2024 Pacers Summer League: Rookies (Patreon)

Taking a look at what to watch for from the newest Pacers 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper

Ahh yes, July. Perhaps the most hectic month of the NBA calendar when, in addition to what has been the slow burn of free agency, rosters chock-full of young players and short on familiarity come together in the scorching heat of Las Vegas, playing basketball in an environment that tends to breed bucket-getting. For the Pacers, who appear to be running back nearly the same roster as last season, the week of exhibition play should provide an early glimpse of whether and to what degree the team can maintain and/or build on their momentum from last season via internal development or perhaps the eventual need for consolidation.

After cracking the eight-man rotation in the playoffs, there's no telling how many games Ben Sheppard or some of the other longer tenured players on the roster will end up playing, but there's plenty to be learned from however long they do. As such, what follows is an attempt to provide a guide of one micro-skill and/or macro-concept to watch for from all of the first and second-year players who have direct connections to the team either via the draft, standard contract, or two-way deal. First up, let's take a look at the rookies!

Tristen Newton - Playmaking outside of UConn's scheme

As a team, the Indiana Pacers completed 1636 hit-ahead passes last season. For frame of reference, the San Antonio Spurs ranked second in that category, recording 1436 advance passes. That means the Pacers finished in first by a margin of 200. Put simply, with Tyrese Haliburton leading all players in advance passes per 100 possessions and his back-up, T.J. McConnell, not trailing far behind while rounding out the top-five, the Pacers were basically a factory for finding and hitting moving targets.

Now, Tristen Newton, who likewise has a flair for angling his body to deliver no-look passes in transition, will be joining that same pipeline.

On the whole, Newton is a utility player, for two seasons in a row at Connecticut he finished with production across the board, posting a 25 percent assist rate, four percent offensive rebounding rate, and five percent block rate while averaging over five free throw attempts per game. No one for the Pacers last season met all of those benchmarks. That said, given some of the limitations of his shot along with what can at times be some meandering defense at the point of attack, the trait that pops most for him is his passing.

The question is, to what degree was his vision enhanced by Connecticut's ridiculous playbook, especially in the half-court? For example, look at this delivery out of empty pick-and-roll.

On the surface, with his body parallel to the sideline as he dribbles east-west off the pick, he's toying with angles again to sell the pass. When rewinding the film to the start of the possession, however, it's obvious that his assist is also getting an assist from the play design. To begin with, Newton cuts through after entering the ball to the wing to disguise what comes next.

Then, after getting the ball back at the opposite wing, a guard runs off a UCLA screen, which forces the screener's defender to sag off in order to protect against the cut.

In turn, that makes the big late with their ball-screen coverage. Meanwhile, if that wasn't enough, watch what the guard does after coming off the UCLA screen. Typically, that would be a high-post back-screen for the guard to cut to the rim. Here, the guard circles into a pindown at the opposite slot (i.e. Novak action) at the same time as the empty ball-screen is being set.

Altogether, that means the defender chasing the guard, who would otherwise be the tagger, is likely either going to leave the roll open or give up a three. That's nasty stuff! Of course, for similar reasons, it's also difficult to rest against the Pacers, as they also generally play with all five players in motion, but more will be on the fly. At Summer League, when playbooks tend to be simplified and streamlined to accommodate what are generally impromptu rosters, it will be interesting to see how his processing translates in situations with random offense, as he's shown in transition, while also monitoring whether he can impress with those hook passes at the next level.

After all, aside from distinguishing himself as a rebounding guard who can do a little bit of everything, he's going to be up against a lot of competition to carve out a role on a Pacers squad with arguably the most depth among playmaking ball-handlers of any team in the league.

Enrique Freeman - Defensive feel

It was one of the most impressive defensive plays of the season. On a single possession, Andrew Nembhard leveled off multiple drives from players of different shapes and sizes, rotating from blitzing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and recovering out to Lu Dort to collapsing against Chet Holmgren. In essence, he was everywhere, all at once.

As an undersized center who projects to be an energy forward, Enrique Freeman is most known for his outlandish production, particularly as a rebounder, but he has a similar omnipresence to Nembhard as a help defender. Just take a look at his awareness on some of these rotations.

To cover up for his teammate gambling on the high-side of the driver, notice how Freeman jump switches onto the ball, motioning for his teammate to peel off to the perimeter, as he proceeds to wall up the post. Granted, that possession is also salvaged by the hive mind of the remaining defenders, as they also scram out the mismatch at the opposite block and scramble to take away the other potential passing outlets, but he provides the initial plug.

Likewise, here he goes from sagging off to protect against the cut to switching on the screen rejection and ultimately switching back and boxing out under the basket.

For those keeping track, he defended three different players on that possession -- all without losing his place or compromising the scheme. That said, for the same reason that Connecticut's set from the prior section worked like clockwork, there should probably be some question as to how that coverage would hold up against NBA-level pull-up threats and speed. For example, imagine if the on-ball defender hadn't turned their head, giving up the rejection. In that event, if the ball-handler had dribbled off the pick, with Freeman sagging that deep into the paint, they likely would've been able to walk into a shot.

The same also applies here, when he jump switches onto the ball-handler from the same-side corner, but his teammate doesn't peel back to the corner, which means, with his big body, he then has to duck under what becomes a snug pick-and-roll in order to stop the subsequent drive.

If that's the NBA and the ball gets moved before his teammate peels, a floor-spacing four is going to have a heyday in the corner, as would a pull-up threat against the under. Still, the common thread in all of those clips is how he "sees" the floor on defense. Summer League should be enlightening as to whether, like Nembhard, that vision can translate to being everywhere, all at once when there's more space to cover. Or, if what he sees turns out to actually become more valuable when his teammates also see and respond to his vision.

In that regard, he has some emphatic blocks rotating to the rim from the perimeter as a secondary rim protector, but he can also be a bit overprotective, too.

Maybe the path to the middle way will start in Las Vegas?

Johnny Furphy - handling with his left

In the initial reaction piece published here on Furphy, in which one game was watched to get a feel for his game, it was pointed out on this possession that when he looped around this set of off-ball screens to his left, he neither attempted to keep a three a three with a one-dribble escape move nor looked to continue his momentum with a downhill drive. Instead, he immediately got off the ball, despite the fact that no one was standing in the paint.

That wasn't just a one-off, either. There were other instances where a potential quick-rip to his left off his back foot also never materialized, as he would advance the ball not only ahead but also away from the developing mismatch in the paint.

That's because, to this point, his ability to handle at speed, to separate from a standstill, or to take off with much, if any, maneuvering with his weak-hand is noticeably limited.

According to Synergy, Furphy only logged a total of 12 drives last season that resulted in usage, attempting just two shots after driving to his left. When the floor is spaced, and he isn't running into help at the nail, as he did out of some of those hand-offs seen above, perhaps he'll be more adventurous pushing the ball downhill with his weak-hand -- even if he still finishes with his right.

Of course, whether the Summer Pacers will actually be able to furnish the necessary spread lineups around him to test that theory will likely depend on the ongoing shooting progression of Jarace Walker, along with how much credence should be given to playing Oscar Tschiebwe outside the paint as a putback machine.

Oh hey, what a perfect segue. For more on those two, along with the other sophomores, stay tuned for Part 2 of this preview series!