The Indiana Pacers have a good problem on their hands, and it arrived before Kelly Oubre Jr. ever suited up for them.
Oubre is the team’s biggest offseason addition, but his fit is already the real issue. He has spent six of the last seven seasons as a starter, and he’s coming off his best shooting year.
Since 2020, he has averaged 31.2 minutes per game, so this is not the kind of player who is going to be satisfied with a light workload. Indiana will have to carve out starter-level minutes for him if it wants to keep him happy.
That’s where the rotation gets tricky. Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith are back, and Indiana reached the 2025 NBA Finals with both of them starting alongside Tyrese Haliburton.
On paper, that still looks like the cleanest setup if Oubre is willing to embrace a bench role. The 6’8 forward would still expect to play around 30 minutes a night and remain a major part of what the Pacers are doing.
Rick Carlisle now has to sort through all of it. Oubre adds another versatile 3-and-D option to a roster that is trying to jump right back into title contention with Haliburton healthy.
But the Pacers also need to find minutes for Obi Toppin and keep the rest of the rotation balanced. Having too much talent is a nice problem, but it is still a problem.
At this point, the question is less about production than it is about buy-in. Teams around the league have shown that a sixth man can still play a huge role.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Quentin Grimes both topped 28 minutes per game last season while mostly coming off the bench. Ayo Dosunmu, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Naz Reid all logged more than 26 minutes a night as reserves.
Oubre, Nembhard, and Nesmith are all going to get real run either way, but the role itself still matters.
The key question is which player Carlisle can convince to embrace that reserve spot. Whoever comes off the bench first should still get plenty of chances to punish second units, and there will be closing opportunities too. Carlisle likes to go with the hot hand, so the final group could change often.
Nesmith makes this especially delicate. He is a key 3-and-D wing who helps Haliburton, and it would be difficult to pull him from the starting five just to make room for Oubre.
In the end, it may come down to who is shooting better and defending better. Oubre made progress in both areas last season, and he is in his prime, so this could turn into a real camp battle.
Pacers fans have reason to trust Carlisle to sort it out. Indiana didn’t make the 2025 NBA Finals without him, and now the front office has given him another talented piece to work with.
The challenge is obvious: decide whether Kelly Oubre Jr. starts or becomes the sixth man, then make the whole thing click. Fans will be watching closely when training camp opens.
In Other News...
Pacers Suddenly Have A Real Battle Behind Ivica Zubac
Training camp is going to bring a real competition for the Pacers backup center minutes, and it is one of the quieter roster battles worth watching as the frontcourt takes shape. General manager Chad Buchanan said the spot behind Ivica Zubac is open, with Larry Nance Jr., Jay Huff and Obi Toppin all in the mix after Indiana added Nance as its latest frontcourt piece.
Nance arrived after the Pacers waived Micah Potter to make room, a move that underscored how much the team valued the veteran big mans fit and experience. Buchanan also pointed to Nance as the best available frontcourt option on the market, and the expectation is that he will try to turn that opportunity into a bounce-back season while Indiana sorts out how the minutes behind Zubac will be divided. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Suddenly Have No Room For A Slow Start
The Pacers head into this season with a familiar core after their 2024-25 Finals run, and the roster only looks a little different with Ivica Zubac and Kelly Oubre added to the mix. In a crowded Eastern Conference, though, familiarity is not the same thing as breathing room. Indiana is still trying to prove that last spring was not a one-off, and the margin for error has shrunk now that the rest of the conference is packed with teams chasing position.
For Indiana, the bigger issue is timing. A team built around continuity and depth can usually afford to ease into the year, but this group may not have that luxury if it wants to put itself in the best playoff position. Securing a top seed would change the path considerably, and that makes October and November feel a lot more important than they might in a more forgiving year. [Read more 🡒]