On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers announced that they signed forward Gabe McGlothan, who has spent this season in the G League with the Noblesville Boom, to a 10-day contract after being granted an NBA Hardship Exception.
The 26-year-old played for the Dallas Mavericks during this year's Summer League, and he left a lot to be desired. In four games, he averaged 4.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and one turnover in 18.7 minutes while shooting 31.8% from the field and 25% from deep.
McGlothan played for the Pacers in preseason and, once again, left a lot to be desired. In four games, he averaged 4.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1 turnover in 18.8 minutes while shooting 25.9% from the field and 20% from deep.
Regardless, McGlothan is currently spending time with Indiana's G League affiliate, where he has had a solid season so far.
In 14 games (all starts), he is averaging 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 52.9% from the field and 33.9% from beyond the arc in 33.9 minutes. He leads the Boom in rebounds per game, and he is the only player on the team to start every game this season.
What exactly does Gabe McGlothan bring to the Pacers?
Though they are finally getting healthy, the Pacers are still dealing with a plethora of injuries, even beyond Tyrese Haliburton, who is set to miss the entire season due to an Achilles tear.
Aaron Nesmith, Obi Toppin, and Ben Sheppard are all on the sidelines. And because of this, Indiana is looking to secure as much depth as possible. This is mostly where McGlothan comes in.
While he is playing pretty well in the G League, the Arizona native hasn't shown much to prove that he is an NBA-caliber player. This is especially true considering how poorly he played in Summer League and the preseason earlier this year. Still, it's hard to deny that he may be worth a flier considering how beat up the Pacers are.
McGlothan is not likely to get much playing time right away, but it wouldn't be too much of a shock to see him play some real minutes for the Pacers. They signed Ethan Thompson to a two-way contract, and he started each of the team's last three games. Additionally, they signed Garrison Mathews to multiple 10-day contracts before signing him to a standard deal for the rest of the season.
The Pacers are still aiming to navigate through this gap year as smoothly as possible. They are 6-20 and rank near the bottom of the East, but they aren't ready to give up just yet. Signing McGlothan is far from a needle-mover, but he is still a player worth keeping an eye on as Indiana looks to find its rhythm this season.