We're clearly at an impasse when it comes to this Indiana Pacers team. In this upcoming season where there's going to be so much in flux and with the Pacers essentially playing with house money, one move they're going to want to make is to grant Jarace Walker's wish and give him as many minutes as possible.
With Tyrese Haliburton set to miss the entire season, it's clearly going to be a strange season. There's no telling what might happen, but if you have been paying any attention to this Pacers team, they tend to perform the best when the odds are most stacked against them. I'm not saying they're going to go back to the NBA Finals, but those predicting they'll only win 35 games are probably a bit misled.
Given the strange state of the roster with Tyrese out, it's obviously going to be an ideal environment for other guys to get their chance at more playing time, and one of the top guys likely slated to earn a bigger role is Walker. Through his first two seasons as a professional, Jarace has not played more than 15.8 minutes per game in a season. Expect that to change in 2025-26.
Jarace Walker has a big opportunity in front of him
I think Pacers fans generally believe in Walker's talent, but nearly everyone would agree that he's going to have to prove it. This is a guy that certainly could become a 30 minutes per night kind of player, but this upcoming season will be the stage where all will be revealed.
As for where he belongs specifically within the rotation, I believe he may fit best in a sixth man type of role with the opportunity to earn several starts as well. What Walker does early on is going to dictate what direction he goes in, specifically on defense.
Jarace certainly seems to have a lot of natural feel for the game, particularly on the defensive side. Offensively, he fits the prototype of a classical three-and-D type, but he's going to have to improve things like making reads and decisions quicker. Still, there's a lot of upside there as a connective piece that can hit his open shots as well.
Really, the upcoming season's going to be the ideal scenario for a guy like Jarace Walker. Given the circumstances, Indiana is going to be best suited simply throwing things at the wall and seeing if they stick, for a large portion of 2025-26. Given that strategy, it's a perfect formula for us to see Walker get his feet wet and potentially really blossom from the start of the year to the end.