The Indiana Pacers excelled in the 2023-24 NBA Season. While many had them as playoff hopefuls, the league's best offense ended up being just four games shy of playing in their first NBA Finals since 2000.
The development of point guard Tyrese Haliburton was a major catalyst to the team's success offensively. The mid-season transaction that saw Bruce Brown get shipped to the Toronto Raptors for Pascal Siakam also led to a spike in the squad's win total.
One player who performed well saw his role change from being the starting power forward most of the time to getting his minutes with the second unit. Once Siakam became a staple in the Pacers' starting five and rotation for head coach Rick Carlisle, Toppin's minutes and play were slightly affected.
The Pacers organization still saw the value in the former eighth overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. So much so that they got him to sign for another four years (and an estimated $60 million).
Toppin must be more aggressive on the court
Kudos to the former University of Dayton product on producing career highs in points per game, field goal and his three-point percentages. Toppin also managed to elevate his numbers in overall rebounds and assists, too.
However, once Siakam was implemented into the lineup for the Pacers, Toppin's play was inconsistent. During the regular season, Toppin's numbers fizzled out in the last two months.
In the month of March, he only had three games with more than ten points. and only two games with more than five rebounds. In April, there were only five games he played where he scored in double digits. In the last month of the season, Toppin only had more than four rebounds in two games as well.
With an increase in minutes comes the risk of turning the ball over and fouling more. That did not seem to be an issue for Toppin in his first year with the Pacers. Hopefully, that doesn't become an area of concern in the upcoming season.
There were times in the postseason, the former New York Knick went rogue. In the opening round of the playoffs against the Milwaukee Bucks, Toppin struggled in the first two games.
In Game 1, he played just 13 minutes and only scored four points on 2-of-6 shooting. In the next game, also on the road, Toppin scored nine points but went 4-for-11 from the field doing so.
Though the Pacers made short work of the Bucks, they won their next playoff series, too (against Toppin's former team). He scored only two points in 19 minutes. He made only one of his four shot attempts.
In Game 5, on the road at Madison Square Garden, Toppin played 21 minutes going 2-for-5 from the field. His seven-point showing was not one of his more effective games. In the closeout game, he again shot 1-for-4 from the field tallying just three points in 15 minutes of play.
Despite Jalen Smith leaving the Pacers in free agency, the growth of second-year player Jarace Walker could press Toppin for playing time and a significant role in the second unit should he struggle. While it might be hard-pressed to match or outdo his career highs from a season ago, Toppin just needs to be aggressive when on the floor.
With another deep Pacers team, Toppin can still be a major factor. Championship aspirations are now in sight. Thus, Toppin must produce if he doesn't want to drop down a peg on the depth chart.