Pacers 2019-20 Depth Chart Preview: Small Forward
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. After focusing on the backcourt, it’s now time to look at what the Indiana Pacers frontcourt will look like this season, starting at small forward.
Small Forward: T.J. Warren, Doug McDermott, JaKarr Sampson
The likely starter at small forward for the Pacers this season will be draft-day acquisition T.J. Warren, who came to Indiana via a trade with the Phoenix Suns. Warren missed almost half of last season due to injury, but in the half he did play, he looked like exactly the type of player the Pacers needed to fill the void left when veterans Bojan Bogdanovic and Thad Young eventually signed with other teams in free agency.
Warren averaged 18.0 points and 4.0 rebounds in 31.6 minutes in 43 appearances in his fifth year with the Suns last season. He also had a career year from 3-point range, setting career highs in 3-pointers made (1.8), 3-pointers attempted (4.2) and 3-points percentage (42.8%). Warren has career average of just 34.0% from deep, so we will likely see some regression on that front, but if he can keep his percentage anywhere close to 40%, he will be a great help in spacing the floor next season.
Sixth-year forward Doug McDermott will follow Warren off the bench next season, looking to improve on a solid first year in Indiana. In 17.4 minutes per game off the bench last season, McDermott averaged 7.3 points while shooting a career-high 49.1% from the floor. The Creighton alum has always been most well known for his shooting from deep, and he lived up to that reputation last season by knocking down 40.8% of his shots from beyond the arc. As I said with T.J. Warren, McDermott knocking down his 3-pointers at a similar rate to last season will play a critical role in spacing the floor for Indiana this season.
The final man in the rotation for the Pacers at small forward is JaKarr Sampson. The Pacers newest signing has only played 26 games at the NBA level since 2016, but in four games for the Chicago Bulls last year, he averaged 20.0 points and 8.0 rebounds a game. Sampson has played for four different teams in the NBA G-League, most recently with the Windy City Bulls, where he averaged 21.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 24 appearances. I am not sure whether Sampson will spend more time in the G-League this season or if he will carve out a spot on the Pacers bench.
The Pacers small forwards have big shoes to fill after Bojan Bogdanovic held down the 3-spot in Indiana for the last few years and often carried the team offensively at times when star Victor Oladipo was out with injury. Warren and McDermott will need thrive off the ball and knock their 3-point attempts at a high rate to help replace Bogdanovic, but if they keep their form from last season, that shouldn’t prove too difficult of a task.