Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle views Andrew Nembhard as someone who should have been a top-10 pick

Nembhard closed the season strong for the Pacers

The Indiana Pacers were lucky to draft Andrew Nembhard when they did.

In the 2022 NBA Draft, Nembhard was available in the second round, and the Pacers snatched him up with the 31st pick. The young guard was initially disappointed to fall out of the first round, but it all worked out perfectly in the end.

Nembhard ended up with a Pacers team that had a role for him and, at times, desperately needed his skills. Indiana needed a guard who could toggle between the one, two, and three positions to fill out their rotation on a nightly basis, and they needed a perimeter player who could contain opposing ball handlers. Nembhard was able to do both, which was huge for the blue and gold.

In fact, according to Bball Index's matchup difficulty statistic, which measures how often a specific player was defending high-impact offensive talents, Nembhard had the 12th-hardest defensive assignments in the NBA this past season. He played a critical role for Indiana on the less glamorous end of the court.

He combined that with effective point guard play and solid connective abilities. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle was high on Nembhard before the 2022 draft because of these skills, and after Nembhard proved he could impact winning at the NBA level this season, Carlisle restated his thoughts on the youngster.

"I love him. Guy should have been a top-10 pick in the draft," Carlisle said of Nembhard in late March. "Every night, he keeps proving me right about that."

Moments before Carlisle shared those thoughts, Nembhard scored 17 points and dished out five assists against the Dallas Mavericks. He was a +5 in a 23-point loss, meaning the Pacers had absolutely no chance without him that night.

"He doesn't get satisfied by a couple of good performances. [He's a] student of the game. He loves to play, he loves to compete. He values the opportunity to help teammates," Carlisle added. After the All-Star break, Nembhard played over 30 minutes in 11 of the Pacers 22 games.

That was, in part, due to the rookie having more opportunities at point guard. Tyrese Haliburton, Indiana's typical starter at the one, was injured for much of the team's stretch run, and backup T.J. McConnell also missed some time. Nembhard had to run the show for significant stretches in that span.

He took it in stride. From the All-Star break through the end of the season, the 23-year old averaged 12.8 points and 5.5 assists per game, including a 15-assist masterpiece against the Milwaukee Bucks and a 25-point outing in Toronto.

"He just kept the pace going," Carlisle said of Nembhard after that Bucks game.

Nembhard averaged 16.1 points and 9.96 assists per 36 minutes when operating as the lone point guard for the Pacers. He hopes to develop some of his off-ball skills the offseason, such as his catch-and-shoot jumper, but if Indiana needs to move Nembhard to any one of many roles, they know he can execute well.

"Those are things that make Indiana basketball unique, and that's why he fits in perfectly here," Carlisle said of Nembhard's competitiveness, perseverance, and supporting personality.

If Nembhard carried those traits into the offseason, he could be due for a big summer.

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