Pascal Siakam Gets Brutally Honest About New Addition to Pacers Rotation

The Indiana Pacers needed some depth at the center position with Myles Turner down. Turner has a cervical strain that hopefully won't last much past the All-Star break.

Thomas Bryant had to start at center in each of the last three games with Turner out. While he's played well offensively, that leaves the team with very little rim protection.

They were hoping to be able to get Alex Len to help out with the depth issues at center, but he opted to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers instead.

Read more: Alex Len Changes Course, Ditches Pacers for Deal With Lakers

With that bit of news, the Pacers had to pivot to signing someone else. They settled on Jahil Okafor, bringing him up from the G League.

Okafor has worked extremely hard to get another NBA opportunity and saw his first NBA action since 2021 late in their game against the Lakers after things got out of hand.

Pacers' All-Star Pascal Siakam was asked about the signing of Okafor, and he had some good things to say about the former first-round pick.

"He (Okafor) was one of the top players when I came in (the league)," he said of the 2015 high lottery pick. "He's so talented and obviously having a tough break and a lot of things, but he just kept fighting, and that's all it's about."

Siakam is happy for Okafor to get another opportunity in the league. Indiana signed Okafor in case of an emergency injury to Bryant, as well as to properly manage the two-way players they have.

More Pacers news: Rick Carlisle Reacts to Pacers Signing Center Jahlil Okafor

While Okafor doesn't offer much rim protection, the Pacers would likely only put him in if Bryant and Enrique Freeman get hurt. They will just keep playing Siakam as the small-ball center and Obi Toppin as the power forward as much as possible.

If Okafor plays well in practice, perhaps he could garner some minutes late in the year. At this point, it's just a good story to see him back in the league after such a long time away.

While he was in the G League, Okafor averaged 18.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game.

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