When free agency opened this past summer, the Indiana Pacers had enough space for either one big move or two smaller ones. Instead of splitting their cap space into two potentially impactful players, Indiana moved quickly to sign Kelly Oubre Jr.
Maybe it was being so valued that brought Oubre to Indiana; maybe it was the opportunity to play for one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference after the Philadelphia 76ers had so easily discarded him. Most likely, though, it was the opportunity to fill in at either wing spot and how vital he would be to the team.
Now, just a few months away from the season, the role Oubre and the coaching staff decide to prioritize will define the Pacers' rotation for the most important season in this era of Indiana basketball.
There is a bit of a conundrum within the balance of three players. Only two of Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, and Kelly Oubre can start. Amazingly, they are all repetitive enough to get in the way of each other but also so good that it's impossible not to play them large sums of minutes.
In order to handle those minutes, each of those three players will need to coexist. The Pacers will also need to chose the identity they want at their center.
That comes down to Oubre.
The wings on the road to wins
On paper, each of Nesmith, Nembhard, and Oubre is good enough to start and also necessary to the bench. The starters don't need Nembhard's shot creation, but the bench certainly does. The starters don't rely on the volume of shooting Nesmith can provide (okay, they do, but bear with me) as much as the bench does. The starters don't require Oubre's slashing as much as the undersized bench does.
Each of those players is perhaps better served coming off the bench. This is especially true of Nembhard, who may be the perfect player to move to a sixth-man role, pushing Nesmith up a position to the shooting guard and playing high-throttle attacking basketball from the tip.
However, what if Oubre instead values himself more as a shooting guard? What if the coaching staff wants him as a reserve to keep the rim pressure high even in minutes without Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac?
Better yet, what if Indiana wants to go with Oubre and Nembhard in the starting lineup, leaving Nesmith as the odd man out, and making the bench a faster, more shot-friendly unit? Is that the off-speed pitch the Pacers need come playoffs?
It all depends on how the team views Oubre.
Incorporating new players into a team that has had so much time to mesh is hard. Nesmith and Nembhard know the system and the team better than the newcomer. As such, the most natural and likely outcome is Oubre coming off the bench.
But as comfort grows, there is more space for Rick Carlisle to explore. There is too much riding on this season to not be aggressive in decision-making.
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