3 Biggest downsides to Indiana Pacers not playing Jarace Walker

Ever since getting drafted with the eighth pick in the 2023 NBA draft, Jarace Walker has struggled with playing time. This is no secret, as one of the main gripes Indiana Pacers fans have with coach Rick Carlisle this season has been the allocation of Walker's minutes, which are slim to none and almost nonexistent in non-blowouts.

While the Pacers have just finished up their 28th game of the season, a loss to Orlando, Jarace Walker has been absent from most of these contests, only playing in eight games and averaging around 10 minutes a contest.

Unsurprisingly, his play has not been anything to write home about, as he has averaged 3.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, and 1.4 assists on 43/27/100 shooting splits in the limited amount of playing time he has received, which, again, has only been in blowouts.

All of Walker's minutes so far this season have come in double-digit losses, with the closest game being a 10-point loss to Miami in which he only played eight seconds.

The most playing time Walker has received was in the recent Minnesota matchup, where he got a career-high 24 minutes and recorded five points, three assists, two rebounds, and two steals while impressing fans with the limited amount of touches he received.

Despite this, Walker was noticeably absent in Indiana's last four games, all of which except for one were decided by double figures.

While the semantics behind trading for a draft pick and proceeding to play him extremely rarely are questionable at best and downright puzzling at worst, not playing Jarace Walker has had more consequences than one may think.

In total, there are three glaring problems Indiana has that may be helped, if not outright fixed, by putting the youngster out of Houston in the rotation, even for a backup power forward role.

1. Other players playing out of position

This may be the biggest issue that has stemmed from a lack of Walker minutes, solely because it is almost directly affecting another player's productivity.

So far into the season, we have gotten a pretty good estimate of what the Pacers' rotation will look like, barring any potential trades or buyout market signings. Outside of some starting lineup issues, this rotation looks relatively reasonable except for one thing: Aaron Nesmith's placement.

So far this season, Nesmith has made a serious case for himself as Indiana's second-best player despite coming off the bench for all but one game and averaging slightly under 25 minutes per game, the sixth most on the team.

Taking a look at his stats, Nesmith's averages of 11.5 points on 53/46/68 splits, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals stand out plenty by themselves, but what can't be shown in the box score is his impeccable defense.

Nesmith has easily asserted himself as Indiana's best defender this season, routinely hounding opponents into making bad decisions and using his 6'10" wingspan to alter shots and guard larger players, which he has had to do a lot of this season.

This brings up the problem at hand. Despite being listed at 6'5" and 215 pounds and normally playing the small forward position, where he is adept at guarding smaller, quicker players, Nesmith has routinely had to slide in at power forward despite that not being his preferred position.

As a result, he has often been tasked with guarding the opposing team's best forwards, whether that be Jerami Grant, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or LeBron James, with mixed results. While Nesmith is more than capable of guarding power forwards and even centers for periods, asking him to routinely cover players four to six inches taller than him is a tall order for the admittedly scrappy player.

Not playing Jarace Walker has a direct effect on this. With Walker playing, he could slide into the backup power forward slot, allowing Nesmith to return to small forward and go back to guarding players his size.

Aaron Nesmith has been the unsung hero of the Pacers all season, knocking down key shots, playing fantastic defense, and leaving it all on the floor, all while playing out of position.

If he returns to his natural position, there's a very serious chance Nesmith could up his offensive production and give Tyrese Haliburton some more firepower to work with on that end while keeping up his defensive excellence.

2. Defensive struggles and size

Aaron Nesmith's need to guard bigger players is just a small part of why Indiana's defense is floundering so far. It is no secret how bad the Pacers have been on the defensive end of the floor, routinely ranking among the bottom feeders of the league in defensive stats, which oftentimes hide their remarkable offensive productivity.

An entire book can be written on Indiana's struggles on defense and what the Pacers can do to strengthen up on that end, but in their losses, one glaring issue pops up, that being height.

