If the Indiana Pacers get lucky in the draft lottery this year, get their first-round pick back from the Los Angeles Clippers, and select one of the top prospects in the class (AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, or Caleb Wilson), they may have to make some changes to their starting lineup. And it could result in Andrew Nembhard seeing a reduced role sooner rather than later.
In a recent episode of the "Setting the Pace" podcast, Alex Golden and Michael Facci spoke about how, if the Pacers draft No. 2 overall this year and select Darryn Peterson, then "in a perfect world," Nembhard eventually becomes the team's sixth man and replaces T.J. McConnell in his role when the time comes.
"In reality, as much as we love Andrew Nembhard, you can't base your decision of who you're going to pick at No. 2 over Andrew Nembhard. You can't. As good as Nembhard is, and we like him, this isn't a potential MVP candidate or even an All-Star. It's a very good player who works really hard, that's a fan favorite. But at No. 2, the hope is that you are drafting a potential MVP, a potential Hall of Famer, anything of that sort," Facci said.
"In a perfect world, Andrew Nembhard would be accepting a [Darryn] Peterson passing him as a talent and becoming the sixth man for T.J. McConnell when T.J. McConnell gets kind of past where he should be at in his career," Golden said.
Will the Pacers bench Andrew Nembhard anytime soon?
It's an interesting discussion because, purely from a basketball standpoint, Nembhard would be a fantastic backup point guard in Indiana's system. He's shown this year that he can run the point and lead the offense, but obviously with Tyrese Haliburton likely coming back from his Achilles injury next season, he is likely just going to go back to his secondary ball-handling/starting shooting guard role.
And don't make a mistake about it, this is a good fit for him and the team. But if the Pacers do end up drafting Peterson in June (who many believe has the highest ceiling in this year's loaded class), it might be tough for them to keep the Canadian native in the starting lineup over him. Peterson has more upside and talent, and his elite shot-creation would make him a fantastic fit next to Haliburton in the starting lineup.
Additionally, this would give Nembhard the keys to lead the second unit, and it would make the Pacers' already fantastic bench even better and younger.
But will Indiana actually do this? Probably not.
The Pacers probably wouldn't bench Andrew Nembhard... yet
It would be tough for the Pacers to bench Nembhard and give him an even smaller role than he had on the finals team, especially after the season he just had, where he stepped up in Haliburton's absence and was essentially just as good as the team was hoping he would be, for a rookie. Even if the rookie has All-NBA potential.
If anything, they would probably just keep Peterson (or really anybody from the draft) on the bench, keep their lineup as close to what it was in the finals (just swap Myles Turner for Ivica Zubac), and just figure it out later. (Or, if they want to really have some fun with it, they could bench Aaron Nesmith and move Nembhard to small forward full-time. Not saying this is a good idea, but Nembhard has played small forward at times, and given that Indiana likes playing small anyway, this shouldn't immediately be ruled out.)
Golden and Facci were right about one thing, though: Nembhard isn't an MVP candidate or All-Star-level player. He is fantastic and is a great fit in Indiana's system, but if the situation calls for it, moving him to the bench could eventually be the right call for the team. And if Peterson/Dybantsa, whoever it might end up being from this year's class, ends up being better, then they will eventually have some decisions to make.