After being eliminated from the NBA's inaugural Play-In Tournament in 2021, the Indiana Pacers enter the 2021-22 season with a new head coach and high expectations.
Rick Carlisle takes over a talented roster that faces one major roadblock: health. Take a look at how their rotation is shaping up given the various injuries they're dealing with entering the season.
Indiana opens their season on Oct. 20 when it travels to take the Charlotte Hornets.
Depth chart
| Starters | Second | Third | |
| PG | Malcolm Brogdon | T.J. McConnell | Edmond Sumner* |
| SG | Caris LeVert* | Jeremy Lamb | Chris Duarte |
| SF | Justin Holiday | Torrey Craig | T.J. Warren* |
| PF | Domantas Sabonis | Oshae Brissett | Kelan Martin |
| C | Myles Turner | Goga Bitadze | Isaiah Jackson |
LeVert is dealing with a stress fracture in his back that should only hold him out for two to three weeks.
At Pacers media day, Warren, who is recovering from foot surgery underwent in January 2021, stated that he will "eventually be on the court sometime this season, just don't know when."
On Sept. 14, the Pacers announced that Sumner underwent successful surgery to repair a torn left Achilles tendon.
Two-way: DeJon Jarreau (guard), Duane Washington Jr. (guard)
Training camp/Exhibit 10: Nate Hinton (guard), Keifer Sykes (guard), Terry Taylor (guard)
Key additions and subtractions
After failing to make the playoffs for the first time in six years, the Pacers earned the No. 13 overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, which they used to select Chris Duarte from the University of Oregon. Indiana wasn't done on draft night, as it acquired No. 22 overall pick, Isaiah Jackson, from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a five-team deal.
In free agency, the Pacers made their biggest splash by signing Torrey Craig, who spent last season with the Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns.
Among notable subtractions is Doug McDermott, who elected to sign with the San Antonio Spurs in free agency. Indiana also traded Aaron Holiday to the Washington Wizards, while JaKarr Sampson signed with Italy's Virtus Bologna.
Positional battles
This Pacers team has a lot of wings.
Complicating things are the injuries the team enters the season with, which put questions surrounding the availability of Caris LeVert at guard and T.J. Warren at forward.
With each of the aforementioned players projecting as starters while healthy, Rick Carlisle could look towards Jeremy Lamb or Chris Duarte as potential starters in place of LeVert. It's an interesting dynamic, as starting Duarte would keep Lamb as the first scoring option off the bench, but starting responsibilities might be too much for a rookie, even though Duarte is more seasoned than most.
At the forward position, Justin Holiday appears primed to start in Warren's absence, although Torrey Craig is a viable option to start at forward, especially given his prowess as a wing defender.
The starting frontcourt is set but Oshae Brissett will look to continue to carve a bigger role as a backup forward, while rookie Isaiah Jackson will have to vie for minutes at the four as well as the five behind 2020 first-round pick Goga Bitadze.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its clubs.