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How can this be fixed? Going forward is this going to be a problem that cannot be fixed. What are the factors short term and long term? The new combination of Wiseman, Huff and Jackson is this a permanent solution or just a quick fix until help arrives. Pacerland please provide a solution that can be permanent.

thomas1897 wrote:How can this be fixed? Going forward is this going to be a problem that cannot be fixed. What are the factors short term and long term? The new combination of Wiseman, Huff and Jackson is this a permanent solution or just a quick fix until help arrives. Pacerland please provide a solution that can be permanent.

Good question.

I don’t think anything in the NBA is permanent. Locked on Pacers mentioned a study that showed that very few players in the nba were with the same team after 5 years. For Indy, it’s just TJ. So, changes can happen, and quickly.

With that in mind, I think Indy is likely to draft a center they love in the next draft. The cap structure right now kind of lends itself well to that scenario, with Hali/Siakam signed long term and Nembhard, Nesmith, Mathurin, etc all having or needing new extensions soon (or a combo of the both). Plus, we know that ideally Carlisle would have a center who can stretch the floor, protect the rim, AND be a lot threat. But those guys just aren’t common at all. And they’re not available right now. And, I think they’re truly comfortable that two of the Jackson/Huff/Wiseman trio can contribute somehow at the 5 for them for the next 2-3 seasons that they won’t feel rushed to get just ANY BODY.

In terms of trades? I don’t think Indy will strike a big two team trade. If anything, I think they’ll look to tag in on any multi team trades to snag the center they like (2 out of those 3 things above) that is in the trade for salary filler purposes, or the receiving team doesn’t primarily need? Like, if Atlanta trades for Giannis, Onyeka Okongwu is likely involved as salary/position filler, but Milwaukee wouldn’t need OO with now having Myles long term.

Or other similar type swaps. But, just my thinking.

thomas1897 wrote:How can this be fixed? Going forward is this going to be a problem that cannot be fixed. What are the factors short term and long term? The new combination of Wiseman, Huff and Jackson is this a permanent solution or just a quick fix until help arrives. Pacerland please provide a solution that can be permanent.

It's certainly not a problem that cannot be fixed. This year is a little bit of a holding pattern; the Pacers certainly aren't tanking or punting the season, but we also aren't expecting to contend for a title. So we can experiment with things, give guys different lineups and roles, and not worry too much about whether it's the night-in, night-out winning choice. By the end of the season we'll know exactly what we have from these three centers, and what direction we want to go in.

The Huff/Jackson/Wiseman combo is a quick fix for the upcoming season. Maybe one of them breaks out and becomes a clear guy who we want as our starting center the following season, and that turns into a longer-term fix. Maybe not, and we pursue other options - as Scoot mentioned, the 2026 draft could land us our "center of the future" - then he can come up on the team and earn minutes against our HuffJackWise platoon... or a deal could arise where we trade for someone that we like. But we're not in any hurry here - we're fine with a platoon of second-string guys for a year as we figure out what the next steps will be.

Don't be shocked either if we end up signing some random second/third string centers some time during the season - if one of our current guys goes down with injury, or flames out badly and we decide he's not worth playing at all. Last year we cycled through like 7 different centers at various points - Myles Turner, of course, but also Jackson, Wiseman, Moses Brown, Jahlil Okafor, Thomas Bryant, Tony Bradley - by the end of the season we managed to land on a few guys who could give us good minutes.

Personally I’m not worried about the replacement of Myles Turner. The coaching staff and front office will get the center slot filled in due time. I think the group of centers under contract currently will get us through this season as long as their health allows and they’ll have a good start on the future. My choice is Isiah Jackson to become the starter for more than just this upcoming season and I can see Jay Huff being here a few years.

First will the Pacers coaching staff continue to run the same hurry up offense that prospered with Tyrese in charge or do they modify or morph it into a different offensive scheme to fit Nembhard and Mathurin as the guard tandem. Do they play more half court sets to utilize Pascal even more ?

My immediate player concerns are about the youthful roster jam that will soon occur. Will Benn Mathurin become a player that has to be extended and kept because he has matured into a monster offensive force that could result in a future offensive strategy shift? I don’t see him forcing Nesmith out of town but who knows? Or will he mature just enough to be dangled mid season as a valuable asset to obtain assets or a player to improve roster strength for the future which fits better here ?

