Tyrese Haliburton should be back on the court for the Indiana Pacers next season, and when that day comes, it will be cause for celebration. But it's also important to remember that, by the time next season rolls around, it will be roughly a year and a half since the last time he played meaningful NBA basketball, and it might take a bit for him to fully find his rhythm again.
Enter Andrew Nembhard. Obviously, he was already an important part of Indiana's success. He is the perfect complement to Haliburton in the backcourt because of his strong defense and secondary ball-handling skills, but he may be in line for a bigger role next season, at least at the start.
It might be wise for the Pacers to ease their star guard back into action as much as possible, and in doing so, they will likely call on Nembhard's number a lot more than in years past (but probably not as much as this season). After all, he has already risen to the occasion once, and he deserves to do more of the same when the games actually mean something.
Andrew Nembhard will remain an important part of Indiana's success
This season has gone just about as well for Nembhard as anybody could have hoped for. In 57 games, he has averaged 16.9 points and 7.7 assists while shooting 36.1% from deep in 31.3 minutes (all career highs).
It hasn't led to a lot of winning basketball, but the Canadian native has done everything the Pacers needed him to do in Haliburton's absence and then some. And even once the two-time All-NBA guard officially makes his return, Nembhard should expect to remain a big part of the system.
So what will this look like exactly? It will probably be a mix of last year's Nembhard (defensive ace, elite secondary ball-handler and playmaker, and can clutch up when needed) and this year's Nembhard (more primary ball-handling duties, more consistent and efficient facilitator, will be more of a focal point of the offense rather than a fill-in-the-margins type of player).
Or in simpler terms, it might look like an even better version of the Nembhard that helped the Pacers make it to the finals less than a year ago. And that should excite the team and the fanbase.
As the season goes on and Haliburton gets back into it, Nembhard will most likely revert to his normal role, but that's not a bad thing at all. If anything, it's good for the Pacers to have this type of versatility. They're going to have aspirations of getting back into title contention as soon as next season, and if done right, Nembhard and Haliburton together will be a big part of that.