The Pacers need better defense and they need it from this one young player

Despite Indiana losing their second straight Summer League game, this one to Rob Dillingham and the Minnesota Timberwolves, there are mostly positive things to come out of this one as well. Of course, we have to remember that Summer League games are to be taken with a pinch of salt, since most of the players on the team will not be seeing NBA rotation minutes in the upcoming season, and are mostly there to fill out a roster spot.

That being said, we have already talked about Johnny Furphy's fantastic Game 2, in which he showed the shooting prowess scouts saw at Kansas, in addition to improved defensive skills. However, Furphy was not the only positive in this game.

Enrique Freeman was also fantastic, scoring 14 points and having some very impressive defensive and athletic plays, but even he is not the topic of this piece. The players to put the most stock into during Summer League games are guys who you know will be in the rotation this upcoming season, and for Indiana, this Summer League is all about one guy.

Jarace Walker is becoming a more confident shooter, but his defense needs work

After putting up 25 points, six rebounds, and four assists alongside tidy defensive plays in Indiana's first game against Brooklyn last Friday, Walker picked up right where he left off on Sunday, putting up 15 points on all threes, grabbing eight boards, and dishing out four assists in 35 minutes.

These numbers are certainly not as impressive as his Game 1 stats, but they came in different ways. As I said earlier, Walker got all his points from threes, shooting 5/11 from beyond the arc and displaying a bevy of confidence that wasn't even seen during his best games as a rookie.

Contrary to how most of his threes went as a rookie, Walker did not spot up for a lot of his shots on Sunday, instead dribbling the ball up the court and sizing up the defense before rising up, often with a hand in his face.

However, here is the big problem that many have noticed. Walker has shown a bit of regression on the defensive end, getting beat off the dribble jogging back a lot of the time, and looking slow on switches. Additionally, his motor did leave a lot to be desired in Game 2, as he kept his hands at his sides a lot of the time while running the break and watched them lay the ball in.

These issues were prevalent with Walker last year too, as he is not used to big NBA-level minutes and needs to get used to playing big minutes and giving it his all. In the two Summer League games so far, Walker has seemed reluctant to kick it into fourth or fifth gear, sometimes playing like a high schooler who doesn't want to try hard, with some of this coming from him being more muscular and athletic than most Summer League players.

At this point, it is important to remember how young Walker is and how little experience he has playing serious NBA minutes. As time goes on, that carelessness will go away, and he will have to start being more alert on defense if he wants to keep a roster spot.

Motor issues have been prevalent with Walker since Houston, and were part of the reason why he was not picked higher. They hampered him in his rookie season as well, as he saw Ben Sheppard get playoff rotation minutes ahead of him simply by hustling and doing what he was asked.

Rotation minutes will probably not be a problem for Walker at the start of next season, as both Rick Carlisle and Chad Buchanan have penciled him in as a rotation player this upcoming season, but with fewer opportunities to be a primary playmaker and jack-up shots at will like he is doing in Summer League, Walker must improve on the defensive end, which is ironic since he has been heralded as Indiana's defensive savior after last season.

It is always great to see offensive progress from a youngster, but for someone who was mostly drafted for his defensive upside and versatility, Jarace Walker has not shown much of that in Summer League thus far. Perhaps it is due to a bigger offensive load, as we saw Tyrese Haliburton improve on defense with Team USA with a smaller offensive load in something of a reverse Jarace Walker situation.

Perhaps it could be him getting in his own head and thinking Summer League is above him. Either way, Pacers fans are hoping he shows more promise on the defensive end going into next season, because the Pacers need every bit of help they can get on that end.