The Indiana Pacers have assembled a nice core that should keep them squarely in the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future. This offseason, however, there will be a few pressing matters for the Pacers to attend to. The good news is that Tyrese Haliburton is locked up to a huge contract for the next five seasons, but the Pacers still have the free agency of Pascal Siakam to attend to, not to mention the impending contract situation of Andrew Nembhard.
Nembhard, who performed quite well for the Pacers in their run to the Eastern Conference Finals, is set to make just $2 million next season in what could be the final year of his deal. While the Pacers will want to secure Nembhard’s services for the foreseeable future, it might be difficult for the Pacers to do so this offseason. Indiana will be limited in what they can offer Nembhard, as the best offer they can put on the table is a four-year, $75 million extension, as per NBA insider Marc Stein.
An average of $18.75 million from the 2025-26 to 2028-29 season is not too bad of a contract for Andrew Nembhard to sign. After all, Nembhard averaged just 9.2 points and 4.1 assists during the 2023-24 regular season.
However, Stein noted that other teams are convinced that Nembhard could be a lead guard elsewhere due to his performances in the 2024 NBA playoffs, which means that a bigger contract could eventually be on the table for the 24-year old guard. Nevertheless, the Pacers should still be in the driver’s seat when it comes to keeping Nembhard in town.
Should Nembhard reject contract extension overtures this offseason, the Pacers could decide to decline his team option worth $2 million for the 2025-26 season and tender him a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent. This would then give Indiana the right to match any offer sheet for the combo guard.
Thus, there is no reason for Pacers fans to fret even though the team’s core is becoming expensive really quickly. Obi Toppin is set to enter free agency as well, joining Siakam, while Myles Turner, TJ McConnell, and Bennedict Mathurin, among others, will be up for contract extensions soon.
Andrew Nembhard breaks out during the Pacers’ impressive 2024 playoff run
Andrew Nembhard’s role has fluctuated throughout his first two seasons in the association. Nembhard has started 110 of 143 games in his first two years in the league, and he has averaged 9.3 points and 4.3 assists during that span — good numbers, especially for someone taken in the second round. But that kind of production didn’t exactly suggest that he was going to be a long-term piece for the Pacers to hang onto alongside Tyrese Haliburton.
However, Nembhard played well under the bright lights of the playoffs. He scored in double figures in 14 of the 17 playoff games he suited up in, and he also took on the responsibility of guarding the likes of Damian Lillard, Jalen Brunson, and even Jayson Tatum at times.
Even in one of the games he finished with single digits in scoring, he still managed to make a major dent on the game. In the dying moments of Game 3 of the Pacers’ second-round matchup against the New York Knicks, Nembhard, despite shooting 1-7 from the field for three points to that point, was very ballsy. He took a stepback three-pointer near the hash line over the outstretched arms of Brunson to give the Pacers a three-point lead, preventing them from going down 3-0 in the series.
And then when Haliburton went down in the Eastern Conference Finals with a hamstring injury, Nembhard assumed lead guard duties, and the Pacers’ offense barely skipped a beat. He scored 32 and 24 points, respectively, in Games 3 and 4 to lead the Pacers in a spirited attempt to extend the series despite missing the team’s best player. In the end, he averaged 14.9 points and 5.5 assists in the playoffs while shooting a scorching hot 56 percent from the field and 48.3 percent from deep.
It’s not hard to imagine Andrew Nembhard flourishing even more on a team where he could be the lead ballhandler. But Nembhard has shown that he can play off of Haliburton and flourish when he’s out of the game, which means that he’s all the more valuable to the Pacers due to his role flexibility.
It’s been two years in a row now that Tyrese Haliburton sustained an injury to his hamstring. Having a top-notch insurance option in Nembhard is invaluable. And since the Pacers play at a breakneck pace, having speedy guards who can run a track meet is a must, which only adds further to the 24-year old guard’s importance to the team.
