The Indiana Pacers have a center problem.
Not in the classic sense, at least. They made a trade for Ivica Zubac at last season's trade deadline, frequently put out lineups that put Pascal Siakam at the five, and have Jay Huff as a capable backup if they need him for eight minutes a game.
And yet, they have a center problem. Their rotation does not have enough size, and even when staggering Zubac and Siakam, there are still minutes that need sponging up.
If the answer is not in playing a non-rotation player like Huff for minimal minutes, then maybe the answer is instead in finding someone who can step into a bigger role.
Enter Obi Toppin... who played only 3% of his minutes at center last year according to Basketball Reference.
Even worse, he's coming off a year in which he played only 24 games and had a terrible net rating of -4.5 when he was on the court. That is by far a career-worst mark.
Doesn't sound like a good idea, does it?
However, the logic of pure analytics misses quite a bit as well. During the 2024-25 season, the Pacers were -2.6 with Obi Toppin on the floor by the same stat. Despite the Pacers reaching their highest point of team success in over 25 years, Indiana was apparently better without Toppin.
That may well be true, but fans who watched the games can also explain clearly why Obi is still relied on as a rotation piece.
The importance of being just good enough
There is a role in baseball called an "innings eater." It is typically a mediocre pitcher, one who is by no means as valuable as an ace closer or a capable starter. Innings eaters exist to soak up pitches and batters between those two star players.
They are connective pieces. They don't need to be good. They just need to be good enough to let the stars take over.
In many ways, all great role players need to have some innings eater in them. They need to be able to soak up usage in small bursts while having the self-awareness to accept that they don't need to be great, just good enough, to win the margins.
Obi Toppin has been an elite innings eater for years. When he was in New York, he was the backup to the team's best player, Julius Randle. When he arrived in Indiana, he did so as a second draft candidate and brought energy so contagious that he became a cornerstone of the bench.
While Zubac and Siakam will combine for 40 or so of the needed minutes at the five, the Pacers need someone to eat up the other eight. That could be Huff, but adding a consistent rotation member means giving them the minutes to also get comfortable. They don't have the luxury of minutes to give up.
No, the Pacers don't need excellent small-ball center play from Toppin. They just need him to be good enough in small bursts.
If that can happen, Indiana will have its eight-man rotation locked down, without the confusion that would come from adding a ninth man.
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