The Pacers season is winding to a close and fans’ eyes are starting to glimmer with the hope of a better tomorrow. Unfortunately, to reach that tomorrow, there will have to be a handful of changes that occur to the Pacers roster in order for us to reach our goals.
This means two things of course: (1) bringing in new talent via the draft and free agency and all of the exciting things that come with that and (2) moving off of players that no longer fit into the long term plan for the Pacers.
In this article we look at 5 players that the Pacers should definitely move on from after the season is over.
5. Daniel Theis
Daniel Theis was never intended to be long term solution for the Pacers at any position. In a lot of ways he was a salary matching piece in order for the Pacers to bring over the real asset, Aaron Nesmith.
Theis has played some limited minutes this season and thus has functioned in his third-string role well, but there really isn’t a place for him on the roster. IJAX, Myles Turner, and even Jalen Smith would be more deserving of the minutes at the five compared to Theis.
4. A failed lottery experiment in Jalen Smith
Jalen Smith was brought in after largely failing to take hold with the Phoenix Suns. And initially, it looked to be a genius move. Smith was hitting at a high percentage from behind the arc and looked like he might be able to fit the long-term needs of the Pacers at power forward.
Unfortunately, in his second year with the Pacers, he has come back down to earth and looked more like the player he was with the Suns. The Pacers could potentially still use him as a rotational piece off the bench, but it may be more prudent to put players onto the court that have higher upside than Smith does.
Because of this it is probably best that the Pacers find a way to leverage him as an asset to the team rather than let his remaining time fall off of the books.
3. A veteran that no longer fits the plan in James Johnson
The Pacers are a young team and young teams need vets. James Johnson was brought onto the team to sit the bench and be a mentor to many of the younger players on the team. Johnson has been in the NBA for a long time and has a lot of experience that he can share with the young up and coming stars in Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin.
Unfortunately, next season the Pacers are going to have other vets such as TJ McConnell that won’t need playing time either. Because McConnell has more time in Indy as well as has more to contribute on the court, he may be the wiser vet to keep for next season.
This is assuming that the Pacers need to use and sign multiple of their draft picks for next season. This would mean the Pacers would need multiple roster spots and Johnson would be one of the first to go.
2. A forward that never gets any playing time in Oshae Brissett
One player that is curiously never playing is Oshae Brissett. Oftentimes when he is actually on the floor he looks great. But the problem is, we never play him in games that matter. Because of this, he is essentially a wasted asset on the bench.
If we are not going to give Brissett minutes, then we need to move him and I would be surprised if the Pacers do exactly that this offseason. It’s a hard thing for me to write, but the writing may be on the wall for Oshae in Indiana.
Many fans may never understand why he isn’t playing (given he plays a position of need and could potentially develop into something). But the fact is, he isn’t. And because of that, for his sake, the Pacers will move off of his contract this summer to open spots for players they intend to put onto the court.
1. A player that is just not working out in terms of fit in Chris Duarte
On particularly interesting player that the Pacers will have to make a decision on this offseason is Chris Duarte. The second year player had a promising first season with the Pacers and started his career on a blazing hot shooting streak.
Unfortunately, in his second year that shooting percentage has largely fallen and the promise that many Pacers fans once held around Duarte is quickly starting to diminish. Because of this, the Pacers will almost certainly move off of Duarte while he still has some value to other teams around the league.
Duarte may yet find a role with a team in the NBA, and that could still be the Pacers. But my bet? Duarte will be off of the team at tipoff next fall as the Pacers will decide to move the young player while some teams still believe that he may still have a ceiling that he can hit.
What do you think? Are there players here that you think the Pacers will not move this summer? Are there players that you think absolutely will be gone and we didn’t include? Let us know in the comments below!