Which players on the Indiana Pacers really struggled this season?
As we all know, this season did not go very well for the Indiana Pacers. They struggled mightily in big games and could not stay healthy for more than a few games at a time if that. The season was riddled with constant injuries to key players, most notably T.J. Warren.
Those injuries opened the door for some of the other guys to make a name for themselves under a new head coach. While we saw a handful of younger players step up, including Edmond Sumner and Oshae Brissett, we also watched some others fail to do so.
To take a look back at the players that disappointed this season, it is important to recognize context. For Warren, his season was disappointing as his absence crushed any hope that Indiana had. However, he himself was not disappointing. The same can be said for Myles Turner who shined defensively all season until an injury shut down his season.
Instead, we need to look at the guys who were available and either failed to make a positive impact or may have dealt with too many injuries throughout the season – rather than one major injury.
Aaron Holiday could not settle in for the Indiana Pacers
With a crowded backcourt already limited some of his playing time, Aaron Holiday had a bit of a hill to climb as he entered the season. Many expected him to make the leap to becoming the leader of the second unit as the primary ball-handler with the starters off the floor. Unfortunately, that was not the case at all.
Holiday started the season as cold as you can possibly be, hitting just 35 percent of his field-goal attempts and an even scarier 28 percent of his three-point attempts. As he continued to struggle on the floor, he began to lose his minutes. By the middle of the season, it was a complete guess as to how much Aaron would play on a nightly basis.
Some nights, Holiday would see 20+ minutes of action while he only got benchwarmer minutes in other contests. He even had a few DNP-coach decisions on the season. T.J. McConnell became the clear point guard of the second unit while Holiday had to be patient with his limited playing time.
He would eventually turn things around after the All-Star break but not enough to save his season or his future with the Pacers. He ended the year shooting nearly 37 percent from deep but just 39 percent from the field. He averaged just 7.2 points per game this season after reaching 9.5 points a year ago.
I thought Aaron Holiday was set to become a real contributor for Indiana in his third season but things did not go well for him. It appears his time in Indiana could be coming to an end very soon.
The Indiana Pacers needed more from Jeremy Lamb
Jeremy Lamb missed the start of the season due to an injury that ended his 2019-20 season. He was expected to be a veteran scoring threat for a team in need of exactly that. A bench unit with Lamb and Doug McDermott had the potential to be pretty exciting offensively.
Lamb got off to a hot start once he was cleared to play, scoring 22 points in two of his first four appearances. He even joined the starting lineup for a brief stretch in late January. His initial run this season was promising but things quickly fell apart.
Back in March, Lamb had a two-game stretch that witnessed him shoot just 1-for-12 for six total points before he hit the inactive list for three games. That became a theme for the rest of his season. A few games with mixed results followed by a handful of games missed due to injury.
His last appearance for the Pacers came on April 18 in which he scored seven points on 3-of-9 shooting. He missed the final 16 games of the season with Oshae Brissett taking his minutes. Brissett was a massive upgrade defensively and shot the ball much more consistently than Lamb did on the season.
Lamb finished his season with just 10 points per game on .435/.406/.947 splits. His shooting numbers were pretty solid. In fact, Lamb posted a career-best in three-point and free-throw shooting percentages but could not stay healthy enough to make a positive impact.
His 10.1 points per game were the lowest he has posted since the 2016-17 season with the Hornets.
Cassius Stanley did not make an impact for the Indiana Pacers
Injuries should have opened a path for rookie Cassius Stanley to see the floor but that simply was not the case this season. He only appeared in 24 games at a whopping 3.9 minutes per contest while also not shooting the ball well whatsoever.
In his limited action, Stanley connected on an abysmal 30.2 percent of his attempts from the field and 23.1 percent of his three-point shots. The Pacers were able to find help from a lot of guys at the end of the bench, including Stanley’s G-League teammate Oshae Brissett, but Stanley himself was nowhere to be found.
His athleticism should have been enough to at least consider giving him some run given the team’s defensive struggles but it was clear that the youngster was not quite ready for the NBA. He looked lost out there whenever he was given minutes.
Obviously, Stanley was not expected to be a star. He was a second-round pick on a team that is notorious for not playing young guys early on. Still, with so much going in his favor from a roster standpoint, it would have been nice to see more from the rookie.
Next season will be very telling for his future in the NBA. If he cannot see the floor at all again in his second year, he might be out of the league before he was ever really in it.