Indiana Pacers Sign Langston Galloway In Group Of Transactions

The Indiana Pacers made a group of moves to tweak their roster on Friday. In total, the franchise waived three players to clear roster spots and added a trio of guys into the mix.

Indiana moved on from David Stockton, Bennie Boatwright, and Gabe York in the roster shuffle. All three of those players signed contracts that included Exhibit 10 language last week, meaning they will receive a financial bonus if they play for Indiana’s G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, for at least 60 days.

Waiving those players opened up spots on the Pacers roster, and those were immediately filled. The blue and gold agreed to deals with Langston Galloway, Justin Anderson, and Norvel Pelle.

Galloway stands out as a noteworthy addition within that group. The guard has been in the NBA for eight seasons and has spent time with various competitors — including Phoenix, Brooklyn, and Milwaukee — during the last two campaigns. He played in two playoff games for the Suns during their run to the 2021 NBA Finals.

Galloway was also teammates with now-Pacer Jalen Smith in Phoenix. The 6-foot-1-inch guard spent some of his offseason playing for Team USA in FIBA World Cup qualifying action, where he has so far averaged 13.7 points per game in six appearances.

The Saint Joseph’s University product has skills that naturally define him as a combo guard. He’s a low turnover ball handler — he had the best turnover rate in the entire NBA for two straight seasons with the Detroit Pistons — who nails the simple reads. But he isn’t consistent enough getting into the paint to be a full time point guard. Thankfully, Galloway is a tremendous catch-and-shoot player, which allows him to play off the ball at shooting guard at times. He canned 43.8% of his catch-and-shoot threes during his last full season in the NBA.

Galloway’s contract is a non-guaranteed one-year deal, similar to the one that forward James Johnson signed for the blue and gold last week. The two players will be competing with each other, among other training camp signees, for a spot on the back of Indiana’s regular season roster.

The Mad Ants own the G League rights of both Anderson and Pelle, so those two players were natural fits for training camp deals with the Pacers. Fort Wayne acquired Pelle’s rights in a trade just over a week ago.

Anderson spent 13 games with Indiana last season on several different contracts. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.1 rebounds per game while soaking up minutes on the wing, something the team desperately needed. In the G League, the six-year pro averaged 27.8 points per game in 2021-22 — he was named to the All-NBA G League First Team.

Anderson has played for Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle in three of his six NBA seasons. Two of those campaigns were with the Dallas Mavericks back in the mid 2010s.

“He’s a good player,” Carlisle said of Anderson last season.

Pelle holds three years of NBA experience with five different franchises. The 29-year old big man is a productive rebounder and shot blocker who uses his size effectively around the basket.

The Indiana Pacers will begin training camp early next week. If Galloway, Anderson, and Pelle are still on the roster at that time, they will compete for the team’s final roster spot or open two-way slot during camp. Pelle is the only one of the trio who is eligible for a two-way deal.

Indiana’s roster still stands at 20 players, so if the franchise wants to acquire a new piece, they will first need to waive or trade away someone currently on the roster.