Next concern is Jarace Walker a very high first round draft pick as was Mathurin the year prior who has been very slow to break out compared to Mathurin’s and second round pick Nembhard’s production. I feel like this season Walker has to step it up and show that he can produce valuable defensive contributions plus more offensive stats providing second team depth. Time for him to get aggressive and develop confidence in himself thus showing the coaching enough to earn consistent minutes. His shooting percentages are very good. If not he could be moved on from because Furphy is going to be pushing him for playing time. Only thing that Walker has in his favor is he’s still so very young since he came out early.

Less of a concern currently is Ben Sheppard as his defense will probably earn him guard slot minutes ahead of anyone on the bench. He was finally looking better in the playoffs playing tough defense and hitting an occasional 3. I know he’s a good passer and unselfish but he’s got to start taking more shots to produce offense on the second team. So far in his two seasons a pretty weak 5.3 pts per game scorer. He also needs to improve his accuracy.

I like the addition of Jones and Peter and hope that somehow they can acquire a young beast to groom to play behind Pascal.

I gotta agree with the other posts. IMO, this season has a silver lining. There are going to be opportunities. Who is going to step up & show they belong? This is Benn's chance to show that he can fit, or he can be so good that we change course, or he can maximize his value. Jarace, same. He has to show that he is a starter, or dam close to it, now. This year. We said when he was drafted that he wouldn't show value until 25-26,... now he has an even bigger opportunity to do it, or it's time to move along.

I have to believe, that summer of 26, we have a much clearer picture of this team & what it can be. Ready for Tyrese to return.

Insane as it is,... I'm really looking forward to this season,... no matter what happens!

thomas1897 wrote:How can this be fixed? Going forward is this going to be a problem that cannot be fixed. What are the factors short term and long term? The new combination of Wiseman, Huff and Jackson is this a permanent solution or just a quick fix until help arrives. Pacerland please provide a solution that can be permanent.

Wiseman was once a very big time prospect. Jackson was a #1 pick and has a lot of talent. I think Huff will start and produce quite well if he can play 25 min a game. He might even approximate Turners offense numbers and could be a good shot blocker.

The Pacers will miss Turner that's for sure. I expect there will be an opportunity come up in the next year either via trade of in the 2026 draft. My guess is that Huff and Jackson will be the centers a the end of the season. I don't expect to make the playoffs, but could hit the play ins.

JMaster5K wrote:I gotta agree with the other posts. IMO, this season has a silver lining. There are going to be opportunities. Who is going to step up & show they belong? This is Benn's chance to show that he can fit, or he can be so good that we change course, or he can maximize his value. Jarace, same. He has to show that he is a starter, or dam close to it, now. This year. We said when he was drafted that he wouldn't show value until 25-26,... now he has an even bigger opportunity to do it, or it's time to move along.

I have to believe, that summer of 26, we have a much clearer picture of this team & what it can be. Ready for Tyrese to return.

Insane as it is,... I'm really looking forward to this season,... no matter what happens!

Oh yeah brother I am so looking forward to the player growth, new faces, the unexpected, and if there’s any coaching adjustments to the offense/defense. It will be a different kind of viewing experience and require less expectations. I’m hoping we’re past the bad news and it’s going to be a season of building for the future instead of spinning the wheels until Tyrese gets back.

Pacers have demonstrated answers can come unlikely places (see Andrew Nemhart and Aaron Nesmith). I think there is a decent chance that a committee of Jackson and Huff can provide defense and spacing just not in one body. Both seem capable of more than we’ve from them to this point. A longer shot is James Wiseman but, he also provides an upside the other tow don’t have. I like the idea of letting these three play it out. Maybe we find this answer in an unlikely place again. If not there’s the draft.

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if Huff is really Myles Turner on steroids. Monster 3 point shooter and shot blocker, but a terrible rebounder. He adds a much better lob threat, countered by significantly worse individual defense. The hope is that his two inches of height over Myles, plus a year of top level coaching, helps mitigate his weaknesses by the end of the season. Or maybe he just got lucky in limited minutes last year and is a scrub. It's worth tuning in just to see him develop.

dahntayJfanclub wrote:I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if Huff is really Myles Turner on steroids. Monster 3 point shooter and shot blocker, but a terrible rebounder. He adds a much better lob threat, countered by significantly worse individual defense. The hope is that his two inches of height over Myles, plus a year of top level coaching, helps mitigate his weaknesses by the end of the season. Or maybe he just got lucky in limited minutes last year and is a scrub. It's worth tuning in just to see him develop.

