The Pacers’ delay in signing Braden Smith isn’t a sign of hesitation on the player. It’s a roster puzzle.
Indiana took the Purdue guard with the No. 38 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, and plenty of fans expected a deal to follow quickly. Instead, general manager Chad Buchanan says the front office is still sorting through the back end of the roster, and that includes the final standard spot, the three two-way contracts, and the little room the team has left below the first apron.
On Setting the Pace, Buchanan laid out just how many moving parts are still in play.
“We're very, very tight to the first apron and we're hard capped now. We have different options to fill in that 15th spot. We're still kind of making that decision, working through some choices at the back end of the roster, at that 15th spot, with the two-way spots, so still working through all those options at this point.”
That matters because Indiana already has Ethan Thompson, Jalen Slawson, and Kobe Brown occupying the three two-way slots. NBA rules limit teams to three two-way players, so if Smith were signed to a two-way deal, someone would have to go.
The obvious candidate would be Thompson, but the Pacers don’t sound eager to move on from him.
Thompson missed Summer League because he was with the Puerto Rican National Team, where he was one of the group’s top performers. Even out of sight, he hasn’t been out of mind for Indiana.
Buchanan was direct about what the team sees in him.
“Ethan is a guy that when he plays in the G League, he scores at a very high level, a very efficient level. We targeted that when we brought him to us last year, that we needed some scoring punch and some shooting.
We liked his feel for the game. We thought he was a fit for our style.
And it proved to be that way. We had some good moments last year and are still very optimistic about his future.
We would like to hopefully have him in the mix moving forward this year.”
That doesn’t sound like a player the Pacers view as expendable.
Indiana does have enough space under the first apron to give Smith a rookie minimum deal worth about $1.35M, but that would burn its final standard roster spot and squeeze flexibility even further. And Buchanan made it clear the team is weighing more than one path.
The Pacers are also considering whether someone else could fill that 15th spot while keeping them under the apron. Because of the financial restrictions, they can only sign players with zero or one year of NBA service right now.
Still, it would be a surprise if Smith didn’t end up in that spot eventually.
There’s also precedent for Indiana taking a slower route. The team used a similar approach with Kam Jones last offseason by negotiating a partially guaranteed standard contract that kept options open for both sides.
That kind of patience makes sense here. The Pacers believe Smith can grow into a useful point guard depth piece over the next two seasons. At the same time, Thompson has already shown he can produce in Indiana’s system, which makes him harder to part with than some fans might think.
Buchanan’s comments suggest the Pacers would rather find a way to keep both players than force a choice.
There’s another layer to the decision, too: injuries. Buchanan pointed back to last season and the need for two-way players who can actually step in and help.
“If we have injuries like we had last year, we learned those guys need to be able to step in and play, and it can't necessarily be developmental projects. At least all three of them can't be.”
That’s a clue to how Indiana is thinking about its two-way spots. Slawson and Brown are viewed as players who can help right away if needed, and with Johnny Furphy recovering from a torn ACL, the value of NBA-ready depth only goes up. Buchanan indicated the Pacers would be open to using one two-way spot on a developmental player, but not all three.
That makes Smith a logical fit for one of those slots, especially with Brown and Slawson already in place as more ready-made options.
Thompson’s biggest issue may simply be the crowded depth chart at his position. Indiana already has Quenton Jackson, Ben Sheppard, Kelly Oubre Jr,, Andrew Nembhard, and Aaron Nesmith who can handle minutes at the two, and Tyrese Haliburton and Jarace Walker can also play there in certain situations.
That makes Thompson’s path to steady NBA minutes tough. But it also means the Pacers could use him as a key G League presence, which would help Smith develop as a point guard at the next level.
Indiana also knows Thompson would not sit around long if waived. Another team would likely grab him quickly on a two-way deal with a chance for more playing time, which only raises the stakes of the decision.
There’s no rush, either. Training camp is still weeks away, and the Pacers can afford to keep working through the options.
If they wait into the season, minimum contracts become prorated, which lowers the cost of adding a player later on. Indiana’s cap room won’t grow, but the price tag would shrink as games come off the schedule.
For now, the hold-up is less about Smith and more about how Indiana wants to shape the rest of the roster.
The Pacers still expect him to sign. The real question is whether it comes on a two-way deal or a standard contract, and which move Indiana makes to make room for him.
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