The Indiana Pacers already had an Olympian in Tyrese Haliburton. He is one of the 12 players playing for Team USA in Paris. He played for Team USA in last year’s FIBA World Cup. Haliburton will get some playing time and be one of the primary creators for the team.
Only one other Pacers player had a chance to make an Olympic roster. That was Andrew Nembhard. Nembhard isn’t the only Indiana player on Team Canada’s roster, but he is the only healthy one. Bennedict Mathurin is still recovering from shoulder surgery so he can’t play.
Team Canada is a tough roster to make. Nembhard had his work cut out for him. It was announced on Wednesday that he officially made the roster. He will now try to win a medal with a roster that is one of the most talented in all of the Olympics.
Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard gets named to the Canadian Olympic roster
So now that Nembhard is on the team officially. how much playing time is he going to get? Most of the roster is filled with guys who are on NBA rosters, so it’s not going to be easy to see the court. Looking at the roster, he should come off the bench in a similar vain to Haliburton.
Nembhard won’t start with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray ahead of him. He will come off the bench and provide some midrange scoring along with some good passing. Nembhard will get a chance to run the second unit, which is still filled with some good players.
This will be a great experience for Nembhard regardless of how much he plays. This will help him become a better basketball player and that in turn will help the Pacers be a better team. Nembhard is one of the young player who the team thinks has a lot of room to grow.
He’s a really good player and we’ll see just how he fits with this Canadian national team in the scrimmage against Team USA on Wednesday night.