Aaron Nesmith Is The Perfect Glue Guy For The Indiana Pacers

Nesmith Is More Than An Elite Shooter

Through two second-round games, he is averaging 20 points (9-of-14 from deep, 84.6 percent true shooting), six rebounds and two blocks. Across his seven playoff games, he’s averaging 16.3 points (56.3 percent from deep, 73.6 percent true shooting) and 6.3 rebounds. Among all remaining playoff players with at least 70 field goal attempts, his 73.6 percent true shooting sits first, a country mile ahead of second-place Stephen Curry’s 63.6.

Nesmith is not a 56 percent outside shooter, but he’s a damn good one nonetheless, having made 42.3 percent of his threes since the start of 2023-24 (playoffs included). Skirt him from the arc with a frenetic closeout and he’ll still be a threat, shooting 58.7 percent on two-pointers over that same span.

He’s a perfect fifth starter offensively in the Pacers’ free-wheeling, run-and-gun offense, capitalizing as a versatile, highly effective release valve alongside Haliburton, Nembhard and Pascal Siakam’s creation. These playoffs have let him showcase exactly that. He’s benefiting from some small sample shooting luck, but mostly thriving because of his own sheer goodness and skill-set.

A Defensive Stopper

Like a slew of other playoff teams, full-court pressure is part of Indiana’s defensive identity. Nesmith, Nembhard and T.J. McConnell are all known to pick up their assignment from the outset and help drain clock, shrinking an offense’s margin for error on a given possession.

Against the Cavs, Nesmith’s sat in a stance for ~94 feet plenty of times. He ground Ty Jerome into an eight-second violation during Game 1, drew an illegal screen via Strus early in Game 2 and elicited the aforementioned tide-turning offensive foul on Mitchell late in Game 2. Yet Nesmith’s defensive exploits do not evaporate past the half-court line.

The dude is doggedly physical, delicately teetering the line between reckless and responsibly brash. His motor rarely shuts off, constantly determined to extinguish whatever flame burns brightly inside his assignment. He’ll face-guard off the ball, and less so wiggles over picks but rather wills his way through them — the well-being of himself, ball-handlers and screeners be damned.

A rickety start to his NBA career is firmly in the rearview. The wicked jumper he displayed at Vanderbilt — the primary reason he went 14th overall in 2020 — is here. He’s become much more adept, prepared and composed punishing closeouts. He’s learned how to channel his tenacity and energy into beneficial two-way impact. Everything he’s grown into aptly fits the needs of this budding Indiana squad.

Tasmanian Devil meets three-and-D wing, Nesmith is an unrelenting, kickass player. He’s the type Indiana is surely glad resides in its corner while 29 others teams wish they employed his services instead. Perhaps, none more than Cleveland the past week, which has swiftly endured the Nesmith Experience and won’t be free of it until one side wins four games. And right now, the Pacers are a whole lot closer to that goal, partly because of their firecracker forward’s unmistakable excellence.