2024 Pacers Summer League Recap (Patreon)

Reviewing the nine-day run for the Pacers in Las Vegas

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

For the most part, the Summer Pacers, who went 1-4 in Las Vegas, looked as though they belonged at Summer League. With only Tristen Newton and Quenton Jackson available as lead initiators, the roster as a whole needed more ball-handlers and also needed more from what ball-handlers were available. As a result, while certain players were arguably pressed into doing too much (i.e. Jarace Walker), others didn't necessarily get to show enough -- at least with regard to what they might be capable of when playing off the advantages created by others.

Think of it this way: In two games, Ben Sheppard shot 2-of-8 from three. Of those eight attempts, only three were preceded by a paint touch, which included both makes. On the whole, the ball either got caught above the break too often or was being thrown here, there, and everywhere in a way that, quite frankly, isn't likely to be replicated by the Actual Pacers, who arguably have the most depth at the point guard position of any team in the league. To be fair, some of that was also exacerbated by the fact that several players were attempting to play out of position, with Jackson, as a slashing combo guard, attempting to masquerade as a dynamic ball-handler, and Walker, as a utility player, trying to carve out a rotation spot at small forward while more often kick-starting possessions as a guard and also occasionally joining the frontcourt as part of small-ball lineups.

Still, for a Pacers team that will be returning nine rotation players without accounting for either Sheppard or Walker, there aren't a lot of minutes to go around, which means it's mostly fine that the young players at Summer League played like young players at Summer League, while also providing potential data points as to their long-term fit with the team. As for Walker, who offers much needed positional size but still has more to show in order to seize minutes at his position, it's possible that preseason and training camp will prove more revealing as far as what progress he's made when less of his progress is reliant on his handle.

For a deep dive into all of these topics and much more, Tony East and I decided to recap the 2024 Pacers Summer League over at Locked on Pacers, with thoughts on every player with direct ties to the team. In case you just want to listen for a specific breakdown or skip ahead to our general takeaways, here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions + Overarching Takeaways

3:33 - Jarace Walker

13:36 - Ben Sheppard

19:21 - Johnny Furphy

26:45 - Quenton Jackson

30:10 - Assessing who should be added on two-way contract

33:13 - Oscar Tshiebwe

39:10 - Tristen Newton

45:35 - Enrique Freeman

52:10 - Kendall Brown

1:02:20 - Thank you and Goodbye!