The Pacers point guards we hardly knew

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers made the moves to finalize their roster, or at least their roster for now, ahead of the 2025-26 regular season on Saturday. Out went a quartet of Exhibit 10 players — as expected — and Cam Payne, the latter of which being the newsworthy part.

Payne played in three preseason games and was... well, inadequate. I think fans were too hard on his play given that he had about six hours to relocate to Indiana and try to learn a system, but I also think that his inability to consistently get in the paint and a field goal percentage of 28.6% (not a typo) are too significant. That's not enough production to keep over other players who could be, or have been, more productive.

As of this typing, Tony Bradley and his fully non-guaranteed contract are still around. Good for him, truly. It's a fun story of perseverance and a win for both sides that Bradley, who was a third big signing that spent a year in the G League, became a rotation-level find in the playoffs and was consistent enough to stick around. That's why the Pacers put a non-guaranteed team option in his contract: If he proved to be useful, they could keep him. Not only is Bradley useful, but the team has endless questions at center and he is perhaps the player with the fewest unknowns at the five.

Which brings us back to point guard. Currently, the Pacers have five of them: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, T.J. McConnell, and RayJ Dennis are whole numbers while Quenton Jackson and Kam Jones are each worth 0.5 (though Jackson has a track record of success at the position). That's a lot of names but obviously misses what is actually going on at the position. Haliburton (Achilles) is out for the season. Nembhard, who is a natural point guard and will be good as the starter, has played the two for most of his career. McConnell (hamstring) is already hurt and won't be available until mid-November at the earliest. Jackson (hamstring) is out too and won't be ready for opening night, same for Jones (back, and now dealing with his arrest earlier today). Dennis... I have nothing to add. He is a point guard, has basically only ever played point guard, and is currently healthy after being banged up when the team went to Orlando for their pre-camp workout sessions. That's good. Dennis makes his teammates better.

Those mounting injuries created a need for point guard depth. Truly, that need was already there. General manager Chad Buchanan admitted such during the offseason, then Vice President of Basketball Operations Ted Wu said "Listening to our coaches, having more ball handlers and more playmaking is important to them," just before training camp. So, even before McConnell and Jackson went down, Indiana identified the need for another point guard.

Attempt one was Monte Morris. That's a player I actually suggested the Pacers pursue on the Locked On Pacers podcast many times this offseason. That's not to say I'm smart, but rather how obvious the need was for the team to add another lead ball handler. Many could predict it. They had (and have) little veteran savvy behind McConnell and Nembhard.

Players like Jackson and Dennis aren't necessarily worse just because they are less experienced. And with Haliburton's absence lowering the team's ceiling this year, giving minutes to younger players is understandable. But caretakers who can get a team organized are valuable for winning and helpful for development. If a team can't even get into their sets or style, nobody can get better and nobody can win. The argument for another veteran point guard was easy to make.

But Morris, a solid passer and low-turnover player, turned out to be injured. He couldn't play in training camp. The Pacers had to pivot off of what would have been a good option.

Delon Wright became attempt two. He's strong defensively and pulled in three steals during FanJam, an intrasquad scrimmage, then a deflection during his first preseason appearance against Minnesota. On that side of the ball, he's strong.

In the past, Wright has played the two. On a Pacers squad that frequently plays multiple point guards together, that was a nice boost to his resume. It was easy to at least explain why the Pacers would consider Wright.

On paper, it made sense. In practice, he wasn't particularly effective. His offensive abilities have declined in recent years, shooting below 40% from the field in each of his last two seasons. His passing is just okay.

In the two "games" (whatever you count FanJam as) Wright played in, it was clear his ability to get around the floor with the ball wasn't a strength. Without a screen, he didn't really get into the paint. His only made shot in either of those appearances was after he already got blocked at the basket.

One could squint and see a fit. But with open eyes, it wasn't clear, and Wright got injured in a preseason game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Less than two weeks after being signed by Indiana, he was waived. Head coach Rick Carlisle said it just didn't work out.

In the game Wright went down with a head injury, McConnell also left the action holding his hamstring. They needed a point guard badly and added Payne, attempt three, just a few days later.

He was, as a fan told me to expect, mercurial. Payne would score six points in a minute, then two the rest of the game. On some possessions, he could wiggle into the lane and get Pacers basketball started. On others, he initiated nothing. His defense was poor, which wasn't shocking given his career and his size, but it did little to make up for his lack of system fit.

Cutting him, given his performance, wasn't shocking. But as an ode to the point guards we hardly knew, the Pacers season will start 2025-26 with a lot of wonder at that position. Every player they signed, or attempted to in Morris' case, provided different things. Morris is a table setter — the classic low-ceiling, high-floor type that non-rebuilding teams love. Wright is a pesky defender who can play two positions. Payne, in certain situations, is a dynamite offensive player — too many people, in my opinion, weighed his preseason play too heavily given that he won the New York Knicks a playoff game six months ago.

It would have been noteworthy data to see any of those three players play for the team this year in a real game. What value could they have provided? I think a veteran would be useful for this team. I also think Quenton Jackson is talented and can be a solid backup point guard until McConnell returns. Personally, I think Jackson is better than Wright or Payne as a point guard.

But Jackson is out, too. The point guards the Pacers hardly knew are gone. It's Andrew Nembhard and RayJ Dennis right now. Jarace Walker, if he's ready for opening night, can handle some ball handling but hasn't shown pop as a lead initiator. Taelon Peter got some burn at the position in the preseason.

Will that be enough? Will these roster decisions prove to be the right ones? The games will tell us the answers. You all saw the preseason action and transactions. You know what happened. What Indiana did and this summary of events isn't necessarily news. But what it is, and why it's fascinating to me, is a list of events that somehow end up with Andrew Nembhard being the starter and his backup either being a two-way player who has played 11 NBA games or a player who has never been a point guard in the pros.

The journey landed on that destination. The Pacers are betting they ended up in the right place. Injuries forced their hand. The players that fans will watch will determine if the decisions the front office made are right. The point guards everyone won't get to watch have no say in the matter. But their absence, if things go poorly early, may still be felt.