With Jalen Smith returning to the rotation after injury, the Pacers now have a grand total of four players above 6'9", a glaring problem in this league even to this day. While small ball has become increasingly more popular, the Pacers cannot exactly call themselves a small ball team with three traditional centers in the rotation in Myles Turner, Smith, and Isaiah Jackson.

That said, Indiana needs some height. It seems as if a new forward on the opposing team has a career night against Indiana this season, with Giannis Antetokounmpo's 64-point night still fresh in the minds of fans.

Opposing forwards have had a field day with the Pacers, and that is directly correlated to Indiana's sheer lack of height, with Obi Toppin being the only non-center above 6'8".

This has unfairly landed Myles Turner as the most recent laughing stock of NBA fans, with many placing the blame on him for these forward performances, despite the forward matchups often being given to Bruce Brown and Aaron Nesmith, who are just not tall enough to guard bigger players most of the time, as good of defenders as they may be.

This is where Jarace Walker comes in. Despite being relatively undersized, Walker is a true power forward who has experience guarding bigger players at the collegiate level. Coming into the league, defense was one of his main traits, as he gave opponents fits at Houston with his size and stocky build.

Despite some early struggles, you have to imagine this would translate well to the NBA given some time. Weighing in at 240 points and being extremely physical on defense, Walker may not completely alleviate Indiana's problem with forwards. Still, he would most certainly help, especially with Obi Toppin not being the best defender against most players.

Provided some time and growing into his frame at the NBA level, Jarace could develop into one of the most brutal "linebacker" type players to stick on forwards that Myles Turner is too busy to guard. After all, one of Turner's best fits in the frontcourt was with Thaddeus Young from 2016 to 2018.

Despite also being undersized at the power forward position, Young made up for it with physicality and knowing his role on defense, similar to the type of player Walker could be if he potentially moves into the starting lineup.

3. No secondary playmaker

While he makes his highest impact there, Walker's potential contributions do not stop at the defensive end, as he could function beautifully as a secondary playmaker for Indiana.

Going into the draft, one of the most appealing things about Walker, apart from his defense, was his playmaking, which showed in Summer League. Despite a short sample size, Walker showed some very impressive flashes when given the opportunity to facilitate the offense, being a fantastic ball handler for his position, and, despite averaging under two assists per game at Houston, threw some brilliant passes that are very hard to come by for players his size.

Despite the Houston offense being mainly run by Marcus Sasser and Jamal Shead, leaving Walker to stand in the corner every so often, he still showed plenty of flashes of playmaking brilliance at his size, akin to Draymond Green when he came into the league.

Indeed, this potential was on full display during Summer League, as Walker wowed Pacers fans with his slick passes, adept playmaking, and court vision for a power forward, throwing some fantastic dimes and showcasing amazing craftiness for a player of his physicality level.

However, the question with Walker is not about his abilities but about the potential opportunities he gets. Provided he gets some playing time soon, Indiana will want to keep Walker involved in the offense at all times and not relegate him to standing around as he did at times in Houston.

Luckily for Walker, the Pacers seem to be in need of a secondary playmaker. While Tyrese Haliburton is arguably the best playmaker in basketball this season, Indiana has routinely looked lost without him on the floor, and with the addition of a freight train adept at handling the ball and calling the shots on offense like Walker, there could be much more opportunities for the Pacers offense to thrive without Haliburton.

With the 2023 G League Winter Showcase concluding recently, as well as the start of trade season, we may not have to wait much longer to see extended Jarace Walker minutes. Provided Indiana makes a move at or before the deadline, we could see the youngster get meaningful minutes very soon, provided he dodges trade talks of his own, which have been circulating recently.

Jarace Walker is a fantastic young player with a lot of upside, who, despite getting limited opportunities in meaningful NBA games, has always shown some promise when called upon. While he may not single-handedly fix all of Indiana's issues right out the gates, he certainly wouldn't hurt them.