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Indiana Pacers: Predicting Rick Carlisle’s rotations and minutes allocation for 2021-22

By Nicolas Kyle Pring

Indiana Pacers, Rick Carlisle - Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
Indiana Pacers, Rick Carlisle - Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /
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Indiana Pacers, Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis
Indiana Pacers, Malcolm Brogdon, Domantas Sabonis – Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Barring a move, the Indiana Pacers have a clear starting lineup

As things currently shape up, the Indiana Pacers have a resolute starting lineup for Rick Carlisle to deploy next season. Barring a trade to one of the starters, which is highly unlikely at this juncture, the only remaining question with the top unit is how much minutes will each player get.

  • PG: Malcolm Brogdon (31 MPG, 27 at PG, 4 at SG)
  • SG: Caris LeVert (30 MPG, all at SG)
  • SF: TJ Warren (29 MPG, all at SF)
  • PF: Domantas Sabonis (34 MPG, 15 at PF, 19 at C)
  • C  : Myles Turner (29 MPG, all at C)

With an injury-prone roster, I fully expect coach Carlisle to ease the load for the starting five compared to last season, where then-coach Nate Bjorkgren handed the key guys with big minutes.

Brogdon will soak up north of 30 minutes per outing, with a small number of those coming with him at the two when playing with reserve TJ McConnell. Meanwhile, LeVert will likely hover around the same mark, with virtually all of his court time seeing him operate as the shooting guard.

Coming off a season-long injury, Warren’s load, at least to start the season, will be lighter than usual. I see him playing approximately 28 minutes per game in the early portions of the season, with all those coming with him at the three to free him from the wear-and-tear of playing the nominal small-ball four.

Sabonis, the team’s lone All-Star in the past two seasons, will log the most minutes among all players. However, compared to his robust average of 36 minutes per game in the previous campaign, I expect his court time to loosen up a bit, say, 34 minutes, with only 15 of those at the power forward slot when he plays with Turner, and the remaining 19 at the center spot.

Lastly, Turner will likely play more or less 30 minutes as well. However, given his tendency to be in foul trouble, bet on his average to be slightly below that figure. Whether he plays a lot with Sabonis, aside from the opening minutes of the first and third frames, will heavily depend on the matchups.

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