Unfortunately for Indiana Pacers fans everywhere, this season has been off to a worse start (vibes-wise) than their gap year last year, which felt unbeatably bad. It feels like all we can really do to start this season is look for silver linings.
Instead of celebrating wins and losses, this team has pushed the conversation to simply who is showing signs of life in terms of their development. While many had hoped that one of the two 2023 first-round picks could take a step forward, it has instead been the former two-way players who are stepping up.
Quenton Jackson has been fantastic in place of TJ McConnell and has become a linchpin of the bench unit as Andrew Nembhard takes on a larger role in running the offense, meaning he gets staggered with the second unit less often.
While Jackson is certainly the player who should be getting the most attention, Indiana's Saturday afternoon game against the Denver Nuggets shows that there's another player who is rapidly proving to be more than just a fringe NBA talent.
Jalen Slawson was the best player on the Pacers team at the Las Vegas Summer League. Building on a strong regular season last year, he has now proven to be among the hungriest players on this roster. He is constantly looking for more and more opportunity, and with the injury to Ben Sheppard, he has stepped into the fourth forward spot with a high level of success.
Indiana would be smart to carve out a rotation role for him even once they are a healthier roster.
Slawson cares about defense more than anyone else on this team
Jalen Slawson is fundamentally in the same mold of player as Aaron Nesmith and Kelly Oubre Jr. All three of those players are at least nominally three-and-D wings, although they play with differing styles and foci.
Nesmith is an offensively focused tool meant to establish spacing with his excellent shooting. His defense is still quite good, but it is not at the root of who he is. Oubre is a slasher, above all else, who creates downhill pressure and – contrary to Nesmith – shoots only when he must.
Slauson is different from either of these players because he is not an offensively focused option. His biggest strength as far as this team's roster construction goes is his supplementary rim protection, his ability to navigate screens, and his sheer willingness to fight both in terms of effort and in terms of literally standing up for his teammates.
Instead of continuing to enable the Jarace Walker experience, Indiana could solidify their wing rotation by making Slawson a more regular member of the rotation. He is the exact type of player this team needs, and it's showing on the court.
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