The Indiana Pacers played their first preseason game on Wednesday night, winning 123-112 over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
While there's so much to focus on for that game, the standout performer was no doubt former Pacers top-10 pick Jarace Walker. The Houston product led the team in assists, plus-minus, and minutes.
He dished out 10 assists with only one turnover, including an absolutely insane off-the-backboard dump-off to Jay Huff, and looked like a completely different player from the guy who played last year and never got a serious extension offer from the Pacers.
Walker's playmaking was on display, bringing back memories of who he was supposed to be when he was drafted out of Houston. Walker was expected to be a complimentary piece before the Pacers traded for Pascal Siakam, functionally burying the eighth overall pick.
However, if this performance is to be believed, the Pacers have a breakout candidate on their hands. That would solve a whole lot of problems for this roster.
Needs to be filled
The three biggest needs on this Pacers team are A) rebounding, B) shooting, and C) playmaking, preferably at the forward position. Walker – or at least the version of him we saw yesterday – would provide two of the three of those.
He's definitely not a good shooter, but his ability to create for others, especially on four-five pick-and-rolls with Ivica Zubac or the aforementioned Huff, would be excellent at replicating the impact of Pascal Siakam.
Obi Toppin, the assumed backup power forward, has clear strengths, but he is a completely incapable rebounder, often bleeding extra possessions unless he is paired with a true center. Despite that, the former New York Knicks lottery pick brings too much value on offense for that weakness to be crippling.
It has, however, required Toppin to be used in spurts with lesser players. Any amount of Toppin's minutes would need to be paired with Zubac or Huff, creating a weird logjam of minutes.
Jarace Walker's emergence as a rebounder would fix this issue. The small-ball lineups for the Pacers completely dominated the Timberwolves' weird blend of size and shooting, which lacks a second oversized forward to challenge Indiana.
That combination of playmaking and rebounding was always the appeal of Walker. It hasn't been pretty over the first few years, but this is who he was drafted to be. Maybe it won't last, maybe it will, but after last year, the Pacers need their depth to be playable.
The gap year had many causes, injuries chief among them. The lack of real depth options was what took the season from bad to worse.
Walker likely isn't good enough to be anything above ninth on the Pacers totem pole, but if he could even be usable in short spurts, that would be a massive upgrade for Indiana, and a chance for Walker to extend his career that looked to be on a questionable path.
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