If you’re looking for the Pacers’ biggest strength, start with the first five. Indiana’s starting group belongs in the league’s top tier, and that much is easy to see when Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam, and Ivica Zubac are joined by any two of Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Kelly Oubre Jr. That’s a lot of talent to stack on one floor, and there aren’t many teams that can say they match up with that kind of quality from top to bottom in the opening lineup.
The clubs that even belong in that discussion are the Philadelphia 76ers, the New York Knicks, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the San Antonio Spurs. On paper, Indiana can go punch for punch with those teams when the game starts. The problem shows up after that.
Depth is where the Pacers look thin. TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, and one of those three wings give Indiana useful pieces, but it’s not a bench group that’s going to make opponents lose sleep. The talent is there, sure, but it doesn’t compare especially well with what the other contenders can bring off the bench.
Philadelphia can lean on capable complementary options in Dean Wade, Anfernee Simons, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, plus a complete wildcard in LaBaron Philon. San Antonio has veterans waiting to steady its young starters.
New York can throw out Jose Alvarado and a highly flexible mix of forwards and bigs. None of those teams are rolling out a parade of sixth-man superstars, but they do have more answers than Indiana does.
That matters over the course of a regular season. A team that can trust a 10-man rotation can stay fresher, test more lineup combinations, and head into the playoffs with more reps under its belt.
The Pacers may not get that luxury. They may have to choose between pushing their starters hard all season or entering the postseason worn down.
And that’s the bind.
Solving it through a trade is easier said than done. Indiana needs more than one thing from the bench situation: a creator, a backup big, and a wing defender.
Finding one player who checks all those boxes is hard enough. Trading for one is even harder, because that kind of player would cost more than the Pacers may want to surrender.
The archetype itself is rare, too. Indiana needs someone who can play from the two through the four, knock down shots, and defend with real bite.
Put another way, they may be hunting for another Aaron Nesmith/Pascal Siakam hybrid. That’s not a modest ask.
Conservatively, that’s a top-25 player in basketball.
So the more realistic path may be the bargain route: a buy-low second-draft swing on a talented player who hasn’t worked out somewhere else yet, but still has something left to unlock. Indiana may not be able to outspend the teams with deeper reserve units, but it can try to outwork the market.
Whether the answer comes through an established veteran or a developmental flier, the Pacers need one. They can match the best teams when the starters are on the floor.
The bigger question is whether they can survive the long haul with what comes after. That may end up defining their season.
In Other News...
Nikola Jokic Just Put A Surprising Matchup Problem On Notice
Wendell Carter Jr. has quietly turned Denver into one of his more favorable matchups, giving the Nuggets problems with a mix of defensive versatility and enough skill on the other end to stay involved. He has averaged 17 points per game against Denver as of the 2026 NBA season, his best mark against any team, and he backed that up with a season-high 26 points and a career-high four 3-pointers in a December 2025 meeting with the Nuggets.
The part that should matter most to anyone tracking the broader NBA pecking order is that Nikola Jokic has noticed. Carters ability to shift between roles and still punish Denver offensively has made him a tougher cover than most would expect, and Jokic has put him in the category of defenders who can give him real trouble. For teams around the league, it is a useful reminder that matchups can still tilt a game in ways the standings do not always show. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Could Be Perfect For A Young Guard Ready To Rebound
Sacramentos track record with young draft picks has not exactly inspired patience, which is part of why Devin Carter remains such an interesting buy-low name even after a rocky start to his NBA career. The former Kings lottery pick has not fully tapped into the promise that made him a first-round target, and his profile still suggests there is more there for a team with the right structure and enough runway to let him grow.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker is the useful comp here, since his own career took off only after he landed with a winning team that could absorb the early unevenness and help bring out the rest of his game. Indiana has built itself into exactly the kind of environment that can make a young guard look better, which is why Carter feels like the sort of swing the Pacers could explore if they want another development bet with real upside. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Fans Have A New Reason To Watch Ivica Zubac Closely
The Pacers frontcourt plans got a little more interesting when Ivica Zubac arrived from the Clippers before last seasons trade deadline, even if his Indiana debut was cut short by a rib injury. He only managed five games in a Pacers uniform, leaving most of the intrigue around his fit and value still waiting to be answered when he gets a fuller run.
Zubac just picked up some league-wide validation from an unlikely source. Nikola Jokic recently singled him out as one of the toughest matchups in the NBA, a nod that says plenty about the kind of physicality Zubac brings every night and gives Pacers fans another reason to keep an eye on how he looks once he is back in regular action. [Read more 🡒]