7 storylines 7 days before the Pacers begin training camp, starting with Buddy Hield

INDIANAPOLIS -- For a team coming off a 35-47 season in which they missed the playoffs for the third straight season, the Pacers enter the 2023-24 campaign with a surprising amount of organizational momentum.

Indiana finished six games behind Toronto for the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference standings and the final spot in the play-in round, but that was closer than the Pacers expected to get after posting a 25-57 campaign in 2021-22. They built a decent core of young talent and impressive chemistry through the season's ups and downs, and they quietly put together one of the best offseasons of any team in the NBA. They added multi-talented guard Bruce Brown through free agency, addressed their deficiency at power forward with a trade (Obi Toppin) and through the draft (Jarace Walker). And, of course, they locked up their All-Star and franchise centerpiece Tyrese Haliburton to a five-year max contract extension.

But starting next week they have to start proving that their additions actually made them a better team. The Pacers will hold their media day on Oct. 2, then formally begin training camp Tuesday with their first exhibition game Oct. 8 at Memphis and their first real game against the Wizards at home on Oct. 25.

So with seven days left before preseason camp begins, here are seven storylines we will be following.

Will Buddy Hield be around for the opener?

All had been relatively quiet on the personnel front for the Pacers since July before Shams Charania of The Athletic reported last week that talks of a contract extension between guard Buddy Hield and the Pacers had broken down, and they had begun a dialogue about looking for a team to whom they could trade the 30-year-old sharpshooter.

Hield is entering the final season of his four-year, $94 million contract and is due approximately $19.2 million this season. He's coming off arguably the most efficient season of his career when he finished second in the NBA in 3-pointers with 288, breaking Reggie Miller's single-season franchise record, and made 42.5% of his attempts. He enters this season ranked 29th all-time in made 3-pointers. He could clearly be helpful for just about any team as an elite floor spacer and his salary is manageable enough to give a lot of teams reason to try to bring him in.

That said, the Pacers have reason to set a high price, and it's not obvious what, precisely, they should be asking for. They need to increase their overall talent level and could very much use another All-Star caliber player to combine with Haliburton, but with camp so close, it seems unlikely any team would be willing to part with such a player to acquire Hield for one season. Going into the offseason, the Pacers desperately needed a power forward, but they've addressed that need and they also addressed their desire for another defensive-minded wing. If they move Hield, their biggest need would immediately be perimeter shooting, so the best thing they could get for Hield might be a younger, cheaper version of him.

The Pacers could try to move him now, they could try to keep him until the February deadline, or they could simply get what they can out of him and let him walk for 2024-25, but he'll be the most talked-about player when camp begins if he's still around.

How will the Pacers balance offense and defense?

After finishing 10th in the league in scoring but 29th in points allowed in 2022-23, the Pacers vowed to put a greater emphasis on defense, starting in the offseason. The signed Brown to a two-year $45 million deal in large part because of what he did on the defensive end for the Nuggets in their championship run. They took Walker with the No. 8 overall pick because of his ability to defend on the perimeter and in the post as a modern power forward. They also took Ben Sheppard with the No. 26 pick in large part because he can guard, as he made the Missouri Valley Conference All-Defense team at Belmont.

But now that they've acquired some defensive talent, they have to figure out how to incorporate it with their more established offensive firepower. Their best offensive five and their best defensive five might be completely different aside from the fact that center Myles Turner is their best option at that position on both ends. The Pacers have reason to do some experimentation with their rotations, using more offensively potent lineups in some cases and lockdown defensive units in others, but they will likely be looking for balance in their traditional first and second units and they'll be using camp to find some of that.

What will Tyrese Haliburton bring back from his eventful offseason?

Tyrese Haliburton wanted badly to be considered a franchise centerpiece and he got the full experience this offseason. He got to represent the Pacers at the NBA Draft Lottery, he drove the pace car at the Indy 500, he got his five-year contract extension worth up to $260 million in July and after that, he got to wear a Team USA jersey at the FIBA World Cup. The Americans took a disappointing fourth-place finish, but Haliburton shined as the squad's second-unit point guard, pushing the pace and spreading the offense around, averaging 5.6 assists per game, 10.5 per 40 minutes.

In October, Haliburton will get to show some of the lessons he learned from a summer in the spotlight, both on the court and off. He should enter camp in game shape with a team that is even more built to suit his talents than last season was with Brown and Toppin both being established forces in transition. He will be targeted by defenses even more this year, but the 23-year-old keeps improving as a playmaker and finding a way to evade them.

Is Bennedict Mathurin ready for another leap?

Bennedict Mathurin immediately paid off in 2022-23 as much as any Pacers draft pick in recent memory. He was the first Pacers player taken in the top nine overall since George McCloud went No. 7 in 1989 and he responded with one of the most prolific rookie seasons in Pacers history. His 1,302 total points put him behind only Clark Kellogg and Chuck Person in Pacers history, and he finished second among the NBA's rookies in scoring behind Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero. He was the first Pacer since Rik Smits in 1989 to be named first-team All-Rookie.

