What happens for Pacers if Turner/Sabonis pairing doesn’t work?

First Option: Square One

If things go south for the Pacers once this dual-center experiment is first implemented, there could be a fairly simple solution: Send Sabonis back to the bench.

After all, the bench center position for Sabonis is where he was able to first start putting the league on notice. It’s where he developed into arguably the best backup five in the game and picked up a Sixth Man of the Year nomination along the way.

Here, he can continue beating up on lesser players that probably have nightmares about facing him the night before they actually have to match up. However, his ceiling is lower coming off the bench if he continues to receive the 24-ish minutes per game he’s averaged with the Pacers in his two seasons here.

To put it bluntly, Domantas Sabonis is too good to be on the bench. However, that’s the case sometimes with career sixth men. Lou Williams has made a long and decorated career by allowing himself to be relegated to the bench where he can torch anyone who dares attempt to guard him. If he wants, Sabonis can follow this same path.

In this situation where Sabonis goes back to sixth man, T.J. Warren moves from the starting small forward into Sabonis’ now open starting power forward slot. If Victor Oladipo is healthy and starting if/when this happens, then Jeremy Lamb likely becomes the new starting 3. If Vic is still out and Lamb is playing the 2, then it’s either Doug McDermott or Justin Holiday that gets the nod to start at the small forward, likely Holiday since a Lamb/McDermott/Warren 2-4 lineup sounds like a defensive nightmare.

However, Sabonis is still just 23 years old with potentially millions of dollars to gain or lose based on the role he gets with his current team. A bigger role equals more playing time. More playing time equals more opportunities. More opportunities equal potentially more lucrative contracts and ultimately a longer, more prolific career in the NBA. It gets complicated, clearly.

Domantas doesn’t seem like a guy that’s necessarily chasing money and glory, but he surely understands what he has to gain by being a featured starter for the Indiana Pacers. He’ll buy into whatever the organization wants out of him, but keeping him on the bench risks forcing him out the door someday when a better opportunity comes knocking.

If the experiment fails and he’s not on board for a shift back to sixth man, there is one other option…