Surprise Pacers Wing Could Join Starting Lineup, Under One Condition

The Indiana Pacers will be replacing two starters next season. Myles Turner ended up leaving for the Milwaukee Bucks to be their second-best player after signing a four-year deal with them.

Tyrese Haliburton will miss the entire season after tearing his Achilles during Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Filling that void is more important than center since they have four centers on the roster.

The question will be who mans the two-guard spot with Andrew Nembhard shifting to point guard. general manager Chad Buchanan mentioned a surprise name who has a shot to break into the starting lineup.

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While speaking on Setting the Pace, Buchanan mentioned that Jarace Walker could be in the starting lineup if he meets a very specific condition.

"I'd say the biggest part of Jarace's growth is going to be consistently playing with force. I think you see stretches of that where he's playing, he's attacking the rim, or he's active defensively, or he's gobbling up defensive rebounds. And then you'll see stretches where he's very, very timid."

Walker was on the fringes of the rotation once the playoffs rolled around, which was quite surprising. He played some excellent basketball off the bench in the last couple of months of the season.

Walker got hurt in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks, suffering an ankle injury. Had he been healthy, he would have gotten minutes in the NBA Finals against the Thunder.

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Bennedict Mathurin is still the favorite to jump into the starting lineup after starting half of the regular season when Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith suffered injuries.

Mathurin is a much better offensive player than Walker is, but he's also gotten more playing time to play through mistakes. Walker is a fantastic defender on the perimeter, which might give him the edge.

Even if Walker doesn't get into the starting lineup, this is by far the best opportunity he's going to have for playing time. He's going to get a lot of minutes with Haliburton out.

This past season, Walker averaged 6.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game.

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