Huff will be interesting to see. He was a third string center in Memphis and was with 3 other teams prior. The Pacers will be his 5th team in 5 seasons in the league. He probably hasn’t been asked to do as much as the Pacers will require of him. I do expect his rebounding to improve from his avg of 2 per game. Hopefully his defense can improve also, but I won’t hold my breath. Wiseman I have less hope of impact from him but I hope he proves me wrong.

Pacers Forever wrote:

dahntayJfanclub wrote:I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if Huff is really Myles Turner on steroids. Monster 3 point shooter and shot blocker, but a terrible rebounder. He adds a much better lob threat, countered by significantly worse individual defense. The hope is that his two inches of height over Myles, plus a year of top level coaching, helps mitigate his weaknesses by the end of the season. Or maybe he just got lucky in limited minutes last year and is a scrub. It's worth tuning in just to see him develop.

Huff will be interesting to see. He was a third string center in Memphis and was with 3 other teams prior. The Pacers will be his 5th team in 5 seasons in the league. He probably hasn’t been asked to do as much as the Pacers will require of him. I do expect his rebounding to improve from his avg of 2 per game. Hopefully his defense can improve also, but I won’t hold my breath. Wiseman I have less hope of impact from him but I hope he proves me wrong.

If you haven’t seen the quick interview with coach by Tony East, or the end of season interview? Both are worth a watch. In both cases when ask about the Center position, Coach responds with ‘We’ll be fine.’

It’s not just what he says, but the way he says it. It’s the quiet confidence & clarity in his delivery. He believes it’s an issue, but won’t impact the teams ability to play quality basketball. They will adapt. They will play on.

dahntayJfanclub wrote:I'm definitely looking forward to seeing if Huff is really Myles Turner on steroids. Monster 3 point shooter and shot blocker, but a terrible rebounder. He adds a much better lob threat, countered by significantly worse individual defense. The hope is that his two inches of height over Myles, plus a year of top level coaching, helps mitigate his weaknesses by the end of the season. Or maybe he just got lucky in limited minutes last year and is a scrub. It's worth tuning in just to see him develop.

I'm looking forward to seeing what Huff can do as well?....

He's actually the same size as Myles. Myles was 7'1" (in shoes), 258, with a 9'6" standing reach,.... (when he left, not at his combine, he grew since he was drafted.) Huff was brought in for interviews & measured at the 21 combine, even though he was not a combine participant. NBADraft.net has the following:

Measured 7’0.5” barefoot, 7’2.0” in shoes 9’6.0” standing reach, 234.2 lbs, and 7’2.75” wingspan at the 2021 NBA Draft Combine

His wingspan isn't as big as Myles,.. but his standing reach is the same.

NBADraftRoom.com had the following write up on him from the 21 draft:

Tall, lean, skilled and lethal from 3pt land, Huff will get a long look from NBA teams thanks to his ability to space the floor and guard at the rim.

Huff posted great shooting splits as a senior (58/39/84) thanks to his great shooting ability and smart shot selection. His 3pt shot at his height is a dangerous weapon and gives him a clear NBA role.

'Huff averaged 2.6 blocks per game as a senior and is very adept at defending at the rim. He’s a bit lacking in bulk and might get pushed around early in his career but shows a lot of promise as a shot blocker. He’s got decent versatility on D, although he won’t be confused for Clint Capela any time soon.'

You are right,... he's a worse rebounder than Myles, but now that he's older & a bit more filled out,... Maybe he can improve a little?.... (wishful thinking). I think last year, was the first year he really had a shot to get some experience,... he played 748 minutes last season. He played 20, 95, 49 minutes in his first 3 seasons... LOL =] He actually had more blocks than Myles last year, per 36 minutes & per 100 possessions? So, I'm hoping he can be a defensive anchor, with I-Jax as the sky monster off the bench?

Toppin could also be in the center rotation

Wizop wrote:Toppin could also be in the center rotation

I would imagine we see a fair amount of minutes with either Obi or Walker as the "nominal" center. Or even Siakam small ball.