As August winds down, the Eastern Conference conversation has centered on the Cleveland Cavaliers, the last team to make a major move this offseason. But while Cleveland went hunting for more talent and came away with the Peyton Watson trade, the Indiana Pacers are dealing with a different kind of roster puzzle: fit.
Indiana’s lineup is built in a very old-school way, the kind of roster that feels straight out of a 90s coaching manual. The point guard, power forward, and center spots are stocked with some of the league’s most complete options. The wings, though, remain the weak point.
That’s not because the Pacers are empty there. It’s because the pieces they do have don’t cleanly solve the problems in front of them. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Kelly Oubre Jr. give Indiana a usable trio, but none of them checks every box the roster still needs.
The issue is more about overlap than absence. Indiana is going to have to start two of those three, and the current expectation is that Nembhard and Nesmith remain in the opening five while Oubre comes off the bench.
On paper, that works. In practice, it creates another dilemma.
The bench already lacks shot creation, which makes Nembhard look like the better fit to run with TJ McConnell, Obi Toppin, and the rest of the second unit. In that kind of role, he could thrive in a Lou Williams-style job, handling usage in non-star minutes while spacing the floor and attacking closeouts.
Nesmith and Oubre, meanwhile, bring similar answers to similar questions. One is more slash-and-shoot, the other more shoot-and-slash, but the overlap is obvious.
Both can defend on the perimeter, yet neither profiles as the Pacers’ true lockdown wing. And that kind of stopper isn’t really on the roster anyway.
That’s why the cleanest answer might actually be the messiest one: moving both Nembhard and Oubre to the bench and using them in a platoon setup that keeps Indiana supplied with rim pressure and shot creation at all times.
There isn’t an easy fix here. The Pacers don’t have two wings who fully solve the problem without creating another one somewhere else. They’re stuck between a thin bench and a crowded group of players with similar strengths.
It’s a rock and a hard place situation. Indiana still has to solve it, and fast.
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Pacers Fans Finally Have A New Way To Watch This Season
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The arrangement matters because local access has become part of the modern NBA experience, and Pacers followers have been looking for a cleaner solution. While other league news has centered on contract standoffs and summer development stories around the conference, this is the kind of off-court change that can still shape how a season feels from the start, especially for fans who just want a reliable way to keep up every night. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Linked To Veteran Reunion That Could Help A Finals Push
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Johnson is the sort of veteran addition teams tend to revisit when the games get bigger and the margin for error gets smaller. He has bounced around the league, has already given Indiana a useful bench presence before, and brings the kind of leadership and locker room value that can matter as much as on-court minutes in a deep postseason run. Whether the Pacers decide to go that route remains the part worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Still Need Johnny Furphy To Answer One Lingering Bench Question
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The encouraging part is that Furphy has handled more minutes and shown some scoring growth when hes been on the floor. The part Indiana still needs answered is whether the shot can become reliable enough to translate those flashes into steady NBA production. Until that happens, his case is less about what he has already become and more about whether he can prove he belongs in a bench role the Pacers can actually count on. [Read more 🡒]