The Indiana Pacers' 1-10 beginning of the 2025-26 season could be framed as one giant blessing in disguise from a delusionally optimistic point of view.
Indiana's injury misfortune to start the new year with Tyrese Haliburton already slated to miss the campaign as he recovers from a torn Achilles has paved the way for a gap year. But a few key pieces have received a golden opportunity to prove their worth to the organization.
Unfortunately, one of the Pacers' more promising bright spots from their deep postseason runs in 2024 and 2025, Ben Sheppard, has evidently taken a few steps back at a time when he's supposed to be positioning himself as a dependable, long-term reserve option for the franchise.
Through his first 11 appearances this season, Sheppard has contributed 6.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on a horrid 38.4% effective field goal percentage. The 24-year-old has also connected on just 20.8% of his attempts from three-point range.
Sheppard has struggled immensely after being gifted the chance to prove he can be a reliable decision-maker at both guard positions, and his inability to control the offense as a lead ball-handler and score efficiently will not lead to him gaining favor from head coach Rick Carlisle moving forward.
This is especially due to the fact that Carlisle appeared to give Sheppard more free rein as the team's point guard in certain lineups, as he's taken the floor at the position for a career-high 38% of his minutes this season (per Basketball Reference stats).
Ben Sheppard's mission to develop as a combo guard is failing spectacularly
It's plausible that Sheppard can still find a way to bounce back with a few signature performances, but it's hard for Pacers fans to ignore his brutal output so far this season.
Giving him an extended opportunity to learn a few key skills as a point guard was not a terrible decision from Carlisle and Indiana's coaching staff, but the expectation heading into the endeavor was that his jump-shooting efficiency would not dip as low as it has in the process.
Sure, a few silly turnovers or mistakes while facing more pressure than he's used to as a ball-handler were to be expected.
However, his corner three-point percentage falling to 21.4% (according to NBA.com) and overall true shooting percentage landing at 41.4% are not examples of acceptable snags that a guard aiming to develop his play-making skill typically runs into.
Sheppard's failure to stand out as a stellar shooting threat and improved passer with Haliburton sidelined could ultimately tank his value and put him at risk of losing his spot in the rotation once the two-time All-Star floor general and others return to action.
For now, the third-year guard must improve his scoring efficiency before delving into other, more complicated aspects of guard play at the NBA level.