Pacers’ Ideal New Starting Shooting Guard is Clear, Says Insider

Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle reacts after a call following a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half of game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Indiana Pacers' ideal new starting two-guard has emerged, per an insider.

Andrew Nembhard, the starting shooting guard for Indiana's NBA Finals run this past summer, is being shifted to the point. He'll be replacing two-time All-NBA starting point guard Tyrese Haliburton, who is recuperating from a torn Achilles tendon and will miss the entire 2025-26 season.

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Caitlin Cooper of Basketball, She Wrote opines that sixth man wing Bennedict Mathurin should take over from Nembhard.

"Organizationally, the answer at the two-guard spot likely needs to be Mathurin to start the season, even if doesn't ultimately end up still being Mathurin at the end of the season. It might!" Cooper notes. "It also might not! Last season, moving him back to the bench made sense, especially after the team returned home from their road trip in which they got outscored 145-86 in the first quarter of the four games they played out west, trailing by at least 10 points in each of the four opening frames."

Cooper goes on to explain why current starting small forward Aaron Nesmith, while a solid starter, would struggle more to serve as the club's sixth man in the same capacity Mathurin has — in part because Mathurin can initiate offense in a way Nesmith cannot.

"Nesmith is a better fifth starter than Mathurin, and Mathurin is a better sixth man than Nesmith," Cooper opines.

Mathurin's fit alongside Haliburton, Cooper observes, has always been tenuous in their three years together. Without him, Mathurin could thrive ahead of his 2026 restricted free agency (Indiana could also sign him to a rookie extension before the start of the 2025-26 season).

"It also begs pointing out that the Pacers have barely outscored opponents by just 0.36 points per 100 possessions in the 2911 regular-season minutes that Haliburton and Mathurin have played together since Mathurin was drafted," Cooper notes.

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