Just over a year ago, no one would have known who Jalen Slawson was. After a few decent years at Furman, the combo forward entered the NBA as a late second-round pick with very little expectation.
Slawson was drafted by the Sacramento Kings, where he was held in the basketball prospect equivalent of purgatory for a year and then cut. From there, he spent an entire year with the Osceola Magic, the Orlando Magic's G League team, and then made his way to the Noblesville Boom.
While he was certainly an impact player for those keeping track of March Madness, a few years of drifting around the G League immediately after being drafted were enough to make people forget about him.
It was clear from early on that Slawson could outplay the players on the boom, but the Indiana Pacers, a championship contender, did not need a random G League guy, especially one who had spent five years in college.
It wasn't until the Pacers' gap year in the 2025-26 season that Slawson ever really saw the court. While Indiana struggled through a year that saw the entire roster demoralized and damaged, it was Jalen who became a very rare bright spot. What first started as an Exhibit 10 contract rapidly grew into proof that he was a real NBA player.
Slawson only made 13 appearances during that whole season, but he averaged just over seven points, four rebounds, and two assists across meager minutes.
Now, on another two-way contract, it seems like the next step for Slawson is going from fringe NBA player to a real rotation guy. For that to happen, two questions remain:
What does he need to improve upon, and how can the Pacers utilize that?
The next step is always the hardest
Slawson was already the breakout player for the Pacers' summer league squad, where his shooting and slashing made him a 20-point-per-game scorer on a team that failed to do anything of note.
For every game in Vegas, it was clear that the Pacers went as far as Lawson would take them, despite what Rienk Mast tried to pull off with his rebounding and post scoring.
No, Braden Smith was a non-factor, Yuki Kawamura was a non-factor, and the entire team crumbled to dust while Slawson tried to keep them in.
Unfortunately for both the franchise and the player, this is not what Slawson will be expected to do, unless the season goes terribly, terribly wrong.
Instead, he will have to work as a complementary option and improve as a shooter. His mark of 37.5% from deep is not bad, but it comes in a small sample size last season. If he wants to be a rotation piece, he will need to improve both his efficiency and his attempts per game.
As for how the Pacers can utilize him, both the fourth forward and ninth rotation spot are still available. Indiana needs some more forward depth, and they need a player who can play both the three and the four in small-ball situations.
The names for this role are already starting to pile up between 2023 draft busts Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker and the rehabbing Johnny Furphy, but Slawson could also be aiming to be exactly this.
That would give Indiana an impact player on a scam contract, which is the fastest way to find yourself becoming a contender.
Surplus value is always the fastest way to win games. Slawson could be the ultimate surplus.
(PS. Sorry for that business major ending, it felt wrong to write, but despite that it is, unfortunately, factually correct)
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