The Pacers started NBA Summer League strong and ended it strong with wins to start and finish their five-game campaign but lost the three games in the middle to finish 2-3.
It wasn’t a very surprising result given that the Pacers didn’t have much firepower available to send to Las Vegas. This was their third straight season without a first-round pick, so no one on the team who had been a first-round selection was eligible. Their 2024 early second-round selection Johnny Furphy is still recuperating from an ACL tear and they traded their 2025 early second-rounder, Kam Jones, to acquire the 2026 second-round selection they used to select Purdue point guard Braden Smith. He’s expected to sign a two-way contract, so the Pacers not only didn’t have a first-rounder on their summer roster, they didn’t have anyone who went to Vegas while on or expected to be on a standard NBA contract.
Still, even while finishing under .500 they proved themselves a tough out. Two of their three losses came by seven points or fewer and they had the ball down one in the waning second with a chance to beat Toronto in their third game. They finished eighth in Summer League in scoring, 10th in assists, sixth in 3-point attempts and second in made and attempted free throws, all signs that they were pushing the pace and forcing other teams to work. The roster bought into the Pacers’ organizational style of play and used it to give themselves a chance in almost every game they played.
As expected, what happened in Vegas will largely stay in Vegas for the Pacers considering few players on the roster will get much if any playing time at the NBA level in Indiana this season. The Pacers have one standard contract open and enough money under the first luxury tax apron — where they are hard-capped — to sign a player on the rookie minimum but not the veteran minimum. There’s still a chance somebody on the Vegas roster will be a full-time NBA player but it doesn’t seem particularly likely. That being said, the Pacers have at least four players vying for their three two-way contracts and the players involved in that competition did their best to keep it murky. Arguably, others made a case to be involved in consideration for those spots as well. Beyond that, several other players made a strong case that they should be core pieces for the Noblesville Boom this season.
Here’s a look at five things we learned about the Pacers — or at least about the Pacers’ organizational depth — during NBA Summer League.
Jalen Slawson remains a fascinating wild card
Jalen Slawson hopes of maintaining a two-way contract with the Pacers seemed to take a major hit the day before they started Summer League play when the team announced it’d be keeping free agent forward Kobe Brown, but putting him on a two-way contract after his rookie-scale standard deal ran out. Like the 6-7, 215-pound Slawson, Brown (6-7, 250) can play either forward spot and it seemed redundant to have two such players on two-way deals. Slawson is a restricted free agent and though the Pacers gave him a qualifying offer to assure they can match any offer from another team, it may be more convenient to let him walk to make sure they can keep Brown, Smith and Ethan Thompson.
But in Vegas, Slawson did everything he could to stay top-of-mind for the Pacers’ brass. Everything he did in Summer League, he did big, though that also included mistakes.
Slawson played all five games and led the Pacers summer squad with 20.8 points per game. He was second on the team with 6.4 rebounds, third among all Pacers and first among non-point guards with 2.6 assists per game and by far the team leader in blocks at 3.2. Slawson’s 104 total points were the fifth most in all of Summer League behind only Memphis’ Cedric Coward (114) and Cameron Boozer (111), Cleveland’s Meleek Thomas (109) and Minnesota’s Zyon Pullin (105). Coward and Boozer played six games, reaching the championship before losing to Golden State. Slawson’s 16 total blocks led the event.
However, Slawson also committed 18 turnovers in five games, the second-highest total of any player in Summer League behind Chicago’s Caleb Wilson’s 21. Slawson’s 22 personal fouls were the seventh highest figure in Summer League. He shot a respectable 45.1% from the floor and made 79.2% of his free throw attempts, but made just 29% of his 3s, nine of 31 total attempts
And the disparate numbers only told part of the story. When he was good, he was an athletic marvel, flying through the lane for tip dunks and getting so high above the rim that it seemed like he could throw half his arm in the hoop. He didn’t record blocks so much as he swallowed shots whole and he was a threat for a chase-down block if he was anywhere within the 3-point line when the shot went up. He found chemistry with Pacers point guards Braden Smith and Yuki Kawamura, moved well without the ball and made an impact on the glass on both ends.
But Slawson’s worst moments were humbling to say the least. He had 3-point attempts that didn’t catch iron, inexplicable passes that found the hands of opponents and occasions when he simply lost his dribble. He’d have had serious trouble staying in games if the Summer League limit for fouls hadn’t been 10.
All of that makes the Pacers’ decision on Slawson more difficult. Outside of Obi Toppin he might be the highest leaper and most explosive raw athlete in the organization. He was first-team G League All-Defense last season so the Pacers know he can make an impact on that end. But on two-way contracts, teams generally want players they can plug and play and not worry about them making big mistakes. It won’t be easy to let him walk because his potential is substantial, but there’s a risk to keeping him as well. They can keep two forwards among the two-ways especially with Quenton Jackson and Ben Sheppard still in the fold, but they also have Kelly Oubre, Jarace Walker and Toppin available for their second unit as forwards and they’ll eventually get Furphy back so they don’t necessarily need both Brown and Slawson either.
Slawson ultimately helped his cause in Vegas and he played well enough that somebody will be giving him a job for the 2026-27 season. But after five games it’s not easy to tell if that somebody will be the Pacers and if that job will include a two-way contract as opposed to just a G League job.
