Indiana Pacers: 4 goals for TJ Warren in the 2021-22 season

TJ Warren should be the first or second leading scorer for the Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers in the last two seasons have a lone All-Star in Domantas Sabonis, but make no mistake: this team is as egalitarian as it gets. Still, despite a strong cast of capable scorers in Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert and the Lithuanian big, the Blue and Gold will be best served reinstalling TJ Warren as one of their primary options on offense.

Trotting out Sabonis as the number one option to score in the half court, while efficient on an individual basis, stalls the offense and wastes the team’s versatile scoring profile. Brogdon and LeVert are both high-octane scorers, but both players’ efficiency numbers don’t tell a sterling tale with them as your go-to weapons.

With a career field goal percentage of 50.7 percent, TJ Warren oozes efficiency as a scorer. He doesn’t hoist a voluminous number of shots, but his accuracy on the floor gives you the impression that he’s a rim-running big. In reality, he does most of his damage in the mid-range zone, attacking close-outs and using his deadly jumper to lull the defense in most bailout opportunities.

Setting the stage for him as one of the primary options on offense will not only ensure that the scoring attack has a clear pecking order, but it will also improve his decision-making and passing—all while keeping the team’s other key weapons from being overused and gassed out—a common motif from last season’s erratic design.