Indiana Pacers Las Vegas Summer League preview

Today, the Indiana Pacers kick off their summer league games. Let’s preview the action and look at some of the players on the roster.

Ah, summer league. One of the most fun times of the year for NBA fans. It comes right after all the hot free agency movement and gives everyone the on-court action they have been craving since the NBA Finals concluded. Additionally, it features mostly youthful players and guys on the edge of the league in terms of talent, making every possession almost like a tryout. The excitement of Vegas Summer League is infectious, and for the Indiana Pacers, there is a lot to be fascinated by.

First off, let’s start with the roster. There are some familiar faces to see from within the Pacers organization. TJ Leaf and Alex Poythress headline the squad while G Leaguers Ben Moore and Edmond Sumner will also participate.

All of the four guys, as well as first-round pick Aaron Holiday, will represent the squads starting five when they face off with the Spurs later today:

For some of these guys, there are obvious goals. For others, there are no expectations.

TJ Leaf is the headliner. Summer league is basically the professional equivalent of JV basketball. TJ Leaf is a varsity guy. He should dominate. That is the expectation that is set for him, which could possibly be to his detriment. He will have to perform.

Last season the youngster played three games in the G League and he was superb. He poured in 23.3 points on an astronomical 57.4 percent shooting while also grabbing eight rebounds. Leaf can dominate lesser competition. He should do it again. If he doesn’t, that is cause for concern.

Poythress is the other guy who should probably dominate. He has two NBA seasons under his belt and has played in summer league before. Also, like Leaf, he has carved up the G League in the past. With Fort Wayne last year, he averaged 20 points and nine rebounds per contest while also playing solid defense on the wing. With Poythress and Leaf in the starting five, the Pacers can compete with any other teams forwards.

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There is another dynamic at play here for Poythress. His pro contract with the Pacers fully guarantees on July 25th. Given the way the roster shook out in free agency, he has a chance to make the Indiana Pacers roster next season. A good summer league could help his chances, while poor performances could land him on the waivers. He needs to perform.

At the guard spots, unlike the forward slots, there are no expectations. Aaron Holiday will be the starting point guard, but he is just a rookie. He should look good since he was better than most of the competition he was going against in college, but he probably won’t look great. This is his first time running, and participating in, an NBA offense. If he looks lost at times, that is acceptable. If Holiday can’t hit the three-point shot that made him such an attractive prospect, then there could be cause for concern about his NBA range. But outside of that, it will be tough to draw conclusions about his future NBA career from summer league. Let’s just hope he looks, at the worst, competent.

At the other guard spot, Edmond Sumner falls pretty much in the same boat. After missing essentially all of last season due to an injury, the Pacers are just trying to see what they have in Sumner. There is no pressure for him (or Holiday) since they are both under contract in some form next season.

Sumner, to be cliche, just needs to go out and play his game. What made him a projected lotto pick at one point during his time at Xavier was his freakish athleticism. After his tearing his ACL, some of that athleticism may be gone. Just how much is gone is impossible to say yet, because we haven’t seen him play a ton since his rebab. If Sumner can skate by guys and play above the rim, he may just have a future in this sport after all. He has a chance to show that in Vegas.

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The final starter, Ben Moore, is in a unique situation. Moore doesn’t have a contract lined up for next season like the other four starters. But maybe he should. Moore was incredibly underrated this past season in Fort Wayne. He averaged a tidy 12 points, six rebounds, and two assists per game while scoring efficiently; his true shooting percentage was 63.7 percent. If Moore can show off his high motor while scoring efficiently, he may earn one of the final two spots on the Indiana Pacers roster this season.

Like Moore, most of the guys coming off the bench have a lot to play for since none of them currently have an NBA contract. Some of them have Pacers ties.

Travis Leslie played for Fort Wayne in 2016-17 and was on the Pacers summer league squad last summer. Tra-Deon Hollins played for Fort Wayne last season. Alize Johnson was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the draft just a few weeks ago. CJ Wilcox got some time in with Fort Wayne all the way back in 2014. Bryce Alford played with Leaf, Holiday, and Ike Anigbogu at UCLA. The Pacers have some intel on a lot of these guys already, and they all have their own story to tell. They want to prove to Pritchard and co that their ties to the organization should be that they are on the NBA roster.

But again, they are all competing for NBA contracts. And that changes the dynamic of how these guys play. Summer league is full of dudes trying to prove they belong in the NBA. They often go for stats (read: points) instead of playing quality team basketball. That makes players harder to assess since they won’t be playing “their brand” of basketball.

Regardless, off the bench, there are still some guys to be on the lookout for more than others. The aforementioned Wilcox, along with Henry Sims, both have decent NBA experience. Wilcox played on a two-way contract with the Portland Trail Blazers last season, but he was injured for much of the campaign. Sims has played four NBA seasons and 2500 minutes in the pros. He has legit NBA talent. Those two guys will probably be the first two players off the bench, along with Alize Johnson, when the starters need a rest.

Wilcox was a first round pick in 2014. He hasn’t been out of the league since, but he is on the verge of that happening. He is going to fight like hell for his next contract, so he is a solid candidate for a guy who might try and do too much. Sims is in the same boat, though as a center it is harder to force things.

Another dynamic for Sims: he could be trying out not for just any team, but the one he is playing for. The Pacers need another big for the coming season, and Sims has proven before he can be a contributor. He has pulled down 9.5 rebounds per 36 minutes over his career, and that is a skill the Pacers would like to add to the end of their bench. If Sims does well, he could find himself in Pacers training camp, or even better, back on an NBA roster.

Alize Johnson probably also deserves your attention since the Pacers drafted him, but keep your expectations for him fairly low. He played in the Missouri Valley Conference in college, so this will be a massive step up for him in competition. Forgive him for any mistakes. He is a project and will take time to develop into a contributor.

But these games still matter for him. The Pacers have a two-way contract slot open, and summer league can somewhat be considered a tryout for that slot. Johnson has a clear advantage over the remainder of the roster since he was drafted by the team, but everyone else on the team will be looking to steal that two-way deal from Johnson.

Johnson seems confident in himself, though:

Everybody has something to prove, that’s why they are playing in the summer league. Those who can prove they have talent and an understanding of the game usually come out looking like pros. All of the guys discussed seemingly have an advantage in getting to the pros full-time, but truly everyone on the roster has a chance.

Next: How to watch the Pacers at the Vegas Summer League

As iPacers pointed out in their summer league preview, Donald Sloan and Rasual Butler earned pro deals with the Indiana Pacers based on their summer league performances. Solomon Hill had an optioned declined because of his poor play in SL. These games matter big time not just for player development, but for roster construction as well. It should be fun, and it all starts today. Buckle up.