Pacers' $58 Million Forward Receives Brutal Outlook for This Season

The Indiana Pacers made the NBA Finals in part because of how good their bench was. The bench proved that they were the best in the NBA, and the team found success because of how good the team was collectively.

Reserve power forward Obi Toppin was one of the players who really stepped up in the last month of the regular season and during the playoffs. He turned into a great 3-point shooter as well.

That kind of production was key for the Pacers, and they expect him to keep up that for next season. One pundit doesn't believe that he will be able to keep it up.

NBA pundit doesn't believe in Obi Toppin next season for the Pacers

Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report does not believe that Toppin is going to have the same kind of production next year, thinking he is do for a crash down to earth.

"A mostly dependent scorer who was assisted on every single one of his made threes during Indiana's run to the Finals, Toppin is going to find things a bit more difficult without Tyrese Haliburton around," Hughes writes.

Hughes makes the argument that without Tyrese Haliburton, it will be a lot harder for Toppin to have the amount of wide-open shots he had this past year.

"Add to that the negative impact Haliburton's absence should have on the Pacers' transition attack, which is also a key to Toppin's effectiveness, and it's easy to see some struggles ahead," Hughes adds.

Obi Toppin will be a big part of what the Pacers do next year

Toppin doesn't do a great job of creating his own shot, so he needs someone to help him get the open shots. Haiburton and T.J. McConnell do a great job of that.

Unless it's a straight-line drive, Toppin isn't good at creating his own shots. Still, his offense shouldn't fall off too hard next year, as Andrew Nembhard is still a really good creator in his own right.

This past season, Toppin averaged 10.5 points, four rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game. He shot 52.9 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.