Indiana Pacers: Who should start on the wing if T.J. Warren misses time?

T.J. Warren has not played in the preseason for the Indiana Pacers.

After suffering an injury prior to the preseason, T.J. Warren has not suited up for the Indiana Pacers yet this season. Diagnosed as week-to-week, it is unclear whether or not he will be ready to go once the regular season opens up.

In the preseason exhibitions in Cleveland, the Pacers started Aaron Holiday in place of Warren while Justin Holiday came off the bench in the first game and started the second matchup with Myles Turner out. Should the Pacers continue to roll out Aaron Holiday in the starting lineup if Warren cannot play in the first few games of the season?

I really like Aaron Holiday and what he brings to the team, especially on the offensive end of the floor. Justin is very much a capable starter who could bring some more size and defensive prowess to the starting five if given the chance, as well. With two candidates to start, who should the Pacers insert into the starting lineup?

The answer in my opinion is to keep using Aaron Holiday as the starter while staggering his minutes a bit to keep him involved with the second unit and develop that chemistry for the long run. While employing three starting guards is a bit more modern, playing them next to two bigs makes things very interesting.

In keeping Aaron in the lineup, the Pacers would have three ball-handlers who can spread the floor and create shots alongside Turner and Domantas Sabonis, giving Indiana a nice balance of shooting, rebounding, and defense. Brogdon has the size and ability to guard smaller forwards on the defensive end, freeing up Holiday to take the point guard duty on that end.

Holiday is very undersized to play a faux-forward position but Victor Oladipo and Malcolm Brogdon are very strong defenders that can cover some of the issues. I would also prefer to keep Justin Holiday with the bench unit to give them a leader and two-way player who can keep them in the game.

The Pacers are in a bad spot with Warren’s injury because of the lack of depth behind him, and Jeremy Lamb‘s absence makes it even more difficult to replace the team’s leading scorer from a year ago. However, Warren should not rush his way back and risk further injury. The Pacers will survive without him for a short period if they need to.