A championship roster is often defined by its top players. When you think about the Chicago Bulls, in any of their iterations, you think of Michael Jordan. If you picture the Golden State Warriors Dynasty, the first face you see is Steph Curry's grin while chewing his mouth guard. The same can be said with LeBron James and his block against those same Warriors to bring the Cleveland Cavaliers their first ring.
However, it is the player from further down the roster that are no less vital. Every title-winning team has a role player who pops up out of nowhere, outperforming their contract and their projected role.
Think about it.
For the Denver Nuggets, it was Bruce Brown – hey, look at that, former Indiana Pacer – signing on a small exception before he became a key sixth man as a combo guard and small forward down the stretch. When the Warriors added their fourth ring after the initial dynasty in 2021-2022, it was with the help of Otto Porter Jr., who was thought to have one of the worst contracts in the league before joining Golden State, and Gary Payton II, who had been on two-way contracts and minimums.
Surprises are no less important than the cornerstones. To win a ring, you need surplus-value deals. Sometimes, that comes in the form of capped-max contracts, and the players holding them going Super Saiyan. More often, though, it comes in minimum deals that give birth to great role players.
The Indiana Pacers don't have a lot of candidates for that.
Who can it be now?
Let's look at the players beyond the obvious top-eight on this roster.
There are Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, a pair of draft busts from a 2023 class that was disastrous for the Pacers 'rebuild. There's Jay Huff, the stopgap center Indiana brought in ahead of last year's gap year to replace Myles Turner after he left for the Milwaukee Bucks. There is Larry Nance Jr., who is just there as a veteran locker room presence.
That is the full list of players on Indiana's roster who have real rotation experience on a non-tanking team in the NBA. Quenton Jackson earned a minimum deal after he showed some growth in a gap year. Johnny Furphy has played just about 85 career games, and has failed to shoot league average in either of his two seasons.
Within the totality of those six players and the Pacers' three two-way spots, it seems like Furphy, if he stays healthy, is the biggest contender for a surprise ascension to fringe starter level.
Still, it feels nearly impossible that Indiana can survive any injuries, let alone the cavalcade they saw of them last year. They lack the depth to survive it and would have to hope that one of their failed draft picks or second-round flyers can fix a leak on the fly.
This is by no means the Titanic. The boat is not going down.
But if you don't see the structural issues already showing, you're not looking hard enough.
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