There is a misconception within Indiana Pacers spaces that Larry Nance Jr. was ever expected to play. Now, obviously, he is a player who is signed to a contract to – ostensibly – play basketball.
However, had the Pacers been even remotely healthy this season, had Ivica Zubac not gone down with an injury just a handful of games into the season, had the big man rotation not been woefully damaged, Nance would never have seen playing time.
Nance is functionally just the new version of James Johnson, who was known as a veteran presence for a young Pacers team that needed both guidance and communication between the locker room and coaching staff.
Johnson only played in garbage time; it was expected that Nance would do the same.
You know the meme about "accidentally becoming important at work, and it's ruining my life"? That is exactly what has happened to the late-career veteran. As the injury report grows and grows, he is being asked to go far, far beyond his scope as a 12th man.
Nance will likely miss Monday's game against the Atlanta Hawks with an illness, which is sure to comfort those who likely never want to see him wear Pacers yellow again, but there's no one you can really blame for his terrible play.
He's washed and old, but we knew this already. The larger issue now becomes whether the Pacers can replace his role fast enough to salvage signing a non-factor to one of their standard roster spots.
Replacements are hard to find in a league that already lacks center depth
In order to sign Nance and keep standout two-way player Jalen Slawson on the roster, the Pacers cut now-Portland Trail Blazer Micah Potter.
Potter is by no means anything special, but he certainly would have been better than Nance is now. Additionally, fans were hyping Jay Huff as one of the best backup centers in the league. Instead of reaching those admittedly lofty expectations, Huff's inconsistencies have proved that the Pacers sans Zubac have no centers they can really rely on.
Filling this self-inflicted hole is hard to do, as the NBA clearly has a lack of playable centers available.
Do the Pacers try to reach out to the Dallas Mavericks, a team that has both Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively playing minor roles off the bench? Do they try to sign Dwight Powell off his couch as the best free agent option? Do they try to bring Potter back from Portland?
There are no answers so simple that they can be found in this type of article. The truth is that all the Pacers can really do is wait. Whether their season is salvageable when their players return is up for debate.
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