Basketball, She Wrote

Pacers Summer League/Offseason Recap (Patreon)

Published:

2025-07-23 12:22:34

Imported:

2026-06

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Content

Talking about the latest goings on now that there isn't as much going on

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

The NBA Draft is over, Summer League is over, and free agency is (presumably) winding down -- if not also over. That means, it's officially the offseason portion of the offseason. As such, before the calendar turns over to obsessing about (well) the NBA calendar, now seems like the perfect time to recap the summer that was -- once again, welcoming back Samson Folk, who has returned from watching the Pacers in Las Vegas.

Of course, this is a "Caitlin X Samson" podcast, so there's also plenty of detours into general basketball topics, ranging from the value of cutting in the 2025-26 NBA to whether teams are re-thinking how to swap recovery paths, and much more. Enjoy!

Here are the relevant timestamps:

0:00 - Introductions

1:52 - How meaningful is Summer League with regard to team concepts?

4:42 - Thoughts on key Pacers players at Summer League

4:55 - Taelon Peter

9:29 - Assessing the value of cutting in the 2025-26 NBA with teams defending higher in the gaps and against heightened ball pressure

20:26 - Kam Jones

34:01 - Should (are?) teams re-thinking how to swap recovery paths?

42:59 - Johnny Furphy

1:01:22 - RayJ Dennis and Quenton Jackson

1:07:14 - Challenges of floater-based offense

1:10:29 - Picking a third-string point guard among Dennis, Jackson, and Jones

1:13:48 - Enrique Freeman

1:20:36 - Picking who to sign to the third two-way contract

1:21:31 - Revisiting and clarifying our basketball-related thoughts on Myles Turner (heavy emphasis on basketball-related!)

1:26:31 - Moving on to talk about the centers who actually play for the Pacers

1:27:48 - Comparing Jay Huff's defense against OKC to that of the Pacers

1:31:49 - Who is going to be the "Andrew Nembhard" for Andrew Nembhard (a lot is going to be on his plate next season!)

1:38:11 - More on Jay Huff, Isaiah Jackson, James Wiseman, and Tony Bradley

1:41:37 - Banter about producing this type of work at the Finals and Summer League, late-night fast food options, Samson's affinity for chicken, eating breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and revisiting the details of our trip to Indy - a smorgasbord of important podcast topics!

1:52:51 - Thank you for listening this long & Goodbye

Files

Previews only

Pacers Summer League & Offseason Recap - w/ Caitlin & Samson

Caitlin Cooper is joined by Samson Folk to talk about all of the goings on for the Pacers now that a lot less is going on, breaking down Summer League for key Pacers players before also offering thoughts on next season's "center by committee" by approach and forecasting who will be the "Andrew Nembhard" for Andrew Nembhard. Meanwhile, since this is a "Caitlin x Samson" pod, the two also delve into discussions about general basketball, such as assessing the value of cutting in the 2025-26 NBA, whether teams should consider new modes of swapping recovery paths, the challenges of floater-based offense, and much more. Lastly, to cap off a massive smorgasbord of a podcast, banter about late-night fast-food runs, producing this type of work on location, eating breakfast at Crack Barrel, our trip to Indy, etc. etc. etc. Enjoy!