On James Wiseman & how the Pacers keep feeding their own beast (Patreon)

The Pacers can feed the former No. 2 overall pick into improvement, but they aren't necessarily satiating the areas where they need to improve 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper 

A day after losing Jalen Smith, who signed a new, three-year deal with the Chicago Bulls after declining his player option, the Pacers have replenished their rotating carousel of back-up bigs, taking a flyer on 23-year-old center and former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, reports ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. With Wiseman coming over from a 14-win Pistons team that ranked 26th in points per chance scored out of the pick-and-roll, as well as 29th in points per chance surrendered out of the pick-and-roll, the question for the Pacers, who finished the season among the top-five in the former category while likewise languishing in the bottom-five of the latter, is to what degree they can expect to help him versus how much he will help them.

Whether needed in a pinch or competing for minutes with Isaiah Jackson, Wiseman's athleticism shouldn't have much trouble melding to the team's fast-paced identity in the open floor. Boston limited transition frequency more than any team in the Eastern Conference; and yet, here he is snatching the rebound and running full bore into a mismatch with Payton Prichard under the rim.

Also, shoutout to Cade Cunningham for delaying Xavier Tillman in pursuit with the no-look pass. Nice! Of course, it's reasonable to ask why exactly it was that Wiseman intentionally left a gap for Cunningham to duck under against Sam Hauser as a movement shooter at the other end; however, overall, that's the idealized version of what the Pacers would be adding as a back-up or third-string center. Still, there's a reason (or rather, several) why he is a back-up or third-string center. In the half-court, he doesn't always play with that same degree of force. For example, when T.J. McConnell chases over and late-switches against him as the screener, this should be barbequed chicken -- not a fadeaway jump-shot.

In that regard, he still hasn't quite found his feel -- especially as it pertains to the extremes of his pound dribble and overall court-mapping. At one end of the spectrum, there are instances where he tries to cover way too much ground and misses a passing read to the corner along the way.

At the other end, meanwhile, he can also be seen taking those same pound dribbles to nowhere, including against his former teammate, Marvin Bagley -- who he doesn't even begin to move.

To be fair, the play context in Detroit wasn't exactly favorable. Even on that possession, when Troy Brown Jr. is relocating to the dunker's spot in order to create an empty corner pick-and-roll with Evan Fournier shaking up from the wing, Deni Avdija still hangs around to clutter the paint. That won't be as likely to happen in bench lineups with Obi Toppin either spacing to the corner or crashing to the rim. Plus, the Pacers often play with guards in the dunker's spot so as to force smaller defenders to protect the rim. As such, the difference in spacing might at least make for some cleaner catches, which matters given his tendency to bring the ball down and load up.

Tellingly, Wiseman posted a sterling effective field-goal percentage of 75.4 percent on no-dribble layups, compared to 60.4 on layups with at least one dribble, and 53.3 on layups after taking two or more -- which only comprised 15 of his shot attempts. On the season, Tyrese Haliburton ranked third in total volume of passes for no-dribble layups (299), trailing only Nikola Jokic (316) and Luka Doncic (377). T.J. McConnell, meanwhile, also nearly cracked the top-10, coming in at eleventh with 178. Put simply, for a player who needs to be fed, the Pacers have plenty of silver spoons, including the overall composition of the offense.

To that point, there are just so many possessions from the Pistons that either never get started or result in a dead-end.

That's excruciating and even if Mikal Bridges is credited for being awesome at the top of the zone, which he is, here's more of the same against the Spurs, in which direction is required from the ball-handler for Wiseman to change the angle and direction of the screen.

That's a recurrent theme. Here, for example, he needs to approach horizontally so as not to block Cunningham's potential drive route.

That might not matter as much with McConnell, given his preference for attacking baseline and how often he rejects those screens to get to his spots, but he still needs room to get to his spots.

As in, would Anthony Davis stay attached in that situation with Wiseman standing outside the three-point line, and if Davis doesn't stay attached, will Wiseman be effective off the bounce?

The Pacers had the second-best offense in the league last season and will be entering next season with arguably the most depth among ball-handling playmakers of any in the league, but he's still going to need to demonstrate that he knows where to stand after setting a screen. This, for example, is a prime opportunity to dive into a seal screen against Hartenstein in the paint that instead becomes an attempt to squeeze the ball to him through traffic.

Even so, it's reasonable to expect some degree of a boost. With Rick Carlisle as head coach and since Tyrese Haliburton was traded to the Pacers, Indiana has scored 1.028 points per chance with Turner as the screener, compared to 0.946 over the first 6.5 seasons of the big man's career. For point of reference, the Pistons tallied just 0.907 with Wiseman as the screener -- a mark worse than the team's overall efficiency of 0.941 out of picks, which, as previously noted, ranked 26th in the league. This is where phrases like "hot girl basketball" and the "agrarian economy of buckets" apply, as does "pretty girls can guard, too" -- otherwise known as the area of greater importance with regard to what needed to be addressed this offseason.

As alluded to, at the other end of the floor, the Pacers ranked 28th in ball-screen defense, even after trading for Pascal Siakam and tinkering with the starting lineup, allowing 1.029 points per chance over that span. Detroit, meanwhile, gave up 1.032 with Wiseman as the screener defender. Don't get it twisted, that isn't all Wiseman. He didn't have a lot of help at the point of attack, and the collective will to defend in the environment was certainly suspect at times. Here, despite the fact that he signals for Jaden Ivey to veer-back to the screener, the shot out of the pick-and-pop ultimately has to be contested by the defender in the corner, exposing the rim to cuts and/or crashes -- with no one collecting the rebound. Hmm, that's familiar.

Bennedict Mathurin can also struggle with late-switches, as he too often disconnects too early before the ball breaks the free throw line, forcing the big to come out of the drop to contest.

Put simply, there's a reason why Myles Turner is demonstrably motioning for Mathurin to funnel the ball to him. Granted, it remains to be seen what the rotation will be next season, but it's reasonable to think that, if and when he gets minutes, Wiseman would most likely be playing in bench lineups with Mathurin that may or may not include Ben Sheppard. That matters because Wiseman switched on less than five percent of the picks he defended for Detroit last season and is generally more comfortable playing in drop with a guard in hard, rearview pursuit.

The Pacers have some on-ball defenders who are capable of fighting through and chasing, but that doesn't really address the overarching takeaway from the Eastern Conference Finals -- which was that, when they needed to switch in Game 4, they didn't really have a viable means to switch in Game 4. Overall, as a potential third-string big, Wiseman is a low-risk move. If either he or the Pacers help the other to improve, it's a win; however, the Pacers are already elite at where he could potentially see improvement, and the area where they most needed to improve, being defensive versatility, neither he nor they exactly look poised to change.