The Pacers have built their roster the way they like it: deep, versatile, and crowded with players who can realistically claim rotation minutes. That’s the good problem facing Rick Carlisle as August 2nd arrives and Indiana sits with 14 players on its 15-man roster.
The real question is how tight Carlisle should make it when the games start counting. A clean 10-man group seems like the most workable answer, and the most natural starting five looks like this: Haliburton, Nembhard, Nesmith, Siakam, Zubac. On the bench, McConnell, Oubre Jr., Walker, Toppin and Huff form the next layer.
That setup leaves Larry Nance Jr., Ben Sheppard, Johnny Furphy and Quenton Jackson on the outside of the regular nightly mix, with the two-way players not even part of the discussion. Furphy is still working back from the torn ACL he suffered in February against the Raptors, though the expectation is that he returns later in the season.
Nance Jr. was added to bring frontcourt flexibility. He’s mainly a small-ball five, but he can slide to the four as well. Sheppard has already shown he can handle a larger role, too; he was the 11th man in the Pacers’ rotation before and has taken advantage of chances when they came.
Jackson looks like the least likely of the group to force his way into steady minutes, but there is a path. If Indiana decides to keep Haliburton out of some regular-season games as part of a planned rest schedule, Jackson could wind up seeing the floor more often than expected.
Still, the case for a 10-man rotation is simple: the starters need reps together, especially with Zubac joining the mix. Building that chemistry early matters, and the same goes for the bench units.
Indiana also needs to sort out Walker versus Sheppard after preseason and training camp to see who fits best next to McConnell, Oubre Jr. and Toppin. The team will also have to choose between Huff and Nance Jr., though Huff appears likely to get the early edge.
That kind of lineup clarity is the priority. Injuries will shuffle things later, and players outside the main group will get their chances. But the front office and coaching staff need to know what they have in the first and second units before the season gets rolling.
Some around the organization see the picture a little differently. One view is that Indiana should consistently use 12 players during the regular season, with the rest getting minutes based on matchups and injuries. The thinking there is that trying to go beyond 12 can make it harder to settle on reliable lineups, even with a roster this deep.
That approach also ties into the idea of keeping the stars fresh for the playoffs. In that version, players like Larry Nance Jr., Quenton Jackson, Braden Smith, Jalen Slawson, Ethan Thompson and Kobe Brown would likely be the ones most often left out.
There’s also a practical wrinkle: the Pacers are expected to keep playing at a fast pace, which could create room for a 10th or 11th man to matter more than on a typical team. Even so, the competitiveness of the East could push Indiana to shorten the bench at times if it wants to keep stacking wins.
That’s why the bench core may end up looking fairly stable. Toppin, McConnell and Oubre are the obvious staples, though McConnell could get the occasional night off because of his age.
One big man should also be locked in, with either Nance Jr. or Huff getting the nod depending on whether Indiana needs athleticism or shooting. In that view, Walker starts to look like the likely 10th man, with his role still not completely settled.
In Other News...
Pacers Face One Painful Roster Decision After Their Finals Run
Indianas run to the Finals reshaped the conversation around its roster, but it also left the front office with a familiar kind of pressure. The Pacers added Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr. in free agency, then tried to keep pushing forward after a difficult season without Tyrese Haliburton, who had been at the center of their strong 2024-25 campaign before the Achilles injury that ended his Finals run. Add in the cost of the Ivica Zubac deal, which included future first-round picks, and the long-term picture already feels more complicated than the box score of a deep playoff run might suggest.
Now comes the part Indiana usually tries to manage without crossing its financial comfort zone. The Pacers have generally steered clear of luxury-tax territory, and according to NBA insider Eric Pincus, that could lead to a trade aimed at trimming salary as the offseason unfolds. With contract-extension questions also looming for Pascal Siakam and Haliburton, the roster may need another round of hard choices before the front office can decide how aggressively it wants to keep building on last springs success. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Clearly Want Braden Smith But One Roster Issue Still Looms
A new ruling out of Colorado added another layer to Braden Smiths path this week, opening the door for certain athletes to take a fifth collegiate season. For the Pacers, though, the more immediate issue is much more ordinary: Smith is already moving toward the pros, and Indiana has not yet finalized a contract as it continues sorting through its roster picture.
The front office has made clear it likes Smith and sees a development path for him, with the expectation that he would spend a lot of time with the Noblesville Boom. The sticking point is roster space on the two-way side, where the Pacers already have their current allotment filled, leaving them with a decision to make before they can bring Smith in on that type of deal. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Bench Surge Could Create A Costly Problem For Indiana
The Pacers have spent plenty of time building around pace, shooting and depth, but the next wave of that plan comes with a financial catch. With little room below the first apron, Indiana does not have much flexibility to keep every piece if recent draft picks Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard turn into real rotation anchors, especially as the franchise tries to balance todays push with tomorrows roster planning.
That is where the bench surge could start to look more like a dilemma than a luxury. If Walker and Sheppard keep climbing, the Pacers may eventually have to choose between rewarding homegrown growth and preserving the cap room needed to keep a long competitive window open, particularly with several core players set to reach unrestricted free agency by the end of the 2027-28 season. [Read more 🡒]