As the Indiana Pacers' preseason comes to a close, it's important to try to contextualize some things. Preseason continues to be hard to accurately rate for fans. After a whole summer of no MNBA basketball, it feels impossible not to overreact to the first taste of this meal we crave. At the same time, it's hard to justify putting so much credence to games that will not matter to this team's season.
But there's just so much stuff to get excited about.
Tyrese Haliburton showed that he can still play at an elite level. Ivica Zubac has fit in admirably with the rest of the roster, and his fit with Pascal Siakam is getting better every day. Heck, we even got a Jarace Walker point guard show in anticipation of what could be his make-or-break season.
However, as important as it is to pay attention to the good, there has been one huge red flag that has been raised this preseason that cannot be ignored. Even if these games technically don't matter, this is the type of thing that could sink the season before it even starts.
Yes, we need to talk about the blown leads and where they come from.
A worry hiding in plain sight
On the surface, this is not anything to worry about. As teams went deeper into their bench, resting starters for the season that actually matters, the Pacers went from world beaters to lead blowers. When those bench pieces don't play, this shouldn't be an issue.
However, the crazy thing about bench pieces is that they do have to play. It is not feasible for the Pacers to run only a seven- or eight-man rotation the way they had planned for an entire season. Even accounting for perfect health (and that's not possible considering TJ McConnell and Aaron Nesmith will both miss the season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans), there is no way this team will not rest their best players on certain back-to-backs to keep them fresh for a long playoff run.
Those deeper bench options unfortunately need to play at some point. Depth was already a worry for the Pacers, but that was the only worry that was substantiated in preseason. Now it leaves Indiana with questions about what to do.
Do they make a trade? Or is it time to simply hope for a breakout? The first option is poorly timed to the start of the season, and the second option feels needlessly naive. No matter the case, Indiana needs to find a way to answer this, or else they will watch their team build leads only to lose them as their starters leave the game.
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