Rick Carlisle says Indiana Pacers have just signed a player who defends like Andrew Nembhard

Carlisle is impressed with what he saw from Payne

With the 2025-26 season coming up, Haliburton is not the only player injured. NBA Finals hero TJ McConnell is also dealing with an injury, which will take him out for at least a month. That means Nembhard will need Payne to step up as his backup and potentially as a backcourt partner in some spurts.

Thankfully, Payne has been impressive during training camp and preseason. Carlisle has been raving about him for a while, which should be a good sign for the Pacers as they start the 2025-26 season down two point guards.

Since the team needs someone who can deputize for Nembhard, Payne is standing out because he has experience as a reliable backup guard.

“Cam’s doing well, he’s a veteran and a pro. He’s come in here, and obviously, he’s in shape. Ready for the opportunity wherever it came, and he is a guy who’s a threat to score. He drives it, he shoots long-range, and he has a feel for the game,” Carlisle said during media availability.

“Our defensive system is a little different than what he’s played. After two live practices, he’s making progress. Cam Payne is an aggressive player by nature, and so the full court pickup feeds right into that aggression.”

“And he’s a guy that’s always looked to do that, similar to the way that Andrew Nembhard does it, too.”

The Pacers could surprise plenty of people in the 2025-26 season

The Pacers are entering the new season with limited expectations. They might be an NBA Finals team from the previous year, but people are counting them out because they don’t have Haliburton. Add the loss of Myles Turner to that, and people have made up their minds about the team.

With that said, the Pacers still have a strong group of players with Pascal Siakam as their star player. Nembhard is due for a breakout season, especially with his added responsibilities.

The rest of the team is still heavily underrated, like Aaron Nesmith and Bennedict Mathurin . They even have Jay Huff from the Memphis Grizzlies, who is one of the most underrated pickups of the entire offseason.

With Carlisle coaching this team, anything is possible. Since they have newfound depth in the point guard position, they could surprise plenty of people because they can win more games than projected.