How Aaron Nesmith Can Help The Indiana Pacers

Aaron Nesmith has played in less than 100 games in his young NBA career. He’s only 22-years old, and he was a lottery pick in the NBA Draft just 19 months ago. So while his career has been underwhelming so far, the Indiana Pacers are betting that they can tap into his potential.

“This is a perfect situation for him,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Nesmith during a summer league broadcast earlier in July.

The Pacers acquired Nesmith in a trade with Boston that sent Malcolm Brogdon to the Celtics. The motivation, like with many moves made by Indiana in the last 5 months, was to get younger and add long-term pieces to the team.

Nesmith can, if things work out in Indiana, be a long-term fit with the blue and gold. He fits the mold of many pieces that President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard has added during his tenure running the franchise — he’s young, under contract for multiple seasons, and ready for a different role. The same thinking netted Indiana T.J. Warren, Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis, Malcolm Brogdon, Jalen Smith, and Tyrese Haliburton in trades during the last five seasons.

In Boston, Nesmith struggled to get consistent minutes. The longest stretch of consecutive games that the former lottery pick played in was 15 at the end of his rookie season, and that number was even smaller in his second campaign. He played in over half of a game just seven times in two years. Finding opportunities was hard for the young wing on a team trying to win.

“I know what he went through in Boston,” Carlisle shared on the aforementioned broadcast. The head coach noted that he had to go through something similar during his playing days with the Celtics.

With the Pacers, Nesmith should have more opportunities to fail and grow through his mistakes. And that should lead to more long-term growth for the former Vanderbilt Commodore.

Nesmith has the potential to be a quality shooter at the NBA level. He canned 41% of his nearly 300 attempted threes at the collegiate level, and he finished his rookie season with 37% accuracy from long range. That number fell dramatically in his second season — all the way down to 27% on slightly increased volume — but it also was impacted by a more challenging shot diet that featured more shot attempts off the dribble and fewer looks from the corners.

If the Pacers can get the 22-year old forward into the right situations, then he should be a more accurate shooter than he was during his second season. He’s knocked down 34% of his catch-and-shoot opportunities during the course of his career, and having a setup man like Tyrese Haliburton running the offense will provide the new Pacer with easier opportunities.

And Nesmith isn’t limited to just being a shooter. The 6-foot-5-inch wing ranked in the 68th percentile of all players coming off of screens last season and had some success during transition chances as well. His abilities as a ball handler and slasher leave a lot to be desired, and he certainly needs to take steps forward in those areas, but he can give the Pacers production as a threat on the move from all over the court.

Defensively, Nesmith has the strength and athleticism to give Indiana another useful piece on that end of the floor. His pattern recognition and team defense need work, as is the case with most younger players, but his on-ball defense is effective for someone with little experience. Boston had a better defensive rating with Nesmith on the court than off this past season.

Little things have plagued Nesmith frequently throughout his career. Turnovers and offensive timing miscues have often been an issue for the South Carolina native. Those are skills he will need to develop in Indiana if he wants to be an everyday rotation player for his new team.

Carlisle may be the perfect coach to turn Nesmith into that player. As a coach, he loves tutoring and helping players improve certain skills — he will work with Nesmith and try to accelerate his growth.

“Teaching is really the draw to this game for me,” Carlisle said in late June. Nesmith will benefit from Carlisle’s instruction, that partnership will help the young wing regardless of his role during games.

The former 14th overall pick may not get serious minutes in the rotation for Indiana right away this season. Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Chris Duarte, Bennedict Mathurin, and T.J. McConnell are all deserving of minutes in the backcourt, so Nesmith could have limited opportunities early in his Pacers tenure. Trades could open up playing time as the season progresses.

He will need to take advantage of any minutes — as a shooter, a defender, or as an improved player in other areas — when they come. If he can shoot from long range or defend, there will be a role for Nesmith going forward. Those skills are supremely valuable. But both abilities have come and gone for the young wing throughout his career — consistency will be key for the 2020 draft pick.

Even if Nesmith doesn’t pan out as more than a deep bench wing, the Brogdon trade is a low-risk deal for the Pacers, who balanced their rotation and acquired a first-round draft pick. The return isn’t huge, but if Nesmith becomes a quality reserve (or more), then Indiana will look smart for taking a flier on the young wing.

“He did have some good stretches… he’s really fired up about the opportunity, and so are we,” Carlisle said of Aaron Nesmith. The 22-year old has shown flashes as a shooter, defender, athletic wing, and movement scorer in his career despite never putting all of the skills together. If he can do that in Indiana, the blue and gold will have a valuable piece for the foreseeable future.