All summer long, the Indiana Pacers had a question of who would be the ninth man in a healthy rotation. While there were some outlier options suggested, from two-way contract Jalen Slawson to veteran Center Jay Huff, the conversation largely came down to a pair of first-round picks from the 2023 NBA Draft.
Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard have both failed to perform at the NBA level and are, at this point in their careers, not worthy of a second contract. It seems that this year's Pacers' gap in roster construction is both of their last chance to prove their worth.
Well, that chance bore fruit in the Pacers' season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans. With starting small forward Aaron Nesmith out with a hamstring strain, Kelly Oubre Jr. entered the first five, and those two forwards were expected to fill the void.
With their careers on the line, and the Pacers' extended depth based largely on their performances, they did... poorly, to be kind.
Let's take a deeper look.
Jarace Walker still struggles to do much of anything
Walker scored three points, making just one of his six shot attempts and zero of his threes. The playmaking leap that was supposed to make him so useful to a bench lineup missing both T.J. McConnell and Kelly Oubre has completely vanished.
After that 10-assist, zero-turnover pre-season game, there was so much hype in the hope that Jarace had finally found the player he was drafted to be, but this is why putting stock in pre-season is so hard. Walker finished the game with four turnovers to two assists.
The only silver lining for the former eighth overall pick is that his rebounding has ticked up. That's an important skill in order to see playing time, and his six boards (third most on the team) is at least trending in the right direction.
Shep can't sharpen
Whereas the idea of Jarace Walker always at least shows up on the box score, Ben Sheppard is utterly hopeless at making an impact that counting stats will enjoy. Unfortunately for him, the film and advanced analytics won't like this performance either.
Sheppard matched Walker's three points, but did basically nothing on the court beyond his typically decent defensive effort.
Maybe it's unfair to ask for any real numbers from players that are expected to perform only when needed, usually in incredibly inconsistent and rare situations, but Sheppard is who he is at this point.
For both players to be anything but replacement-level fodder to the NBA churn, they'll have to step up and make the most of this chance that won't last much longer.
Add us as a preferred source on Google