The Pacers’ early-season mood has been rough enough that the search for positives has become part of the routine, but Jalen Slawson is making that search a lot easier. His play against the Nuggets on Saturday afternoon was another reminder that he’s not just hanging around the edges of the roster anymore.
Indiana had hoped one of its two 2023 first-round picks would be the one making the leap. Instead, it’s been the former two-way players who have forced their way into the conversation. Quenton Jackson has already earned notice for how well he has filled in for TJ McConnell and stabilized the bench unit, especially with Andrew Nembhard taking on more of the offense and spending less time staggered with the second group.
Slawson deserves his own spotlight, though. He was the best player on the Pacers at Las Vegas Summer League, and after building on a strong regular season last year, he has emerged as one of the hungriest players on the roster. With Ben Sheppard out injured, Slawson has stepped into the fourth forward spot and handled it well enough that Indiana should be thinking about a rotation spot for him even when the team gets healthier.
What stands out most is how much he leans into the defensive end. Slawson shares some broad traits with Aaron Nesmith and Kelly Oubre Jr. in that all three fit into the general three-and-D wing category, but their games are not built the same way. Nesmith is more of an offense-first spacer, while Oubre brings downhill pressure as a slasher and shoots only when necessary.
Slawson is different. He isn’t the offensive centerpiece of the group, and that’s not really his value.
His appeal comes from the extra rim protection he provides, the way he gets through screens, and the edge he brings every time he’s on the floor. That includes the effort side and the willingness to stand up for teammates.
Rather than keep leaning on the Jarace Walker experience, Indiana could make its wing rotation cleaner by giving Slawson a steadier role. He looks like the kind of player this team needs, and the Nuggets game was another example of why that’s becoming harder to ignore.
In Other News...
Tyrese Haliburtons Latest Injury Absence Leaves Pacers Waiting Again
Tyrese Haliburton is staying in Indianapolis for treatment of a left hamstring strain and will not travel with the Pacers to Mexico City, another reminder of how carefully Indiana has had to manage its point guard early in the season. Rick Carlisle said Haliburton is going through treatment that includes time in a hyperbaric chamber, and the coach added that the star guard is in good spirits as the team hopes to get him back soon.
For a Pacers group trying to keep its rhythm while juggling injuries, Haliburtons absence changes everything from pace to late-game organization. Indiana has had to keep moving without him while also monitoring the rest of the roster, and the latest update only adds to the sense that the team is still waiting for its full identity to come together. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Just Weighed In On A Growing NBA Expansion Debate
The NBAs expansion conversation keeps getting louder, and Rick Carlisle added a little more fuel to it this week. The Pacers coach said a team in Mexico City is certainly possible as the league continues sorting through where and when it might grow next, with commissioner Adam Silver saying expansion is still a few seasons away and that Las Vegas and Seattle remain the most active candidates.
Mexico City is hardly a blind spot for the league, either. The NBA has already staged games at Arena CDMX, where the G Leagues Mexico City Capitanes play, and the idea of a full-time franchise there has long carried real traction around the league. Carlisles comments fit into a broader debate that now includes player reaction as well, even if the final shape of expansion is still very much up in the air. [Read more 🡒]
Rick Carlisle Sees Something Bigger In This Pacers Showcase
Rick Carlisle has been around long enough to see the league change in just about every way, and now the Pacers coach is adding another milestone to a rsum that already puts him in rare company. In his 25th season as an NBA head coach, Carlisle recently reached 1,000 career wins, becoming just the 11th coach in league history to do it, a reminder of how much basketball he has seen while moving from one organization to the next.
Now comes a different kind of stage for Indiana, which is set to play its first game in Mexico against the Denver Nuggets. Carlisle has been reflective about the path that brought him here, praising the organizations and players he has worked with along the way, but he also sounds energized by what this Pacers group is building. For a team still shaping its identity, an international showcase offers more than a novelty trip. It is another chance to see how far that identity can travel. [Read more 🡒]