Indiana Pacers: Roster imbalance could cause some lineup headaches

With their roster now undoubtedly better following the arrival of their new draft acquisitions, the Indiana Pacers should be a more competitive bunch in the Eastern Conference next season, regardless of their rebuild.

However, the Pacers’ roster is not perfect. In fact, it is far from it, as the team has a glaring imbalance as regards its personnel. While free agency is yet to begin, the front office has to make some tweaks to the roster or risk constantly dealing with lineup headaches in the following campaign.

The Indiana Pacers’ glaringly imbalanced roster could make for some tough lineup choices next season

As the roster currently stands, the Indiana Pacers have a whopping eight backcourt players signed for next season. In contrast, they only have six players to fill in the remaining three frontcourt positions. This disparity could redound on how the coaching staff decides on the starting lineup.

When (and if) healthy, the Pacers have two or three locks in the starting lineup: Tyrese Haliburton at the point guard position, Myles Turner manning the center spot, and Isaiah Jackson presumptively being the lead power forward.

The remaining two positions is where Indiana could have some headaches. Chris Duarte is the easy choice to be starting shooting guard, but rookie Bennedict Mathurin could also strongly contend for the role. Starting them both is an option with Mathurin as the nominal small forward, but doing so could make the Pacers a bit vulnerable against teams with top-tier 3s.

Sneaking in Oshae Brissett to pump defense is a viable option, but that could limit Indiana’s scoring prowess, as starting him next to Jackson and Turner will effectively give the team three non-creators and playmakers in the frontcourt.

Trying to compensate by phasing Jackson out of the opening group and going 5-out with Brissett at the 4 next to Turner will run counterproductive from their long-term vision. It will also take away the Pacers’ best pick-and-roll threat as the incoming sophomore has great instincts as a rim-running big man.

All these could be further exacerbated if the front office fails to trim the fat and find a taker for Malcolm Brogdon, who easily commands a starting role as long as he is on the roster. The same applies, albeit to a lesser degree, to Buddy Hield.

To end, the Indiana Pacers have to approach the rest of the offseason trying to balance their roster and address existing logjams that could force the coaching staff into making two-way concessions brought about by lineup uncertainties.