With the upcoming season only a few months away, the Indiana Pacers roster is fleshing out with more certainty. After some maneuvers in the offseason, the Blue and Gold will parade a deep lineup in the following campaign, notwithstanding any possible moves that may eventually take place.
Thus, newly installed head coach Rick Carlisle will have a lot of ammo in his coaching bag next season. With a starting lineup filled by an All-Star and other standouts, a bench composed of familiar veterans and new young guns, the 20-year tactician will have a lot of options when it comes to his rotations next season.
Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle will have a lot of options for his rotations next season
This depth will be very valuable for the Blue and Gold, especially with the team welcoming key players who are coming off significant injuries last season. Having a bunch of playable guys will be more than enough of a cushion to reduce the impact of rotation players getting sidelined with injuries.
With all these in mind, what is the ideal rotation for the Indiana Pacers next season? Here, we predict how coach Carlisle’s rotations and minutes allocation will look like for the team in the following campaign.
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.
What could be Rick Carlisle’s primary bench rotation for the Indiana Pacers next season?
The Indiana Pacers have one of the deepest benches in the league, with the second unit possibly surrounded by an ensemble cast of established veterans and up-and-comers. While thinning the herd will be difficult, Rick Carlisle will have a bunch of options at his disposal.
- PG: TJ McConnell (21 MPG, all at PG)
- SG: Chris Duarte or Jeremy Lamb (16 MPG,14 at SG, 2 at SF)
- SF: Justin Holiday (18 MPG, all at SF)
- PF: Oshae Brissett (22 MPG, all at PF)
- PF: Torrey Craig (11 MPG, all at PF) or
- C : Goga Bitadze (11MPG, all at C)
In this arrangement, McConnell will continue with the primary playmaker role off the bench. He will be a high-minutes bench guy, most likely playing more than 20 minutes per game, with all of it coming with him at point guard because of his marginal perimeter game.
Duarte, the Pacers’ lottery pick, should slide in as the backup shooting guard, though his court time will be quite modest to start the season. It’s also possible that he plays the three when Indiana goes with a two-point guard set. Veteran Jeremy Lamb is an option, but he could very well be traded before the start of the campaign.
The reliable Justin Holiday will continue to assume backup small forward minutes throughout the season. Meanwhile, the upstart Oshae Brissett could be the team’s de facto sixth man, with his versatility allowing him to play north of 20 minutes per game, with most, if not all of it, coming at the power forward position.
Finally, against smaller and more athletic teams, new addition Torrey Craig could assume frontcourt minutes in lieu of Goga Bitadze, who should conversely assume backup minutes at center against bigger and more physical opponents. Both players are in line for more minutes if one of Sabonis and Turner is in foul trouble or shelved with an injury.
Could the Indiana Pacers’ third-stringers crack the Rick Carlisle’s rotation?
With everyone mostly settled on their roles, there won’t be enough minutes to play everyone. As a result of trimming the fat, some players will ride the bench more often than they would prefer. However, they could be called upon by Rick Carlisle who’s known for digging deep into his bench, or when the proverbial injury bug bites the team.
- SG: Edmond Sumner
- SF: Kelan Martin
- C : Isaiah Jackson
- Possible Two-Way Players: Cassius Stanley, Duane Washington Jr.
Among the players on this list, it’s a safe bet that Sumner will get the most court time next season. If any rotation backcourt player is out with an injury, which is likely considering the Indiana Pacers’ record with ailments, then he could easily slide into one of the backup slots, primarily at shooting guard, though he can also play as the nominal point guard.
Martin, who is still not a lock to make the roster, will find minutes hard to come by next season with the Blue and Gold’s abundance of wing players. The same goes for possible two-way players in Stanley and Washington, who will both be far behind the pecking order in the backcourt rotation.
First-round pick Jackson, however, may pop in and out of the rotation as Carlisle could deploy him as a designated rim runner, which the team lacks among its big man rotation. If he usurps Bitadze for the backup center role later on, do not be surprised.