Pacers GM Buchanan Talks Oubre, Nance, Centers, Two-Ways

After Tyrese Haliburton joked last week during an episode of the Mind The Game podcast about how his efforts to recruit LeBron James to Indiana went nowhere, Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan confirmed during an appearance on the Setting The Pace podcast (YouTube link) that the team won’t be adding James to its roster despite having presented its case to agent Rich Paul.

“If you’re expecting the LeBron to Pacers announcement to come, it’s not coming,” Buchanan said, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. “I don’t want to break everybody’s hearts. Much respect to LeBron as a player, obviously, and to Rich Paul. I think every team made their pitch to Rich as to their situation, what they could offer, as did we. We also know that he’s narrowed it down to some other teams. Hopefully he stays in the West. I don’t know where he’s going to end up, but I can tell you it won’t be in Indiana, unfortunately.”

Buchanan spoke at length during the podcast about the roster moves the Pacers have made so far this offseason, including signing Kelly Oubre Jr., waiving Micah Potter to add Larry Nance Jr., and their two-way contract changes.

While the conversation is worth checking out in full for Pacers fans, here are some of the highlights, as relayed by Dopirak:

On using a portion of the mid-level exception to sign Oubre:

• Buchanan said the Pacers felt good entering the offseason about their starters and their top reserves but felt they needed a bit more depth on the wing. Although they explored potential trade scenarios, they kept coming back to Oubre, whom they viewed as a “win-now” player who could contribute on both sides of the ball.
• “He impacts the game on the defensive side of the ball as much as he can on the offensive side, which was appealing to us,” Buchanan said. “Last year was probably the best shooting year of his career. We think there’s more room from that regard for Kelly. I think he’ll see more open shots created in our system than he’s probably seen in his career. Optimistic that he’ll be able to knock down shots for us, but also provide some presence as a defender, being able to guard multiple positions, which is important for us.”

On waiving Potter to sign Nance:

• Potter had a better season in 2025/26 than Nance did, averaging 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game with a .515/.423/.842 shooting line while Nance averaged just 3.7 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 12.8 MPG and battled injuries. However, the Pacers valued Nance’s defensive versatility and veteran know-how, according to Buchanan, who said the 33-year-old was Indiana’s “best option that was gettable” among this summer’s frontcourt free agents.
• “I think our coaches felt really comfortable with his basketball IQ, his experience, and just his personality felt like a really good fit with our locker room as well,” the Pacers’ GM said. “Larry really had targeted us, wanted to be here with the Pacers and I think he’s very motivated to have a bounce-back season. I think he would be the first to admit that last year didn’t go the way he hoped it would. He’s very motivated to come in and fit in and play well for us this season.”
• Nance won’t be handed the backup center job, Buchanan added, noting that Jay Huff and forward Obi Toppin will also be in the mix behind starter Ivica Zubac. “(Nance has) gotta come in and earn it. Jay Huff has gotta earn those backup minutes as well. You have Obi as an option to come in and play some backup five,” Buchanan said. “There’s different looks that our coaches could utilize at the backup center spots. There’s might be some nights where our coaches will value the defensive versatility in Larry as opposed to the shooting and rim protection that Jay provides. It’s probably going to be night-to-night who plays there, but heading into camp it’s an open competition at this point.”

On the Pacers’ two-way slots:

• Indiana has re-signed Kobe Brown and Jalen Slawson to two-way deals and carried over Ethan Thompson on his two-way contract from last season. However, there’s also an expectation that the team will sign No. 38 overall pick Braden Smith to a two-way deal at some point. Buchanan expressed a desire to find a way to keep all four players, which could mean inking Smith to a standard contract, though that would leave the Pacers with a full 15-man roster and barely any wiggle room below their first-apron hard cap for the rest of the season.
• “We’re very, very tight to the first apron where we’re hard-capped now,” Buchanan said. “We have different options to fill that 15th spot. We’re still kind of making that decision, making some choices at the back end of the roster, the 15th spot and the two-way spots. Braden is a guy we valued in the draft for his play-making, his IQ and his toughness. We haven’t decided exactly what we’re gonna do now because we have several guys that we like and we want to keep. We’re trying to figure out what’s the best avenue to keep all those guys in play for us.”
• Buchanan added that the Pacers were “pleasantly surprised” by what they saw from Brown at the end of last season after he came over with Zubac from L.A. “We felt like this was a pretty good fit, our system, our coaches’ trust in Kobe,” the GM said. “As we looked at our roster spots, where we were at in the cap. we knew we were going to have some limitations on what we could probably offer at that position. We talked early on with Kobe’s representatives about, ‘Hey, we really would like to retain Kobe and have him back with us, but we don’t know if we’ll have the flexibility to make that a standard guaranteed spot. We’d love to have him on a two-way if that’s an option on your end.’ … I think Kobe felt comfortable in his time here with us and wanted to continue on that path. We’re excited to have him back.”