This late in the offseason, Indiana Pacers fans are chomping at the bit for any scraps of news as they try to make time move faster and bring the season along. We've seen screenshots of trade machines, three first-rounders for Trey Murphy, and even someone claiming this site is AI because of how many stories we write (we would never, never stoop so low).
All of that is to say, in a time of boredom, people strive for excitement. They should!! This is basketball; it's supposed to be fun. Even after a 19-win slog through the mud that is the lottery, this should be enjoyable.
However, after those trade ideas settle in, after the signings fans suggested progress beyond jersey swap into actual idea, there's something we all forget.
There are only 240 minutes per game to hand out.
You can add an extra 25 per overtime period, but that difference is marginal across a total season. There are a very limited number of minutes to be spread throughout the roster. Not everyone can play as is, any signing would have to either A) prove good enough to take minutes from another player(s) or B) prove to be a specialist whose role will be needed in specific settings.
However, it's that first thing that needs to be weighed in any signing. Who is good enough to rip minutes, that valuable commodity, away from their teammates?
Why coaches like shorter rotations
Three different factors play into the length of a rotation. There is the relative level of talent of the players on the roster; there is the amount of time the more talented players need and deserve to get into and stay in rhythm; and there is the replaceability of each member of the rotation ahead of whoever might be added.
The Pacers have built a starting lineup with players who are hard to replace within their own system, instead opting to make their bench not replacements but complements to every one of their predecessors. There are holes, but they are rare and hard to fix.
Tyrese Haliburton has no replacement on the roster, so his substitutes must be able to spot up as shooters while also being able to create when he is not on the floor. To the same point, if Pascal Siakam is present, they must be able and willing to defer to him or to mirror his versatile attack when he leaves a void while on the bench.
Coaches do not want to handle a rotation in which their players are both not warmed up and also not as good as their equivalents.
Bringing on any new Pacer rotation player, be it one currently on the roster or not, would have to come at the expense of another. Teams don't make changes without thinking. In order to be worth upsetting the cart, you need to be a considerable upgrade.
That expense comes in the form of stats and minutes. The current Pacers are well-balanced to an extreme with important depth at each spot, each of which can be swapped in and out without failure.
Any new player would have to be similarly malleable while also being good enough to push for more minutes.
That's hard to do. And it won't come this late in the offseason.
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