Obi Toppin’s injury exposed painfully obvious truth Pacers can’t ignore

When Myles Turner joined the Milwaukee Bucks in free agency, the Indiana Pacers opted to run a center-by-committee to replace him. This included Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, Tony Bradley, and James Wiseman. All of them were going to essentially replace Turner's value in one specific area (for example, the Pacers brought Huff in to replace Turner's ability to stretch the floor and protect the rim).

However, Obi Toppin was another sneaky candidate to help make life easier for the Pacers post-Turner. He's not a traditional big man, but he has experience playing small-ball center, which might ultimately be his best role for the team.

At 6-foot-9, the Brooklyn native is not a serious option to be the Pacers' full-time starting center. But he is a great option to close games at the position as running a small-ball lineup would allow Indiana to have five of its best players on the court, especially in clutch situations.

Unfortunately for Toppin and the Pacers, he suffered a foot injury in just his third game of the season and will not return until at least February.

And Indiana misses him way more than it may have anticipated.

The Pacers miss Obi Toppin's athleticism and spacing

The biggest reason Toppin is an appealing small-ball center for the Pacers is because of his athleticism and ability to stretch the floor. In his first two seasons in Indiana, he shot 38.3% from deep on 3.4 attempts per game. Plus, it is incredibly difficult for traditional centers to match his quickness and energy, which makes him a real asset for the Pacers in this role.

So far this season, the Pacers' center situation is a mess. And it's becoming increasingly clear just how much they miss having the Dayton alum on the floor.

Huff is shooting 26.5% from beyond the arc this season and doesn't look like a good fit for the Pacers. Bradley has seemingly lost a step defensively and looks completely replaceable. And Jackson, while he has looked good, is not making the progressions many had hoped for. He still can't shoot, and he is still way too inconsistent for the team to trust in a starting role for the long run.

This season, the Pacers are averaging 108.9 PPG (second-worst in the NBA), and they are shooting a league-worst 29.9% from beyond the arc, according to NBA.com. Of course, most of Indiana's offensive struggles are because of the absence of Tyrese Haliburton, who is the engine that keeps the whole offense running. But it's clear that having Toppin would make things much easier for the team, because their big men are leaving a lot to be desired.

Toppin wouldn't singlehandedly solve Indiana's frontcourt problems, but his absence has certainly made this much worse for a team that has been struggling all season so far.