The Indiana Pacers’ summer league run in Las Vegas opened with a win, but it didn’t take long for the whole thing to tilt into disappointment.
That first game offered a real jolt of optimism. Indiana knocked off the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-93, and the biggest bright spot came from Rienk Mast, the Dutch big man whose touch and rebounding stood out right away. For a night, the Pacers looked like a team with something to sell in their young talent.
But the rest of the week told a much rougher story.
This roster was built around two names in particular: third-year wing Jalen Slawson, who had quietly carved out a spot during a miserable Pacers gap year, and Braden Smith, the second-round guard who slid because of size concerns. Mast emerged as a surprise development, but the broader picture never really improved.
Slawson put up numbers, finishing at 20.5 points per game, but the efficiency was ugly. His shooting line - 43/26/77 - undercut the production and raised the same issue that will follow him back to Indiana: can he scale his game down enough to fit around Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam? Without that adjustment, he looks headed for the G-League, chasing the call-up he wants.
Smith’s case was even harsher. The source of the concern was obvious throughout the week: his size shows up on defense, and he simply does not shoot well enough to compensate.
Small guards usually survive by either blowing by defenders and finishing at the rim or stretching the floor with enough shooting to open driving lanes. Smith does neither.
The assist totals were at least eye-catching - 6.5 per game - but they came in the middle of what was described as dreadful play. The overall impression was that he looked unplayable.
And that was the larger problem for Indiana. In summer league, misses are one thing.
What usually matters is whether the process looks clean, repeatable, and manageable. For the Pacers, almost everything looked hard.
After that opening win, they dropped three straight games in ugly fashion before Saturday’s closeout against New Orleans.
If the best takeaways are a wing who can pile up numbers only with huge usage and a slow-footed center who outplayed his undrafted billing, that doesn’t exactly scream depth. Summer league may not mean much in the grand scheme. Still, it would have been nice for the Pacers to show more.
In Other News...
Pacers May Have One Internal Answer To Their Biggest Depth Concern
With the Pacers roster nearly filled and most of the starting five plus the key bench pieces already in place, the final questions are becoming more specific. The biggest one is at the wing, where Indiana still does not have a clean answer behind the starting shooting guard spot, and the center rotation remains thin enough that every remaining slot on the roster matters.
Ben Sheppard is the name worth watching because his path to a regular role runs through his shot. If he can keep sharpening that part of his game, he gives Indiana a young, versatile option who could help stabilize the second unit and make the whole bench picture look a lot cleaner heading into the part of the season where depth usually starts to show up. [Read more 🡒]
One Pacers Player Is Suddenly Crashing Indianas Roster Battle
The Pacers have spent the offseason reshaping their depth chart, adding veterans Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. while also bringing in Ivica Zubac in a previous trade, and the roster squeeze is already showing up in the margins. One of the players making the strongest early case is Jalen Slawson, who is on a two-way contract and has looked sharp in Summer League, putting up 20.5 points, seven rebounds, 2.5 assists and three blocks a game.
Slawson showed enough promise last season to stay on the radar, and his recent play has only intensified a competition that still has several names in the mix for two-way spots. Braden Smith, Kobe Brown, Taelon Peter and Ethan Thompson are all part of that battle, and no final decisions have been announced, which leaves Indiana with a familiar camp question: who has done enough to stick when the numbers start to get tight? [Read more 🡒]