The Indiana Pacers’ new big three:
where’s my goat TJ
Still in the weight room. Hasn’t left after hearing all the talking heads say he lost a step.
He’s going to be squatting 5000lbs by late October
first one in the gym last one out kinda guy, real gym rat
I’m a coach and I want nothing more than for TJ to date my daughter
Chet is wondering what any of these words mean
Bro gained weight this year, he’s an absolute beefcake
He’s going to be squatting 5000lbs by late October.
The 82 games schedule can be really hard on the body and players need to step back a little, but 5000lbs? This my boy TJ, he don’t need to go that easy. Double that easily.
Your username suggests you should jump ship, leave Giannis bitching for fouls behind, and join the cob mob
For a second there I thought you meant TJ Warren and was going to say he’s still at Disney World.
Pacer legend TJ leaf
Leaf?
Is that Marc Gasol
thought the same thing, was throwing me for a bit lol
Marc GaZu
Glad I’m not the only one who thought so.
Big Zu looks healthy
I’m excited to see Halliburton playing again
Pascal’s shaking Zu’s hand like he’s never met him before
I like Zubac but we are really stretching the definition of big 3
He is physically big. :). He had a game where he scored 31 pts and 30 rebounds I remember. Insane stat line. I did not know he’s on the pacers. East is pretty stacked.
We gotta start being stricter on the use of “big 3”
I mean, Zu is an all-defense, borderline all-NBA guy at his best. That’s not exactly just some role-player, even if he’s not really a star player either.
I hope Tyrese is back to form after that gruesome injury. Guy was so fun to watch his last postseason and made me a fan for life
Was the pacers yellow always that shade?
Nembhard and TJ McConnel were what I thought the standout talent was last postseason
One of these is not like the others
Haliburton’s gonna make Zu look like prime Shaq. That first pick and roll is going to hit me like heroin.
Is it just me, or does one of Halliburton’s calves look smaller than the other? Im assuming that is bc of the Achilles tear
I think it’s the angle but if it’s not, I see it as well
Every 3 players is not a big 3😭
Big 3? Are you high?
Yes
Show em, Big Zu!
these uniforms are clean, ngl
Let’s go Hali revenge season!
Everybody sleeping on the pacers . I think they will be elite and make the ecf.
There is good reason to sleep on the Pacers. They were not a great regular season team. They went on an incredible playoff run though, but then they changed their roster a lot. Instead of a (theoretical) stretch 5 in Myles Turner, they have a traditional big man in Zubac. They also lost Mathurin, who while flawed, did contribute in that finals run. Everyone is also a year older because they punted last season, and this is mainly relevant for the older players on the team like TJ and Siakam.
They were not a great regular season team.
People who weren’t paying attention tend to think that the ‘24-‘25 team was garbage in the regular season because of its 10-15 start. But to start that season, all of the Pacers’ NBA-caliber wings and both backup centers got injured - all missing games at the same time.
get through the concurrent injuries at wing, the Pacers had to play G-leaguers. The centers never came back because both tore their achilies, so Carisile had to find “good enough” guys off the street. All this happened as Rick was working out the kinks of a new switch-heavy defensive scheme, and as Tyrese was ramping up after having zero summer ramp-up. Worst case scenario start to the season.
From the very second they got an NBA caliber wing back from injury (Nembhard was first IIRC) and found “good enough” backup centers off the street - so mid December - that team was keeping pace with OKC, Cleveland, and Boston in terms of winning percentage and net rating. That Pacers team had really good records against winning teams and the West, respectively as well, while that year’s two most used starting lineups made up the 2 of the league’s top 3 high-usage five man lineups by net rating. Literally only OKC had a better starting lineup.
They went on an incredible playoff run though, but then they changed their roster a lot.
Offensively, Myles a Haliburton’s PnR/PnP merchant. Even with Myles getting setup with tons of wide-open looks through PnR/PnP actions, he had way too many games where he couldn’t make a wide open shot to save a life. He got benched down the stretches games often - more than any other starter that season - which was just incredible considering that our backup centers that season were picked up off the street. Myles also disappeared in back to back ECF series and the Finals, so there’s that.
On Paper, Zubac >>>> Turner. There were All-NBA voters putting Zu over Tyrese on their All-NBA ballots in 2024-2025, whereas Turner hasn’t sniffed an All-NBA vote in his career. Zu’s play-style is different, but Carisile is a future HoF coach who will figure it out. Rick also spent much of last season developing very promising small ball lineups, and Huff developed into a better fit than our off-the-street back-ups from 2024-2025. Our frontcourt is more well-rounded than it’s been in a long time.
