The Indiana Pacers will open their season Wednesday night on the road against the New Orleans Pelicans, but they won’t have two important pieces of the rotation available.
According to the Pacers’ social media account on X, starting small forward Aaron Nesmith has been ruled out with a left hamstring strain. Nesmith also sat out the final two preseason games because of the injury, though the full extent of the issue wasn’t clear at the time. Now that he’s missing the first game of the regular season, the concern around it naturally rises.
Indiana already had a chance to test a replacement look in the preseason, and Kelly Oubre Jr. handled that role smoothly. The newly acquired small forward started in Nesmith’s place and looked comfortable with the group.
In the preseason, Oubre averaged 8.5 points in 16.5 minutes per game while shooting 52.2% from the field (12-23) and 46.2% from three (6-13). He’s still learning the Pacers’ system and terminology, but getting three preseason games with the starters gave him a useful head start.
Nesmith’s absence pushes Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard into larger bench roles at the backup two and three spots. Walker also missed the final two preseason games with an undisclosed injury, though he was not listed on the injury report.
The other absence is T.J. McConnell, who remains sidelined with a right hamstring strain. He missed all of the preseason with the injury, and the Pacers will be keeping a close eye on that situation as well.
Without McConnell, Indiana has a couple of options. The team can trim the rotation and use Andrew Nembhard as the backup point guard, or it can go deeper and give Quenton Jackson minutes with the second unit. There’s also a chance Braden Smith dresses in case the Pacers need another point guard option.
Depth is supposed to be one of the biggest strengths of this roster, but losing two key rotational players to start the season is not the kind of news Indiana wanted heading into its opener.
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