Obi Toppin can be a great small-ball five, but if the Indiana Pacers rely on it too much once he comes back, it can backfire due to his lack of size and for defensive reasons. The Pacers need to shore up their center depth and just use Toppin as a small-ball center sparingly.
Obi Toppin is going to play a big role upon his return
The Dayton alum has been out of action since suffering a foot injury against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 26. He is going to be out for a few months and is expected to return in February at the earliest.
This injury was a tough blow for Toppin and the Pacers. After Myles Turner joined the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason, Indiana had some major questions at center to answer. The team opted to run a center-by-committee in hopes of someone standing out. While he was never going to be the full-time option, playing Toppin at small-ball center even more than before was going to be a fun experiment to see.
Ultimately, the Pacers have spent most of the season without the New York native. And with Jay Huff's emergence, they have their center situation at least somewhat figured out.
However, Toppin is still going to return at some point, and the Pacers are still going to give him some small-ball center minutes anyway. But if they roll him out there in this spot too much, it could do more harm than good.
There is a lot to like about Toppin as a small-ball center. He is incredibly athletic and can space the floor. This can give the Pacers some offensive advantages as it allows them to be faster and be more of a perimeter threat. Given how important these two things are in Indiana's offensive system, it makes playing him at center a bit of a no-brainer decision.
However, there are also a ton of downsides to doing this, which is exactly why the Pacers have to be smart about when they utilize this lineup (i.e., in clutch-time situations).
Toppin is 6-foot-9, 220 pounds. He is way too small to be a real center, and because he's already not much of a defender anyway (though he has improved since joining the Pacers), he and the team would be at an even bigger disadvantage.
Plus, Indiana already isn't much of a rebounding team, and Toppin (who averages a career 3.4 rebounds per game) wouldn't be much help in that area either.
It's pretty clear that the Pacers miss having the 27-year-old around because of his athleticism and three-point shooting. But when he returns, they need to make sure to play it strategically and not make too many risks, including relying on him at center too much.