Pacers not starting extension talks with Nesmith, Toppin yet
INDIANAPOLIS -- Buddy Hield’s expiring contract might be the most pressing personnel situation the Pacers face going into training camp, but it’s not the only contract due to expire next summer.
Forwards Aaron Nesmith and Obi Toppin will be restricted free agents after this season if they are not signed to extensions. Guards Bennedict Mathurin, Bruce Brown and centers Daniel Theis and Isaiah Jackson all have club options in their contracts for the 202425 season. Mathurin’s is almost certain to be picked up, but none of the rest are sure things. The Pacers were thrilled to sign Brown to a two-year, $45 million deal, but they put the club option in there for a reason -- to maintain cap flexibility, especially with All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton’s five-year, max contract extension worth up to $260 million set to kick in in 2024-25.
Point guard T.J. McConnell is also extension eligible. He is still under contract in 2024-25, but his salary is only partially guaranteed.
For now, the Pacers are taking their time in making decisions. In the case of Toppin, who was acquired in a trade with the Knicks this offseason, and Nesmith, who was acquired last season from the Celtics, they want to see more before they decide how they fit in the long-term plans of the franchise.
“We’ll have conversations with their agents,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan said at his press conference Tuesday. “Obi is someone that we haven’t seen on our team yet. We’d like to see how things play out there. Aaron obviously has had one year with us and did a good job for us. It’s gotta be the right situation for both sides. We’ll have those conversations but there’s no rush or anything to do something with those two guys in the short term.”
Toppin seems to be a great fit at power forward for the Pacers and was acquired for just two second-round picks, as he was stuck behind All-Star Julius Randle with the Knicks and never averaged more than 17.1 minutes per game. He is still on his rookie contract and due $6.8 million this year. The former college national player of the year at Dayton is at his best in transition, which makes him a great fit with Haliburton and gives him an opportunity to put up numbers this season far beyond what he ever did in New York. For that reason, there is as much motivation for Toppin to wait on contract talks with the Pacers as there is for them to take their time opening negotiations with him.
Nesmith started 60 games for the Pacers last season after starting a combined four in two seasons with the Celtics. He averaged 10.1 points per game last season as the team’s undersized starting power forward and drew top defensive assignments on a nightly basis. His role will almost certainly change this season, and both he and the Pacers will have to determine how he fits in their future plans and what they will be willing to pay to keep him.
Buchanan didn’t say anything about the Pacers’ thoughts on club options, though he did speak at length about the center situation which will ultimately affect what they decide to do with Theis and Jackson. Those two head into camp in a battle with Jalen Smith for the backup job behind Myles Turner. Buchanan said the Pacers wouldn’t move any of the three until the competition plays out, but they might be willing to move one when it does.
McConnell is in an interesting position as well coming off the best offensive season of his career. The 31-year-old averaged a career high 8.7 points per game on an effective field goal percentage of .568, making a career-high 44.1% of his 3-point attempts. He served as the second-unit point guard last season, but he could lose that job if Brown starts at shooting guard and the Pacers move Andrew Nembhard to the second unit to run the point. The Pacers could still use McConnell for depth but might want to eventually move him rather than extend him.
“T.J. is another guy who wants to play and he deserves to play,” Buchanan said. “He’s going to come in to compete. T.J. has had to compete for everything in his life. How that’s gonna look, we don’t know yet, but I think he wants to be a Pacer. He’s happy being a Pacer. He wants to be here and that’s something we need to see play out and see where it goes.”