Preseason has been illuminating for Indiana Pacers fans as they search for answers to the numerous questions this off-season brought.
Ivica Zubac and Tyrese Haliburton have quieted the fears of the non-believers by healthily incorporating pick-and-roll reps into their generally fast-break offense. The bench still looks terrible and will now be without 34-year-old linchpin TJ McConnell, who is nursing a hamstring injury. Even Pascal Siakam showed that he can still play at a high level, even if he had a few rough games.
It's also left a few of those questions unanswered, notably who the ninth man in the rotation will be and how Indiana will rotate their wing trio of Kelly Oubre Jr., Aaron Nesmith, and Andrew Nembhard.
While both will surely be fluid situations that can change depending on who has the hot hand or on the matchup itself, the first game of the season against the New Orleans Pelicans will surely fill in some of the gaps in where those two things stand.
The Ninth Man Question
The Pacers clearly want the Jarace Walker thing to work out. It seems likely that he will start in the rotation simply by nature of his eighth-overall-pick pedigree and the added playmaking he can bring off the bench.
While Walker cannot replace McConnell as a creator and initiator, he can function in short bursts as a connector. Considering the pieces bench lacks anyone to play that role, it would not be surprising to see Walker get some early run.
However, many will hope that Jay Huff, who started at center last season, will also get some playing time. The former Memphis Grizzly offers many of the things that made Myles Turner a good fit for Indiana's roster back when he was still here.
Space is limited, though, and whoever it is, we'll have to make the most of 10 to 12 minutes a night if they want to stick around.
The way the wings go
Having good wing options that are all playable, with not enough minutes to give out, is a good problem to have. After a gap year in which their depth was completely decimated by injury and was actively useless, having three starting-level players at the same position is worth the headache it might bring.
While Aaron Nesmith's injury will prevent this conversation topic from being expanded upon any more, seeing who starts and how the minutes are distributed among Nesmith, Oubre, and Nembhard will say a lot as to how the Pacers want to play and what skill sets they value.
Add us as a preferred source on Google