Subsequent season is anticipated to be a niche 12 months for the Indiana Pacers, regardless of them making the NBA Finals final season. Star Tyrese Haliburton is anticipated to overlook all of subsequent season, forcing the Pacers to scramble, but it surely might not be as unhealthy as many suspect.
In spite of everything, they’ve a transparent Haliburton substitute in Andrew Nembhard, who will possible begin at level guard subsequent season. He has proven untapped potential that will likely be on full show subsequent season.
That can hopefully result in a breakout season, with one ability lately drawing reward. Nembhard is a pesky defender and even did a strong job defending League and Finals MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander within the NBA Finals.
Nonetheless, his tendency to drag out the rug on defenders drew reward as an underrated ability. Nembhard usually pulls again on contact when opposing guards lean in to attempt to push him again.
Andrew Nembhard pulling the chair on drives https://t.co/sVAB7Dt7XQ pic.twitter.com/joxMEjR3XC
— AKRiley (@AKRileyy5) August 12, 2025
As a substitute, Nembhard hilariously nopes out, backing off when the opponents lean in.
The Indiana Pacers will give the keys to Andrew Nembhard
The Pacers clearly have loads of confidence in him, having him defend the sport’s prime gamers. Nonetheless, subsequent season, he will likely be given the inexperienced gentle extra on offense.
If he can show that he can thrive as a starting-caliber level guard, then it might enhance the Pacers’ ceiling as soon as Haliburton returns. Double so if Bennedict Mathurin additionally makes probably the most of taking part in massive minutes subsequent season.
With out Halliburton and Myles Turner, who signed with the rival Milwaukee Bucks, the Pacers will likely be down two starters. Because of this, they may depend on Nembhard and Mathurin to choose up the slack, giving them a excessive diploma of variation.
The Pacers must see what Andrew Nembhard’s ceiling is
The Pacers must rely extra on their depth and a balanced scoring assault to offset the losses of Haliburton and Turner, and Nembhard will likely be key to that. Enjoying extra minutes and extra with the ball in his palms will give him offensive alternatives that he did not have final season.
Due to this fact, the Pacers hope that he can take full benefit by increasing his sport. That will flip a niche 12 months right into a season that has significant improvement for his or her position gamers.
Per 36 minutes, he posted 12.5 factors and 6.2 assists per sport. That might not be the right correlation of what to anticipate, but it surely gives a baseline with him possible taking part in greater than half-hour per sport subsequent season and seeing elevated utilization. If he can common round 15 factors and seven assists subsequent season, that may be a house run for the Pacers and show that Nembhard has far more to supply than pesky protection.
