Indiana Pacers: 5 former Rick Carlisle players who can bolster the bench

Rick Carlisle may want to have Boban Marjanovic’s situational usefulness back for the Indiana Pacers

If Willie Cauley-Stein opts for greener pastures where he can get more minutes, then filling in the third-stringer big man role with Boban Marjanovic can arm Coach Carlisle with one of his favorite situational players to utilize in games and a positive spirit to boost the morale of the locker room.

The 7’4 behemoth, despite going in and out of the rotation, never balks at his role. In the previous two seasons, Rick Carlisle deployed the Serbian center, albeit in short spurts, to instantly change the pace of the game. He is quite effective against plodding centers and post-up threats who aren’t speedy enough to upend him while he uses his size and deft post touch to discourage help defenders from coming over to contest rim runners.

It’s clear that Boban will never play north of even 25 minutes in a normal NBA game. However, given his physical gifts, the six-year player can still be a great resort for the team for tactical purposes. Also, he should be a great mentor for the young Goga Bitadze.