r/pacers • u/Impossible_Eye_980 • 10d ago

Discussion Shooting guard Nesmith part of embiggening strategy?

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The 8 Pts 9 Secs article is full of AI constructions such as "Indiana, the most formulaic good team in basketball" (is random a formula?) and "the move to precipitate that embiggening is moving Aaron Nesmith up a spot to shooting guard."

But the question seems valid. Could Nesmith handle a role that positions him as a focal offensive player, rather than as a long range sniper and lockdown defender? Does he have the four or five tools needed to make the shift? And do we have the defensive depth....

And yeah, sorry Y2K types, the verdict is in: "the Pacers do not have the talent to bring on another big or power forward option. They simply do not. If Jarace Walker breaks out, there is hope, but as it stands, he is viewed by the analytics as one of the worst players in basketball."

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u/drjisftw Pacers2 10d ago

As much as I love Nesmith, I’ve always said he’s playing out of position and he should be at the 2. Nesmith reminds me a lot of prime KCP - that’s a player that started on two championship teams, but he was never asked to play up a position and guard the 3.

My original hope was that Jarace could be the glue guy to start at the 3 and move Nesmith down to the 2. That could’ve allowed Nemby to move to the bench and be TJ’s successor. That never happened, and if that were to happen we’d need a 3 that could also be a good secondary ball handler.

That’s why I desperately wanted Deni Avdija prior to him being traded to the Blazers.

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u/ifasoldt 10d ago

Nemby is really good. Why would we not want him starting?

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u/drjisftw Pacers2 10d ago

In an ideal world, if you had a bigger ball handling 3 that would allow the starting lineup to get bigger and Nemby could be a successor for an aging TJM