Indiana Pacers Add To Roster Ahead Of Training Camp

With their first preseason game tipping off in just 17 days, the Indiana Pacers made a group of transactions to add to their roster.

In total, Indiana signed five players over the weekend. The team announced Friday that they had signed 48th overall pick Kendall Brown to a two-way contract while also agreeing to deals with former Pacer Gabe York, veteran forward James Johnson, two-year pro David Stockton, and center Bennie Boatwright.

Three of those players have previous ties to the Pacers organization. Brown, the most noteworthy of the bunch given that Indiana traded into the second round to select him in the 2022 NBA Draft, played for the Pacers in summer league in July. He was one of the last second round selections to sign with their team, and Brown ultimately landed on a two-way deal with the blue and gold.

Boatwright and York also played with Brown in summer league, and York spent time with the Pacers last season. The 29-year old guard played in two games for Indiana, where he averaged 4.0 points and 2.0 assists per game. Boatwright spent the 2021-22 season with the Pacers G League affiliate franchise, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants. He averaged 14.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game for Fort Wayne during the G League’s Winter Showcase.

The Pacers went 2-3 in summer league. All three of York, Boatwright, and Brown played in at least three games.

Of the new signees with no prior ties to the franchise, James Johnson is the most noteworthy. Johnson, a 13-year veteran who has played for nine different NBA franchises, is now the oldest Pacer by over five years. Indiana needed another veteran on the roster and another natural power forward. Johnson checks both boxes.

The 2009 first-round draft pick reached the conference finals with Toronto in 2016 and has played in the postseason with four different teams. His experience and toughness will be a boon for a younger Pacers group. On top of his acumen, Johnson could be a good fit with Indiana as he has previously played for head coach Rick Carlisle — he spent 29 games with Carlisle’s Dallas Mavericks in 2020-21.

“He’s a very unique player,” Carlisle said of Johnson, per the Mavericks. “He plays point power forward for us a lot of the time very effectively. He’s really working on his shooting, and I think his shooting is getting better and better.”

Stockton holds two seasons of NBA experience, one with Sacramento and one with Utah. He is one of the most accomplished passers in G League history and is the son of NBA Hall Of Famer John Stockton. The Mad Ants acquired Stockton’s returning player rights in a trade earlier this summer, telegraphing that this signing was a possibility.

After adding the five players, the Pacers roster now stands at 20. That is the maximum number of players a team can roster in the offseason, so Indiana will have to waive or trade away someone if they want to make additional signings. Between rumored Exhibit 10 deals and veteran agreements, the Pacers could still tweak their roster prior to the start of the regular season.

Multiple teams — including Atlanta, Detroit, and Sacramento — have already waived players before training camp even began. If a waived player has an Exhibit 10 clause in their contract, they are eligible for a bonus if they report to their incumbent team’s G League affiliate franchise for at least 60 days. It would make sense for some of the Pacers recent signees to have Exhibit 10 language in their contracts, so the Pacers could still make some moves prior to the start of the regular season. The franchise made similar moves last summer.

Indiana has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and one player, Brown, on a two-way deal. That means there could be a competition in camp for a spot on the Pacers roster during the regular season. Forward Oshae Brissett’s contract is not guaranteed for the coming season, but he is a lock to be on the blue and gold this year. The other roster spot and two-way slot could be up for grabs, though, and any player Indiana brings in throughout the next month could be competing for those positions.

Deividas Sirvydis, who the Pacers singed back in August, could be in the mix for one of these spots as well.

Training camp will open for the Pacers soon, and with the team having flexibility, all of these players will be worth watching. If they impress in camp or during preseason action, they could be suiting up for the blue and gold during the regular season when the games count.