Edmond Sumner signs 2-year contract with the Indiana Pacers

Edmond Sumner has been given a two-year contract with the Indiana Pacers thanks to his promising play this season.

When Victor Oladipo went down with his season-ending injury, the Indiana Pacers were forced to quickly pivot. One of the things required for them to pivot was filling Oladipo’s minutes, and the team quickly made it clear that Edmond Sumner would get some playing time in that hole.

Sumner has played in 8 of the 9 Pacers games since the injury, and he even amassed 2 starts throughout that timeframe. He averaged 4.5 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in that period while playing 16.6 minutes per game.

Most importantly – he showed off his potential on the defensive end. Sumner has some tree-like long limbs on him, and he did a solid job for someone with as little NBA experience as him containing Klay Thompson and Bradley Beal. It was promising to see him play well on that end of the floor.

All the encouraging signs Sumner showed, both with the Mad Ants and with the Indiana Pacers, led to the Pacers wanting to sign him to a full NBA contract. The team announced that they finally did that today.

As that tweet states, Edmond Sumner spent the earlier portions of this season on a two-way contract, splitting his time between Fort Wayne and Indiana. Now that he is getting actual rotation minutes in Indiana, the Pacers gave him a call up to be a pro full time.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Watch Stadium reported that the deal is two years in length and includes a team option.

What this means is that the Pacers have the option to retain Sumner’s deal in the summer or let him walk. Because the Pacers have no cap space at this moment in time, Sumner’s contract has to be for the minimum both this year and next. I would be stunned if the Pacers decline a team option for a promising player on a minimum contract.

At the end of the deal, whether that be this summer or next, Sumner will have 3 or fewer years of NBA experience, meaning the Pacers can make him a restricted free agent. If the front office wants to keep Sumner long beyond his new contract, that will have very easy means to do so.

This move means that, along with the signing of Wesley Matthews, the Indiana Pacers roster is once again full. Sumner got the last spot. He paid his dues and worked hard, and now he’s got a full-time pro contract. Congratulations to Edmond Sumner and the Pacers.