This Indiana Pacers season has been off to an up-and-down start.
They had an incredibly impressive comeback in their season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, in which Tyrese Haliburton returned from a torn Achilles injury to lift the Pacers over the top in a comeback performance in the fourth quarter. In Game 2, however, they gave up 77 points in the first half to a Dallas Mavericks team that is not expected to make much noise in the Western Conference.
There's so much to get excited about and so much to worry about for this team. With how conflicting moments have been so far, it's pretty fun to have a purely joyful breakout player in Jalen Slawson, who seems to have replaced former first-round pick Ben Sheppard in the rotation.
In that 16-point loss to the Mavs, only Slawson and fellow (former) two-way player Quenton Jackson – who is earning a larger role himself – had a positive plus-minus. Slawson went 2/2 from the field and added five rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
His general involvement and flexibility in his role could push him up in the rotation, and it seems like he is in the process of earning that opportunity to start the season.
What Slawson provides, and what the Pacers need
Slawson, as a 6'7 wing, can play either forward spot for a team that needs more variability in its depth. They have some talent on the bench, but not much of it can move around the lineup. Obi Toppin is purely a power forward. TJ McConnell can not be played as anything besides a point guard.
During Las Vegas Summer League, Slawson was asked to be a largely on-ball scorer, leading the team in points per game and surpassing the 20 ppg threshold that real NBA players should be hitting against fringe players.
As the season crept closer, and Slawson was resigned to a new two-way contract, the questions started coming about whether Jalen could scale down his game when he returned to the Pacers, where he was at best the fourth most important player on the court at any time.
Lucky enough, the answer to that question has been pretty clear: he can scale down well.
The obvious way that Slawson is aiming to earn more minutes is through his defense and rebounding. Even considering his five boards and four stocks in just 16 minutes, the effort he is showing on a play-to-play basis will certainly earn him more chances to move up in the depth chart.
That should be infectious to the rest of the roster as well.
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