Rick Carlisle isn’t asking Jarace Walker to be the next Pacers star. He’s asking him to be dependable, and in Indiana right now, that might be the more valuable path anyway.
Walker entered the league as the No. 8 overall pick in 2023 with the kind of setup young players dream about: no power forwards on the roster, Tyrese Haliburton already in place at point guard, Rick Carlisle on the sideline and a team in the middle of a rebuild. The runway looked wide open.
Then the Pacers started winning.
That changed the equation fast. Indiana’s strong start pushed development lower on the priority list, and the front office later added Pascal Siakam during Walker’s rookie season.
That move reshaped the depth chart and forced Walker into a different lane. With Siakam and Obi Toppin ahead of him at power forward, the coaching staff leaned into Walker’s versatility and shifted him to a wing role, believing his size could help fill a need on the roster.
Three seasons in, Walker has grown, but the message around him has become even clearer: fit the system, and the rest can follow.
"We're really emphasizing with him to become a great system player for us and then move forward from there," Carlisle said. "That's the base and where things have to start and he's doing a good job with it."
Walker is now in the final year of his rookie-scale contract, which puts him at an important point in his career. Carlisle sees the payoff in embracing a role that may not be glamorous but can still be lucrative.
"It's just an understanding that there is great value in it for him," Carlisle said. "Guys like him with his physical tools and skills, if they're dependable system players that have built trust, there's a lot of money in it. So, why wouldn't you be interested in that and the opportunity to help a team win?"
Indiana has already shown how that can work. Toppin, another former No. 8 pick, struggled to establish himself in New York before landing with the Pacers. Once he settled into the backup power forward role and proved he could thrive in this system, the front office rewarded him with a 4-year contract worth up to $60 million.
Walker knows the assignment. When asked about his conversations with Carlisle, he pointed to the little things that make a roster fit together.
"Just doing all the little things," Walker said. "Rebounding, running, getting to my spots, taking open shots, limiting turnovers and just playing the right way."
Carlisle said earlier this offseason during a Summer League broadcast that the Pacers need Walker to "star in his role". That lines up with what Chad Buchanan said on Setting The Pace, suggesting the team wants Walker to grow into its version of OG Anunoby.
Anunoby, now with the New York Knicks, has made a career out of doing exactly what his team asks. He can take on more, but the job is to play off Jalen Brunson and Karl Anthony-Towns. Walker appears to understand the same kind of sacrifice is required in Indiana.
"I mean to win, you got to sacrifice," Walker told reporters after practice. "So whatever the team needs me to do night in and night out, whatever they need, I'm here. I'm all about winning."
That’s the talk. Now comes the part that matters most.
The Pacers have already moved on from every draft pick they made before 2023, and that makes this a win-now stretch. Walker is at a crossroads: embrace the role, earn trust and stay part of the picture, or fall behind in a roster that is clearly built to compete now.
For the Pacers, the hope is simple. For Walker, the opportunity is there. The question is whether he fully buys in, no matter how large or small the job turns out to be.
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