Mathurin is the only other notable loss. He has ton of individual skill; probably not a lot of NBA players who can beat him in a 1v1. But his play-style game never fit Rick’s scheme, and is generally pretty outdated. Even on his good nights, he’d general pose an opportunity cost to the team by icing out Tyrese (and by extension, all of the actions that Tyrese sets up to get other guys going). In nearly every ‘24-‘25 game where Mathurin was cooking, opposing teams would wait until Mathurin iced out Tyrese, then start hitting Benn with double-teams and zones. Mathurin would then repeatedly try to play hero ball through bad looks instead of deferring, which generally led to crash-outs and losses. It was more bad than good, and it’s why he’s on a 2year/16M deal with the Pelicans.
I fully trust that Oobre will match or exceed Mathurin in the “borderline starting caliber wing off the bench” role on this team.
Everyone is also a year older because they punted last season, and this is mainly relevant for the older players on the team like TJ and Siakam.
Everyone would’ve been a year older whether the Pacers punted or not.
Siakam clearly has a lot left in the tank, and one of the biggest positives from last season was all of the small ball lineups that Rick developed, both with Siakam and without Siakam.
I’ve been worried about TJM for a while. He’s a total net negative on the court when his shot isn’t falling just because of how badly he gets hunted in half court sets. But at least Huff is a solid PnR/PnP big for TJ and Oubre should be able to provide help defensively. These are two things that TJ hasn’t had from his fellow 2nd unit players in years.
This team is struggling to win 40 games this year.
Mid three/Big 2
If they got Darryn, AJ, Cam, or Caleb, they’d be scary
I was really hoping… Small market teams that are run well deserve some luck
Nah let’s not forget Nembhard. Guy’s a killer.
Knicks fans remember Aaron “fresh as a daisy” Nesmith all too well
Nesmith is an advanced stat demon; a very solid 2-way player; and the perfect glue guy at the 3 bridge the play-styles of Haliburton and Siakam.
A lot of the same can be said about Nembhard, but Nemby is less of a glue guy and more of guy who adds immense flexibility and defense to the backcourt in particular.
I sincerely believe Nemby will win most improved this year. He learned a lot last year and will be being guarded by far inferior defenders. If Ty is 80% of what he was in 2025 to start the season, and if Nemby has been getting threes up all summer, Nemby is going to feast
Some say one of two of Nesmith or Nemby are going to end up leaving in a couple years due to salary etc, and that Nesmith is more valuable. I actually believe Tyrese/Nemby/Oubre is way way better than Tyrese/Nesmith/Oubre
Obviously I hope this core stays together for years, but I think Nemby’s going to prove he needs to retire a Pacer this year
To be absolutely 100% clear, I LOVE double A. But Nemby’s perimeter defense plus secondary shot creation pairs so nicely next to Tyrese
My dad loves joking around with me about how funny Nesmith looked when running towards Haliburton after his shot against the Knicks, you could see his braids flying around lol
I remember the championship we won, do you guys have one of those?
I remember it took a Hali injury for the Knicks to stop getting embarrassed by him in the playoffs
Hang that banner next to the Reggie Miller choke in a series he lost
And how many chips does he have to show for it?
Who had “Knicks fans making it about themselves again” on their bingo card?
Your guy brought up the Knicks first lol
>Knicks fans remember Aaron “fresh as a daisy” Nesmith all too well
Nah bro you can’t be for real with this shit
Guy doesn’t know how to read a Reddit thread lol
Generationally easy path. Spurs weren’t ready and otherwise the East was hot garbage (why the Knicks did so well, NYC folks love the smell)
Y’all won’t see the conference finals this year
Real Larryless behavior right here
This is revisionist garbage. Everybody and their mother was saying the WCF was the real finals and the Spurs were favored to win that series.
Don’t get mad at me because you blew your only chance in your pathetic franchises history to win a ring.
My current favorite Pacer to be honest
0 + 40 = 40
43 - 0 = 43
43 - 3 people standing = 40
This is a true play-in game paradox
Not sure I would have gone with Zubac
He better be the 3rd part of the big 3 considering the draft capital we forked over for him
Over Nembhard?