Andrew Nembhard has become one of the most beloved players on the Indiana Pacers’ roster, and that affection makes the current roster squeeze even more uncomfortable.
He’s the kind of player fans latch onto fast: a second-round pick who has already outplayed where he was drafted, a guard who fits cleanly next to Tyrese Haliburton, and maybe the best Pacers draft hit since 2015. That kind of value tends to create a strong bond. But it also creates a problem when the money starts tightening.
Indiana is heading toward a roster crunch, and Nembhard could end up being the casualty that comes with it. The Pacers have a less-than-perfect cap situation, multiple players who will need extensions, and a decision to make about what kind of team they want to be.
If the priority is the current title window, then locking in Pascal Siakam and Ivica Zubac becomes the obvious move. In that scenario, someone has to give.
Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard are already mentioned as players who could play themselves out of an Indiana return. If that’s the case, the next exit point has to come from somewhere else, and Nembhard is the name that fits the bill most naturally.
The money only makes the picture messier. There’s no doubt someone would pay Nembhard more than the 19.5 million dollars he is getting now.
After the 2024-25 season, Andrew signed a three-year extension worth nearly 60 million. If he were to land a deal that matched the same kind of cap percentage, it could look a lot like Ayo Dosunmu’s recent 109 million contract.
That is a massive number for a player who did not make the leap some expected when given more opportunity last year.
The real complication, though, is timing. It’s not just Nembhard’s extension that matters, but the whole stack of decisions around him.
The Pacers will have the Bird rights of all their free agents, from role players like Obi Toppin to top scorers like Siakam. And Indiana has never paid the luxury tax.
The question is whether that changes now.
There are really only two paths here. One is simple: Indiana keeps pushing in on the group that nearly won the title two years ago and added an excellent starter at a position of need in their gap year. The other is a shift toward a younger identity, one that would probably favor keeping Nembhard over other pieces.
But NBA teams usually don’t pivot that hard unless they have to, and the price Indiana paid for Zubac and Siakam points in the other direction.
That’s where the uncomfortable math comes in. The Pacers have 140 million below the first apron in two years for seven players, and that kind of money doesn’t stretch far in a clean, painless way.
They can’t keep everybody. Someone notable is going to wind up elsewhere.
And right now, Andrew Nembhard looks like the most likely name on that list.
In Other News...
Pacers Face One Painful Roster Decision After Their Finals Run
The Pacers spent the past season trying to keep themselves competitive even as Tyrese Haliburtons absence reshaped everything around them. They bolstered the rotation in free agency with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr., and they already paid a price in draft capital when they swung a trade for Ivica Zubac. After a Finals run that ended with Haliburton suffering an Achilles injury, Indiana now has to balance the urgency of staying in the mix with the reality of a roster that has quietly become more expensive to maintain.
That is where the next layer of offseason pressure comes in, because the franchise has long preferred to stay clear of the luxury tax and may not have much appetite for simply running it back at full cost. There is already speculation about extensions for Pascal Siakam and Haliburton, which only raises the stakes on every move the front office considers. In other words, the Pacers are not just trying to recover from a grueling year, they are trying to decide which pieces fit their future and which ones might become expendable. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Bench Surge Could Create A Costly Problem For Indiana
The Pacers have spent enough time building around their core to know how quickly a promising bench can turn into a roster puzzle. Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard are part of that next wave, and if either one turns a corner into a breakout role, Indiana could soon be looking at the kind of salary-cap squeeze that makes keeping young talent harder than developing it.
With limited room below the first apron, the front office has little margin for error as it tries to preserve both depth and flexibility. The bigger concern is the long view: several key players are headed toward unrestricted free agency by the end of the 2027-28 season, which means a strong bench today could force some uncomfortable choices just as the Pacers try to stay competitive for the seasons ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Clearly Want Braden Smith But One Roster Issue Still Looms
Braden Smiths path to the NBA has taken on a little more clarity in the wake of Judge Charlotte Sweeneys preliminary injunction, which opened the door for some athletes to gain a fifth collegiate season. For the Pacers, though, the bigger takeaway is simpler: Smiths camp has already made clear he is not headed back to college basketball, and Indiana continues to view him as a player worth developing.
The hold-up now is roster math, not interest. The Pacers have spoken positively about Smith and expect him to spend much of the season with the Noblesville Boom if he lands where they want him, but they still have not signed him, and the teams current two-way situation leaves them with a decision to make before they can move forward. [Read more 🡒]