With Andrew Nembhard running the point next season in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton's injury, there was some debate about whether the Indiana Pacers would change their offense around to play to his strengths. According to head coach Rick Carlisle, however, it seems like Indiana will not change its offense around too much.
During his Media Day appearance, Carlisle noted that, while adjustments may still be made, it will still be important for the Pacers to prioritize fast play on offense.
"Media Day begins. Rick Carlisle up first. Says 'there will be adjustments' to style of play. Says fast hard play is still important. But 'we'll make the adjustments that we need to make,'" Dustin Dopirak wrote on X.
The Pacers' offense will mostly look the same next season
The Pacers have had such an elite offense in recent years largely due to Haliburton's presence. He is incredibly efficient and skilled as a playmaker and passer, and he is a perfect fit in Indiana's run-and-gun system. However, with him on the shelf for a season, the Pacers will instead rely on Nembhard to run the show for a year.
There are reasons to believe the Canadian native can get the job done. He is a natural point guard and has stepped up numerous times in Haliburton's absence before. However, his skillset is completely different from the Iowa State alum's, which is why there was some belief the Pacers would change their offense up a little bit.
While Haliburton excels at pushing the tempo and improvising on offense, Nembhard is the opposite. He is a fantastic and shifty ball-handler who is great in the half-court and can benefit from running set plays. Because of this, it is going to be risky for Nembhard to essentially play the Haliburton role, but it may be the right call when all is said and done.
Next season will be all about experimenting for Indiana. While they will still look to stack wins, that is not going to be their biggest priority. Instead, they will look to see what works and what does not for the long run, and they will see who they can depend on as long-term contributors. Even so, they might not want to stray too far from what makes them special, which is their elite fast-paced offense.
If the Pacers were to completely change up their offense and move too far in the other direction, that could greatly backfire as it could change the team's identity too much. This would be a massive problem for when Haliburton eventually returns. However, by mostly keeping the offense the same, it will allow Indiana to have that continuity.
The Pacers are not likely to be competitive next season, but they will still look to shock the basketball world and make some noise in the Eastern Conference. In order for them to do so, they will need everybody on the team to bring their A-game.
There will be many players to keep an eye on in Indiana throughout the season, but easily one of the more important ones will be Nembhard, who could be in line for a career year. Plus, now that it seems like the Pacers will keep their offense the same, the Gonzaga alum could have an even better opportunity to add to his arsenal and become even more valuable in the long run.