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The Indiana Pacers are off to a slow start this season and are 3-7 after ten games. While there are still 72 games remaining, this is not where the team hoped to be.
Weathering the storm of injuries, the Pacers are eager to get their core fully healthy so they can fairly evaluate how they envisioned this team looking.
To get a better understanding of who is playing well and who isn't, let's see whose stock is up and whose is down.
There are two trains of thought here: Haliburton's stock should be up because the team can't consistently string together good play without him, but once again the star point guard is hurt and has missed the last six games (and will miss more). While Haliburton was playing well to start the season, the fact that he is already hurt again is worrisome. Hopefully, this injury is not long lasting, but it is the third straight year that he has had hamstring injuries. I can't justify saying his stock is up when he's unavailable to play.
Despite his inconsistent three-point shooting and poor percentage from the free throw line, Siakam has consistently been the best player on the team. He is averaging just over 21 points per game with 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He's been healthy for every game except one, and continues to be the engine of the offense with Haliburton out.
The best surprise for the starting five is that Nembhard has elevated his game. He's avearging nearly 18 points per game and shooting 40% from three. His assists number is at 7 per game and he already had a 14 assist performance against the best team in the East, the Philadelphia 76ers. While there is no timetable for Haliburton's return, the Pacers need Nembhard to continue delivering on a consistent basis. There is no question that he is a better player with additional ball handlers on the floor and not left as the lone quarterback trying to setup the offense alone.
The Pacers starting small forward has not looked good to start the season. He is shooting a career-worst 38.6% from the field and is a woeful 30.4% from three-point range. His rebound numbers are his lowest as a Pacer with just 2.4 per game and he looks completely out of sync without Haliburton on the floor. The 7-year forward is playing an extremely underwhelming brand of basketball right now and his struggles have really hurt the Pacers when they have needed him to step up more.
The big man who the Pacers traded a lot of assets to acquire has gotten off to a rocky start in Indiana. Last season he only played five games before a fractured rib sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Three games into this season and his ankle was stepped on by Oubre and it caused him to miss five games in a row.
In his return against Memphis he scored just 1 point, missed all of shots, was non-effective on the glass and was a team-worst -22. He turned it around with a solid double-double (10 points, 12 rebounds) against Jokic in his second game back from injury, but it's still hard to evaluate how he fits without seeing a larger sample size of him next to Haliburton. It is going to take a significant amount of time until he is fully acclimated with this system, but there is no denying that his stock is down even though it's a small sample size.
Toppin is averaging a career-high 13.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game through this early portion of the season. He has been a top-five player for this group when healthy, and is showcasing once again how well he fits into this system. He is accustomed to playing with non-Haliburton lineups, so his departure is not hindering him as much as others, but there is no denying that those two have special chemistry together. I expect his stock to continue to stay high, even with McConnell back running the second unit.
No player on the Pacers roster has been more disappointing during the first ten games of the season than Oubre. The 12-year veteran has not even sniffed expectations of what the front office and coaching staff expected of him when he signed in the offseason and he's found himself on the bench watching players that are deemed "worse than him" playing more minutes.
It's bad enough that Oubre is shooting a horrific 23% from three-point range, but of his 61 total field goals attempted this season, 49.2% have come from three. Indiana priortized getting wing help in the offseason and right now Oubre has been more harmful to the success of the team than helpful. It is too early to write the veteran off, but if this trend continues there is no way he lasts in Indiana past the NBA trade deadline.
Right now, Walker's stock feels closer to in the middle than either up or down, but if choosing between the two, I have to lean down because of how poor his offense has been. He's shooting 37.5% from the field and below 30% from three. On the positive side, his rebounding has improved and his defense has gotten better, but there is still a lot more to be desired from the four-year wing. With Sheppard and Furphy injured and Oubre struggling to produce, Walker is the best option of the four for the Pacers.
It was a bit concerning that McConnell missed the entire preseason and the first 9 games of the regular season, but it was good to see him back against Denver for his first minutes of the season. He played just 9 first-half minutes and looked fine. There is nothing we can really take from his play with it being just a one-game sample size.
Huff was viewed by several as the Pacers backup big behind Zubac, but he has struggled to solidify himself as the the permanent backup. With Nance logging more minutes than him and outplaying him on a few occassions, it's hard to see the team fully trusting him to be the primary backup. His three-point shooting is subpar, he is not a strong rebounder and is averaging less than a block per game. Until he shows more, his stock is down.
Many believed that Nance would be the third string center for this team and wouldn't crack the rotation. Unfortunately, Zubac's injury and Huff's lackluster play catapulted him into a bigger role. In almost 16 minutes of play, he is shooting 41.7% from three on a career-low number of field goal attempts per game. While his play has been underwhelming, I don't think his stock was lower than what it was entering the season. He didn't get signed until day 9 of free agency to a minimum contract and the Pacers didn't have to outbid any other suitors for his services.
After playing 12 minutes in the season opener against New Orleans, Sheppard tore his meniscus and had surgery to fully repair it about 10 days ago. He will be out months and could miss the entirety of the regular season. This is a major blow to the depth of the team, but there is no way to evaluate whether his stock is up or down. However, it does push him towards the top of the trade block since the Pacers can't afford to pay an injured player on an expiring contract when they are already up against it financially.
Of all the players on the Pacers through ten games, Jackson's stock might be the highest. He was not expected to have this big of a role, but where would they be without his consistent hard play? Last season presented him a bigger opportunity and he took advantage of it and developed his game. At this point, Jackson has outplayed Oubre and Walker and deserves a spot next to McConnell in the second unit as the team gets back to full strength. He's earned it.
Smith was not expected to see the floor much this season --especially not this early-- but injuries have given him an opportunity to showcase his abilities. He's had two memorable performances (Atlanta, Memphis) and three forgettable ones (Philly, Miami and Denver), but the rookie point guard has proven he can play in this league. His time in the rotation will likely come to an end once Haliburton returns (maybe even sooner), but he's given Indiana more than anyone expected.
There is nothing polished about his game, but he has a relentless motor and gives it 110% every time he touches the floor. He is one of the best chasedown shot blockers in the NBA and gives Indiana a lot of optionality. He can play both forward spots and is a servicable small-ball five, and he does whatever is asked of him. If Indiana converts any of its two-way players to a standard contract, Slawson should be the one rewarded.
After being traded to the Pacers last season with Zubac, Brown shot 43.3% from three and ws brought back to the team on a two-way deal. His playing time this season has been significantly lower than what it was last season, but his production has dipped. In a small amount of time, he is shooting just 25% from three and hasn't played well enough in the minutes he's been given to believe that he is on the roster past this season.
Furphy is cotinuing to rehab from the ACL injury he suffered against the Raptors in early February and has not played a game. His stock will be incomplete until his return to the court.
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