So often in the NBA, stars are highlighted for their top skills. No one is shocked by Steph Curry's show of shooting anymore, nor do people doubt Giannis Antetokounmpo's ability to get to the rim, or LeBron James' basketball IQ.
However, within that conversation, we lose track of the supplementary skills that make players so much more than just the sum of their parts. In this series, we will take a deeper look at those secondary talents that certain Indiana Pacers leverage to maximize themselves.
Last time, the focus was Tyrese Haliburton, whose infectious joy is both his most underrated trait and the deciding factor for a comeback season. While there will be questions about whether he can regain his pre-injury form, his good mood will be just as vital come the duldrums of February and March.
His draft classmate Aaron Nesmith is next, and his skill set is one that is wanted by every single team in the league.
In the NBA, there is one type of role player that has always had and will always have value. That is the 6'5-6'10 wing who can both space out to the perimeter, attack the basket, and defend the opposing team's best non-big player.
There has never been an era in which that brand of player has not been appreciated for their versatility and flexibility within a team's structure. However, now, more than ever, they are worth their weight in gold.
In a league increasingly looking for forwards who can shoot from three point distance and defend, it becomes increasingly baffling that the Indiana Pacers got Aaron Nesmith for the price they did.
When the Boston Celtics took Nesmith in the 2020 lottery, they envisioned a third forward alongside now-Philadelphia 76ers wing Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum who could work off of their gravity and maximize a drive-and-kick system.
Instead, the Celtics buried him down the rotation and threw him into a deal for Malcolm Brogdon. Back then, Bleacher Report thought the Pacers got such a bad deal that they used a SpongeBob meme to compare Nesmith to a paperclip.
Oh, how wrong they were.
Nesmith has become exactly the player Boston envisioned and now needs. He is the quintessential three-and-D wing, but that fails to encompass his real strengths.
In an offense that moves faster than almost any in the NBA, no one is better at finding their spots than Nesmith. He shows up exactly where he needs to on the fast break and sprints through screens to create as much space as possible to get shots off.
However, there's a level of trust that his playstyle requires. He works harder than anyone else for only a fraction of the reward. His opportunities come not as a result of his work, yet everyone else's life is made easier by his near-constant belief that the ball is coming his way.
The way Nesmith relocates for his shots is better than that of almost any player in basketball. That's a hugely valuable ability that frequently gets forgotten for something more flashy.
It deserves all the attention from fans it gets from opposing coaching staffs.
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