Indiana Pacers waive Kendall Brown, also sign and waive Jahlil Okafor

The Pacers made a few moves on Tuesday

Oct 8, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Kendall Brown (10) dribbles past Atlanta Hawks guard Vit Krejci (27) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Pacers made a string of transactions on Tuesday, headlined by the waiver of third-year forward Kendall Brown, a league source told Pacers On SI. The Pacers announced the move later.

Brown, 21, was a second-round pick for Indiana in 2022. He was selected 48th overall and spent the last two seasons with the Pacers, though most of his time came with the Indiana Mad Ants on a two-way contract. He's played in 21 NBA regular season games so far and battled injuries during his rookie year.

With the blue and gold, Brown averaged 1.4 points and 0.5 rebounds per game. His athleticism made him worth keeping around for a few years, but his development wasn't obvious this offseason. His performance during summer league left questions about his future and the back end of Indiana's roster, and now he's on the way out. He played in 52 games in total for the Mad Ants and signed a three-year NBA contract in March, though none of it was guaranteed beyond the 2023-24 season.

Brown was one of the people involved in a battle for the Pacers final roster spot. There are multiple players on the blue and gold's roster who have contracts that aren't fully guaranteed for the coming campaign, and head coach Rick Carlisle noted during training camp that two-way contract players could be in the mix for the Pacers final roster spot as well. It's also possible the Pacers only carry 14 players into the season as well as their three two-way players.

"It's not [certain] that we [will] keep a 15th person. Someone's got to earn that spot," Carlisle said. Cole Swider is the player that most will point to as Brown's main competition for the spot as he is on a one-year, completely non-guaranteed contract.

On top of waiving Brown, the Pacers also signed center Jahlil Okafor to an Exhibit 10 contract designed to put him with the Mad Ants this coming season. He'll receive a bonus if he plays for the G League club for at least 60 days in the coming campaign. Okafor was waived by Indiana today as well, so he won't be a part of training camp for the Pacers.

Indiana's roster now stands at 18 players, with three on two-way deals. Should they make no moves for the next week, their roster would be legal for the regular season, though it's possible they could make more tweaks. If they make no other transactions, the Pacers would be about $433k from the luxury tax line entering opening night.

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