sabonis starting, but the question remains when and where. His natural position is center, which is why the debate continues in some corners if he should start over Turner. Sabonis puts up a better stat line than Turner, but there are still limits to his game.

For all the complaints about Turner’s physicality ‚— though Sabonis has plenty of it — he isn’t any better scoring in or defending the post than Myles. He isn’t as effective in the pick and roll as Turner offensively, though he defends it better. Turner is simply still a more effective defender than Sabonis, even if the gap is narrow.

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The idea of starting both Sabonis and Turner remains tantalizing, but it’s still a work in progress. Sabonis doesn’t have the tools yet to play power forward — defensively at least — making Young the better option until proven otherwise.

There’s nothing wrong with Sabonis, but just like Turner, he is only 21-years-old and still is adapting his game to the NBA. That physicality still needs to be harnessed if his 33 offensive fouls this season are any indicator. The fact that he already averages a double-double as a starter is a sign of what he can become, but until he polishes up certain aspects, he isn’t the obvious choice to start for Indiana — yet.

But despite this, he isn’t in Turner or anyone else’s shadow anymore — except arguably his father’s — he is his own man. If he is coming off the bench, so be it. That just means he averages 11.6 points and 7 rebounds a game in slightly fewer minutes than he would as a starter.

If Indiana’s biggest problem this season is figuring out how to deploy their two talented centers, then Sabonis and the Pacers don’t actually have a problem. They just have to find the right time and the right place to use them.

Next: The Pacers are rumored to be interested in Aaron Gordon

And for now, that means Sabonis will anchor the bench, and that’s a good problem for him and the Pacers to have.