How Ben Sheppard is reminding Pacers why they spent a first-round pick on him

INDIANAPOLIS — In the span of 30 seconds Tuesday night, Ben Sheppard showed the world everything the Pacers have loved about him since his pre-draft workout last spring.

It all started when Pacers center Myles Turner missed a free throw with 5:19 to go, trailing 100-96 but fighting their way back from a double-digit deficit. The foul shot hit off the front of the rim and came straight down, but Denver's Michael Porter Jr. and the Pacers' Aaron Nesmith made contact with the ball at the same time and Porter slapped it toward the left sideline. Sheppard, the Pacers' rookie guard, chased it down, collected it while he was falling out of bounds and flung it back to Turner at the top of the key without stepping on the line.

On the possession Sheppard extended, point guard Andrew Nembhard missed a 3-pointer and Nesmith missed an attempt at a putback due to what he thought should've been a foul. Sheppard stayed in perpetual motion after both misses and poked the ball out of the hands of Denver's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Sheppard and Caldwell-Pope both dove on the floor and Caldwell-Pope maintained possession for the Nuggets, but Sheppard kept moving. Nuggets guard Jamal Murray took the ball, but Nesmith got him turned around at half court and Murray briefly lost control of the ball. Sheppard swooped in for a steal and took the ball the rest of the way for a layup through contact. No foul was called, but the Pacers called a timeout and Sheppard got a chance to exchange chest-bumps with the veterans on the bench.

Sheppard's fourth-quarter hustle still couldn't save the Pacers from a 114-109 defeat at the hands of the defending NBA champs, but it provided further validation of the Pacers' assessment of Sheppard, the No. 26 pick in the 2023 draft.

Pascal Siakam's home debut: 'We have an opportunity to be special.'

Insider: How Pascal Siakam helps Pacers' evolution toward adequate defense

"Every time he goes in any game whether it's a Mad Ants game or a Pacers game or a pickup game somewhere in Nashville, the guy plays the same way," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said Tuesday. "He's a relentless competitor. His energy is boundless. He brings an exuberance to the game that helps the team. He was terrific in the game at Phoenix. I thought he was really terrific in the Sacramento game and again tonight, so he's making the case for more minutes."

Sheppard has been making a case since training camp, as Carlisle and the staff have always been pleased with his constant motor, with the 6-6, 190-pounder's length and defense and with his outside shot. He was drawn to Sheppard in the draft process, he said, because the Atlanta native, former Belmont star and 2022-23 Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year spent his draft workout at the Ascension St. Vincent Center running all over the place for loose balls. He brought that same intensity to training camp and was rewarded with 19.7 minutes per game in four preseason games, in which he averaged 9.5 points per game.

That said, the Pacers still had too much veteran depth on the perimeter to give Sheppard an even remotely clear path to playing time. The offseason signing of combo guard Bruce Brown Jr. packed a backcourt that already included point guards Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell and wings Buddy Hield, Bennedict Mathurin and Aaron Nesmtih. Sheppard was unsurprisingly the odd man out, and he's appeared in just 22 of the Pacers' 44 games this season with most of his appearances coming when the game was already decided one way or the other.

But along with fellow rookie Jarace Walker, he's stayed ready and embraced assignments to the G League as a way to get more time on the floor. The recent trade that brought the Pacers Pascal Siakam and sent Brown and wing Jordan Nwora to the Raptors, combined with the left hamstring strain suffered by Haliburton have given the Pacers an opportunity to take another look at Sheppard, and he's taken advantage of it. He's played at least 10 minutes in each of the past five games and played the entire fourth quarter Tuesday, even though he hadn't played at all in the previous three. He finished with five points on 2-of-2 shooting with a rebound, an assist and that key steal.

"The big thing my game is to bring energy and stay into the game," Sheppard said Wednesday after practice. "I didn't play until the fourth quarter last night, but I stayed ready and just played my game and played the way my team needed me to play and just did what I needed to do. I just try to get the crowd into it and hustle. Relentlessness is a big part of my game."

The Pacers haven't seen that wane at any point since he's been on the roster even as he's gone as many as six games in a row without seeing any action and as many as 15 in a row without playing at least 10 minutes. Even in short spurts and in games that had been long since decided, he brought spark and helped bring the Pacers back to respectable margins when they were facing double-digit deficits. Veterans have noticed he still approaches every assignment, no matter how menial, with joy and a perpetual smile.

"He never waivers, man," center Myles Turner said. "He's always smiling. That's one thing that you can take for granted coming into the office every day. It's something that, being here for nine years, I do every day. You forget that you get to do this, you don't have to do it. You see someone like Shep where it's new for him, he's in here every day smiling and working with great energy, infectious and what not. It's good to have that spirit on the team."

Sheppard hasn't been bothered with his G League assignments, in part because he's gotten to take them with Walker, who has more reason to be surprised by them as a lottery pick. The two quickly became close friends after they were drafted, and they connect well on the floor together so that makes their G League minutes fun. In nine games combined with the Mad Ants, Sheppard is averaging 19 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game.

"It's definitely been good," Sheppard said. "We have the right mindset together. We're able to get game reps when we're not necessarily playing with the Pacers. It's been a good experience."

Sheppard has also tried to soak up knowledge from veterans, particularly McConnell. The 31-year-old ninth-year veteran makes a point to take rookies under his wing, and he's constantly with Sheppard in pre-game, as they usually eat meals together. They have much different builds, as McConnell is listed at 6-1, but Sheppard sees McConnell's boundless energy as something to aspire to.

"It's been a big part of my development, just having a vet to look up to like T.J. who leads on and off the court," Sheppard said. "Just watching him out there, how relentless and hard-working he is on the court, that definitely rubs off on his teammates and especially me because I try to get out there and dive on balls and do everything that he tries to do. Obviously I can't emulate him but there's definitely some stuff to take from him."

The next step the Pacers have been looking for Sheppard to take has been to play with more confidence, especially on the offensive end. It isn't always easy for a rookie on a team with as much offensive firepower as the Pacers have to believe he should be taking key shots. He averages just 2.7 field goal attempts per game, which is less than anyone on the roster other than two-way players Oscar Tshiebwe and Kendall Brown and recently signed veteran forward James Johnson Jr. He hasn't scored more than eight points in a game yet, but he shot 47.5% from the floor and 41.5% from 3-point range as a senior at Belmont last year, and he's shooting 43.3% from the field and 36.3% from 3-point range in G League play, so they want him to trust he can make shots.

"They definitely want me to be more aggressive," Sheppard said. "Sometimes you'll see me out there passing up some shots or not taking them like I should. It's just being more aggressive and I'm going to do that."

If he does, there might be more minutes for him and soon. Carlisle has done a lot of tinkering since the Pacers acquired Siakam, and the departure of Brown means there are minutes available in the backcourt. Sheppard has shown he can be a trustworthy defender and shooter, and if he continues to perform well in his opportunities he might no longer be the odd man out.

"Siakam, we play different with him, obviously," Sheppard said. "I think as team chemistry will start to build, different opportunities will present themselves."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Here's why Rick Carlisle may play Pacers rookie Ben Sheppard more