Walker starts at the 2, Furphy sinks late 3 for Summer Pacers to record first win
After an 0-2 start at NBA Summer League, the Pacers defeated the Suns. Ben Sheppard sat out, Jarace Walker moved to the 2, turnover issues persisted, but they closed this one late.
LAS VEGAS — Summer League is about two things: Opportunity and experimenting.
For Jarace Walker, a lottery pick of the Indiana Pacers from the 2023 NBA Draft, both qualify after depth on the core Pacers made it difficult for him to crack the rotation during his rookie season.
Now in summer league for the second year in a row, more is being asked of him. To lead, in particular.
More than that, they see the logjam at power forward since Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin both re-signed this offseason, so he’s anticipating spending more time on the wing at the three. However, after the first two games in Las Vegas, they elected to make another change.
Guard Ben Sheppard was shut down after two games — no surprise — and Walker slid over to the two spot, which was different. (Rookie guard Tristen Newton started in place of Quenton Jackson).
“We wanted to see him guard smaller guys, be disruptive on the ball,” said summer coach Jannero Pargo. “We thought putting him at the two would give him a better chance to see that.