Pacers 2019-20 Depth Chart Preview
In preparation for the upcoming 2019-20 NBA season, I am going to break down each position for the Pacers, looking at depth, skill and dependability at all five spots in the lineup. Yesterday, the focus was on the point guard position, and today that focus switches to shooting guard.
Shooting Guard: Victor Oladipo (injured), Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday, Edmond Sumner
The obvious place to start when talking about Indiana Pacers shooting guards is All-NBA stud Victor Oladipo. When healthy, Oladipo is the focal point of Indiana’s offense and defense, and he has carried the Pacers when he has been on the floor the past two seasons. Pacers fans should be very excited about the prospect of pairing Oladipo with Brogdon in what could be one of the best defensive backcourts in the NBA.
The duo should fit well together offensively as well, as Oladipo has often operated at his best for the Pacers with the ball in his hands, and Brogdon played a significant amount of time in off-the-ball roles for the Milwaukee Bucks the past few seasons. Unfortunately, Oladipo is currently recovering from knee surgery and won’t be back in the Pacers lineup until December at the earliest, so for now the Pacers will have to look elsewhere for production at the 2-spot.
All signs point to new signing Jeremy Lamb filling that role to start the season. Lamb played the best basketball of his seven-year career last season in Charlotte after starting alongside Kemba Walker in the Hornets backcourt 55 times. Lamb set career highs with 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while also averaging another career high of 28.5 minutes per contest. Lamb is most effective inside the arc, shooting just under 50% on 2-pointers for his career. However, he has also shown improvement on the perimeter, as he shot a respectable 34.8% from deep last season on 4.2 attempts per game, another career high.
Lamb will fill a similar role for Indiana to start the year, and then will likely transition to a sixth-man role off the Pacers bench this season. I am optimistic about this transition, as Lamb has shown he can be equally effective as a starter or coming off the bench throughout his career. Lamb is the exact type of player the Pacers needed in the absence of Oladipo, but he will also be wonderful player to have coming off the bench in the years to come.
The next player to look at is Justin Holiday, who will finally have an opportunity to play with his youngest brother, Aaron, in the Pacers backcourt next season. Holiday split time between Chicago and Memphis after being traded midway through last season. Many people have projected Holiday to play small forward for Indiana, but I expect him to fill in more at shooting guard to start the year.
Despite averaging double-digit points in each of the past two seasons, Holiday has never been an efficient scorer, as seen by his 39.0% career shooting average. However, Holiday has been much more efficient for his career coming off the bench than he was in the last two years when he has appeared primarily as a starter in Chicago and Memphis. Holiday also brings a lot to the table defensively, as his length and athleticism allow him to guard multiple positions on the perimeter. Holiday averaged 1.5 steals per game last season.
Our final shooting guard to look at for Indiana is Edmond Sumner, who split time last season between the Pacers and their G-League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. Sumner broke into the pacers rotation at the end of last season after Oladipo was shut down for the year and averaged 9.1 minutes per game for the Pacers in 24 appearances. I expect Sumner to play a similar role this season, filling out the bench and possibly making a return to the G-League, where he averaged 22.1 points per game last season in 26 starts for the Mad Ants.
When Victor Oladipo returns from injury later this season, shooting will likely be the Pacers strongest position. Until then, the Pacers will lean heavily on the veteran experience of Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday. If Lamb can maintain the steady improvement he has shown over the past few seasons and Holiday can provide solid minutes in his return to a role off the bench, the newly signed duo should be able to hold up just fine.