However, Mathurin's success largely came from his offense, which was a big reason why he spent most of the sesaon as the sixth man rather than as a starter. He proved he could get to the rim at will, but his jump shot was inconsistent and as badly as he wants to be a top-level defender, he struggled on that end of the floor, especially when he was thrown into the starting lineup late in the season.

The Pacers are hopeful that those struggles were educational and that Mathurin is ready for the responsibility of being a starter on both ends. They will even more desperately need him to step up if Hield is traded, as Haliburton will need someone to step up on the wing to take the attention off of him.

What happens at center?

The Pacers know they'll be starting Myles Turner as their big man after agreeing to a contract in January that pays him a total of $60 million and keeps him on board through 2024-25. He's coming off his best offensive season as a pro.

But after Turner, the Pacers have a log jam at the center position with three viable candidates to be Turner's backup in Isaiah Jackson, Jalen Smith and Daniel Theis. Theis played just seven games last year but added validity to his case this offseason by helping Germany to a FIBA World Cup title, showing he's still valuable as rebounder, post-scorer, screen-setter and passer. Jackson and Smith are both younger but bring plenty to the table in terms of athleticism and bench production. Jackson is arguably the team's best lob finisher and second-best shot blocker after Turner. Smith led the Pacers in rebounding per 48 minutes last season. The Pacers have reason to want to move the 31-year-old Theis and they still could, but if they can't, they will have a three-man battle for what is essentially an 18-minute-per-game job.

What impact will the newcomers make?

Obi Toppin, Bruce Brown, Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard were all added to the roster with specific visions in mind. Toppin and Brown are two of the most efficient transition scorers in the NBA, which fits well with Haliburton who loves to run. Walker was considered one of the best defensive players in the draft, and though his offensive game needs refinement, he has playmaking ability beyond that of most players his size and played point guard in Summer League. Sheppard can shoot from outside well enough to space the floor, make hustle plays, and defend multiple positions.

That's how each looks on paper, but the Pacers need to see how they'll actually fit and what they'll produce in slightly different situations than they're used to.

Toppin, the former national player of the year at Dayton, seems to be a perfect fit as a rim-running power forward with size who can also hit outside shots. This appears to be a desperately needed change of venue for him as he's never averaged more than 17.1 minutes per game in an NBA season, as he was stuck behind Julius Randle with the Knicks. However, he still will have more responsibility than he's ever had as a pro.

Brown is amenable to just about everything. He's started and come off the bench, played three positions and done so for a championship team, but there will be more of a spotlight on him than he's had with a two-year $45 million deal. And Walker and Sheppard are rookies, so as well as their games seems to translate to the NBA and what the Pacers want, they actually have to prove that it does.

Who gets left out?

The 2022-23 Pacers were a particularly close-knit group with personalities that seemed to to jell together remarkably well, led by an All-Star point guard whose primary goal as a player is to elevate others. That led to a locker room atmosphere that was remarkably positive for a team that ended up finishing 12 games under .500.

It should be noted, however, that it helped that the Pacers were able to find substantial playing time for just about every player who had a case to get some, and in some cases, players came to the Pacers and found much more opportunity that they had elsewhere. Such was the case for forwards Aaron Nesmith, acquired from the Celtics in July of 2022, and Jordan Nwora, acquired from the Bucks at the deadline, who both got to play far more with Indiana. The only major position battle that cost anyone playing time was between Smith and Jackson, who seemed to handle it well.

But this season, the competition for playing time will be tougher and it's likely somebody who was a contributor last season could have a hard time getting on the floor this year. Andrew Nembhard started at shooting guard as a rookie as a secondary ball-handler next to Haliburton and performed extremely well. However, he might end up taking over the second unit at point guard, his natural position, if Brown and Mathurin win the starting jobs at shooting guard and small forward. If Nembhard is the second unit point guard, that takes away the job of veteran T.J. McConnell, who is coming off his best offensive season as a pro. McConnell and Nembhard could play together in the second unit, but that could complicate things with the rest of the perimeter players, especially if Hield is still around when the season begins.

The additions of Toppin and Walker address the power forward position, but the guys who played power forward at the end of last season -- Nesmith and Nwora -- are still around. The 6-5 Nesmith is a natural small forward, and he could move to that position, but he might move to the bench if Toppin is productive enough and Mathurin or Brown is the starting 3. Nwora averaged 24.6 minutes and 13.0 points per game with the Pacers, far more than he ever did in a season with Milwaukee, but he's right back in a position to have to fight for playing time. And, as previously mentioned, the backup center spot is, for now, a three-man battle.

Every Pacers player has clear potential to be a productive NBA player, which was the goal of the offseason, but that means players who can be productive will be stuck at the end of the bench.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers: Seven storylines for training camp, starting with Buddy Hield