The Biggest Battle for a Rotation Spot on the Pacers

When the Pacers entered the offseason they were hoping to address their wing depth position by either landing a top-four pick in the NBA Draft or finding a difference maker via Free Agency.

Indiana Pacers General Mangaer Chad Buchanan has said on the record multiple times that adding wing depth was the key for the offseason as they saw it as their biggest area of weakness.

While they were unable to land a top-four pick to select one of Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, or Caleb Wilson, they were able to strike a deal with Kelly Oubre Jr. who spent the last three seasons playing for the Philadelphia 76ers.

With Oubre added to the mix, he is a wing depth piece that can play either the two or the three. Indiana still has an opening at the other wing spot and that will be up for grabs.

The frontrunner entering training camp for that spot is 22-year-old Jarace Walker. Ben Sheppard, who Rick Carlisle has referred to as 'a soldier in our system' will be nipping at the heels of Walker for that spot.

Jarace Walker

Last season, Walker took a drastic step forward in the last 38 games of the season. He improved from 8.8 points per game to 14.4. His field goal percentage skyrocketed from 35.9% to 46.2%, and his three-point percentage increased from 33.3 to 40.7.

If Indiana can get the Jarace Walker we saw the latter part of the season than this won't be much of a competition. Walker is younger, has more talent overall, and gives this team incredible size at the wing.

Rick Carlisle said during the Pacers first Summer League contest, "We need him to star in his role as a great system player for us. He has some very unique abilities and he has some star capabilities, but we're such an ecosystem team and we depend so much on one another that you can't approach things from an individual standpoint. Be a great system player and allow the system to help amplify your individual skills."

This bled over into my conversation with Chad Buchanan on the Setting the Pace Podcast, where he highlighted that the front office asks Jarace Walker:

"We talk to him all the time about, can you be our OG Anunoby? Can you be a guy that catches and shoots, can drive on a closeout, but also takes on the responsibility of guarding the other teams, best bigger wing. Play with some physicality, play with some attitude. And if you can do that I mean, he's a very valuable player for us."

While these two quotes might feel a bit contradictory, I think they imply that both Coach Carlisle and the front office are in lockstep about how they see Jarace Walker. Asking Jarace to be their version of OG Anunoby doesn't mean that he needs to start, but it does mean that he needs to attack whatever role the coaching staff asks of him to play with that mindset.

Anunoby has perfected what the perfect role player in the NBA looks like. He doesn't demand the ball but will take shots when he's open, he defends at a high level and is usually guarding the best wing on the floor, his mentality and approach remains steady throughout every aspect of the game, and he never turns off his motor.

We have failed to see Jarace play with long stretches of consistency since he came into the NBA, which has resulted in a struggle to gain the trust of the coaching staff over players like Ben Sheppard, especially in his rookie season.

During the 2025 playoff run, Walker took steps as a player understanding their role. He was consistently in the rotation for round one against Milwaukee, but saw his role decrease against the Cavaliers and Knicks. However, when he was given a chance to play in those last two Eastern Conference series he was productive.

If he hadn't suffered a severe right ankle sprain in Game 6 of the Conference Finals, he might have found himself with an opportunity to play against the Thunder in the Finals. We will never know how the rotation would have shaken out, but Ben Sheppard was still logging more minutes per series in the 2025 playoffs than Jarace.

Ben Sheppard

Ben Sheppard is an underappreciated and underrated role player for this Pacer team. He's consistently looked as a negative by fans, but he's been productive as the backup shooting guard in the postseason.

He averaged 14.3 minutes against Milwaukee in round one, 12.2 against Cleveland in round two, 15.5 against the Knicks in the Conference Finals, and 13.6 versus the Thunder in the NBA Finals.

At the conclusion of the 2025 playoffs he went 15-38 from three, shooting a terrific 39% from deep. And 9-13 from two-point range for a sensational 69%.

This past season we saw Sheppard's three-point shooting increase to 42.3% from December till the end of the year, and we saw him experiment more with putting the ball on the floor versus being strictly a catch-and-shoot guard.

He will never have as high of a ceiling as Walker, but his level of consistency has allowed the coaching staff to trust him more in high-pressure situations. He understands his role, knows where he fits in on this team, and buys in to the scheme.

While Sheppard is a "solider in this system", he could benefit from expanding his game more. Chad Buchanan mentioned on Setting the Pace, that he would love to see Sheppard be a stronger rebounder at the guard position, play with more physicality by bodying up opposing wings, and be more willing to sacrifice his body for charges.

If Sheppard is able to take leaps in these areas the coaching staff will have a hard time keeping him off the floor. Especially if he can sustain the improved three-point shooting and high-motor.

Final Thoughts

Sheppard and Walker have both provided flashes of strong play and are both deserving of playing time. There will be a crunch for playing time at the wing spot and it is highly likely that one of these two will not be in the roation on opening night.

Both players are looking for their next payday as they enter the season with expiring contracts. And the best way to enhance their chance of getting paid is by playing well and often.

Competition between the two will be at an all-time high, but that will only push each player to grow and feel a little uncomfortable knowing that their spot in the rotation isn't guaranteed.

Monitoring how this one plays out will be one of the biggest storylines in training camp and preseason. Rick Carlisle and his coaching staff will have a tough decision to make, but at the end of the day we know that whoever wins the battle will have earned it.

You can follow me on X @AlexGoldenNBA and listen to my daily podcast, Setting The Pace, wherever you get your podcasts.

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