Pacers Guard Could See Rotation Minutes Slashed Due to Specific Reason

One Pacers player could soon find himself out of the rotation very soon.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers were expected to be one of the best teams in the NBA this season. Coming off an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals, they were supposed to be right at the top of the league again. While some expected them to slip a bit, most pundits expected Indiana to be firmly inside the top six in the East.

Indiana did not have a strong start to the season. Injuries plagued them almost immediately. They had two centers suffer a torn Achilles and then had Aaron Nesmith suffer a severe ankle sprain. All of that happened in the span of the first handful of games. Andrew Nembhard also got hurt.

All of those injuries led the Pacers to go deep into their bench. After re-signing T.J. McConnell, Obi Toppin, and Pascal Siakam, they were expected to use a lot of the same players they had last year. That plan went out the window when they suffered all of these injuries.

One player who got some playing time is Johnny Furphy. Furphy was the Pacers' first-draft pick taken over the summer. He was the 35th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. He wasn't expected to play a lot in his rookie year. Rick Carlisle even said so recently.

When asked about how the injuries have taken a toll on the team, Carlisle had a pretty succinct response when talking about Furphy. "We drafted Furphy to play 40 games in the G-League and he's been in our rotation." That sums it up pretty well.

Carlisle: "We drafted Furphy to play 40 games in the G League and he's been in our rotation."

— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) December 20, 2024

Furphy isn't a bad player, but he's nowhere near ready to contribute to a team like the Pacers yet. The Pacers have aspirations of winning an NBA title. Furphy needs time to develop his game. He hasn't really had a chance to get steady, consistent minutes yet.

Furphy has played in 17 games so far this season and has gotten ten minutes per game. He's only shooting 39% from the field. He likely will be playing in the G-League a lot more now that the Pacers are finally starting to get more healthy. The return of Ben Sheppard means that there will be fewer minutes for Furphy.

The Indiana Pacers aren't fully healthy yet and won't be until they get Nesmith back. Even so, they've won four out of their last five games. They look to finally be putting some good games together.

More Pacers news: Pacers HC Rick Carlisle Reveals How Indiana Regained Its 'Edge'