10 Indiana Pacers who never played a single minute for the team
By Jack Simone
10 Indiana Pacers who never played a single minute for the team: 5. Jerryd Bayless
Though he was never a star in the NBA, Jerryd Bayless quietly had a very productive career in the league as a role player, spending 11 years as primarily a backup point guard.
Beyless’ connection to the Indiana Pacers is the same as Davis Bertans’ and Sandro Mamukelashvili’s – he was drafted by them. The Pacers selected Beyless with the 11th pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Unlike most draft-related trades, Beyless wasn’t shipped out on draft night. Instead, the Pacers didn’t complete the trade involving him until two weeks later.
Indiana traded Beyless to the Portland Trail Blazers for Jarrett Jack, Josh McRoberts, and Brandon Rush. Jack spent one season with the Pacers, while the latter two both spent three years in Indiana.
As for Bayless, he only played two years with the Trail Blazers before getting traded for a 2011 first-round pick that eventually turned into Tobias Harris.
Bayless is the true definition of an NBA journeyman. He played for eight different franchises in his 11-year career but never spent more than two seasons with any of them.
Ironically enough, the team he was drafted by wasn’t even one of the eight teams he played for, making him an intriguing case of a Pacer who never played for the team.