Braden Smith can run the offense but needs to make more shots
The Pacers drafted Smith because they believe in his vision and his passing ability. His mind fits the Pacers offense. He can keep the ball moving and see the next play before it happens. He’s exceptional at pick-and-roll execution and all of that makes the Purdue All-American and the 2022 Mr. Basketball from Westfield a natural fit with this organization.
That being said, they would have liked to have seen Smith put the ball in the bucket more in Vegas.
Smith averaged 7.0 assists per game — 35 in five games. His per-game average was the fourth-highest in NBA Summer League and he finished tied for second-most total assists behind Pullin’s 39. Smith finished with 14 turnovers, a 2.5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. However, he scored just 34 points on 9-of-34 shooting (26.5%). He made under 30% of his 3-point attempts (5-of-17) and was still better from 3 than he was from 2.
Smith made 47.1% of his 2s and and 38.5% of his 3s at Purdue so the Pacers know that’s anomalous to some degree. But they also know at 5-10 it won’t be easy for him to get clean looks in the NBA and when he gets them they’ll need to go down at a higher rate than what he hit in Vegas. That probably won’t be enough reason for the Pacers to back out of their agreement to put Smith on a two-way deal, but the fact that he couldn’t string shots together throughout the event doesn’t help matters.
His eight steals did help his cause as he showed willingness to pick up full-court and simply out-hustle opponents, like when he simply beat New Orleans’ Malik Dia down the floor or a steal in Saturday night’s game. Still, he was limited on that end overall and the shooting matters. The Pacers will need to see it improve in his games with the Boom if he is to turn his two-way contract into something more.
Taelon Peter was OK, but that wasn’t enough
While Slawson seemed to be everywhere all the time, the other returning Pacers player on a two-way contract was a little more muted, and that seemed to lead to his being waived.
Taelon Peter — the Pacers’ surprise late-second round pick in 2025 and the only player on the Pacers’ Summer League roster who actually held a two-way contract — made fewer mistakes than Slawson but he was also less impactful. He was more efficient but also quieter. There’s some value in that but in a fairly wide-open, five-man battle for the three two-way contracts, being quiet was apparently what got him left out. A league source confirmed to the IndyStar on Monday that the Pacers were waiving Peter.
Peter started all five games along with Smith and Slawson, and was third on the team behind them with 121 total minutes. However, his 52 points were exactly half the 104 Slawson scored in just 10 more minutes of action.
Peter attempted just 36 field goals to Slawson’s 71 and he made 18 of them (50%) which put him second on the team in field goal percentage among the nine Pacers players who took at least 10 field goal attempts. His 10 3-pointers were first on the team and he made 35.7% of his 3s, the best figure of anyone who attempted at least 15 3s. He was 8 of 10 from 2-point range, a sign of his efficiency as a transition scorer. However, there were stretches in each game when he simply wasn’t heard from. He recorded just nine rebounds and nine assists against 11 turnovers. His six steals were worth noting as he continues to fight as an on-ball defender, but his total production left something to be desired from a player who was in his second Summer League who played in 38 NBA games as a rookie.
Peter played well enough that he could have kept his spot if there weren’t already in-house competition for it. However — particularly if Smith gets preference as a rookie with local ties and Brown gets preference for having been recently signed — Peter had a tougher case to make if the argument was between him, Slawson and Ethan Thompson, who is also on a current two-way contract. Slawson was the Pacers’ most productive player in Summer League even if he was wild and Thompson missed Summer League but scored 31 combined points in two games with Puerto Rico in World Cup qualifying. Peter had a steady rookie year, but Thompson averaged 7.0 points per game in NBA games with the Pacers and 26.9 points per game in limited G League action with the Boom. If this was ultimately a three-man race for the last spot with those two, it was hard to see how Peter might win that competition.
Rienk Mast helped himself the most
Whenever the Pacers felt things going sideways in Summer League, they looked to Rienk Mast to steady the ship.
The 6-9, 240-pound big man from the Netherlands by way of Bradley and Nebraska enters professional basketball at age 25 after seven seasons in college including two lost to injury. The maturity gained was evident in his play. He doesn’t have anywhere near Slawson’s physical gifts but was nearly as productive and was more efficient because he understood where he was supposed to be and when he was supposed to be there. He showed skill both with his face-up game and with his back to the basket and made a difference on the glass on both ends.
Mast averaged 15.3 points and 9.0 rebounds per game, finishing second on the team in scoring and first in rebounding. He finished tied for fifth among all Summer League players who appeared in at least four games in rebounds per game and 13th in total rebounds. His 18 offensive rebounds were third behind Memphis’ No. 3 pick Cameron Bozer and the Clippers’ Norchad Omier.
Mast shot 47.9% from the floor (23 of 48), hitting 8 of 24 3-pointers (33.3%). He showed touch around the rim, but also legitimate range that makes him a pick-and-pop threat. His muscled-up frame also makes him a strong screen-setter so he was a natural partner on ball screen actions with Braden Smith and Yuri Kawamura.
How Mast’s performance fits into the Pacers’ plans is hard to tell. He played well enough to at least get consideration for a two-way deal and the Pacers could still use some organizational depth at center beyond starter Ivica Zubac, backup Jay Huff and recently signed forward/center Larry Nance Jr. However, there’s already a log jam with Smith, Slawson, Thompson and Brown for those three two-way spots so they might not be able to fit him in. His current deal with the Pacers is an Exhibit 10 which would mean he’ll eventually be waived, assigned to the Boom and collect a salary bonus around $80,000 to stay with them. That might be the best the Pacers could hope for because another team could also consider him for a two-way.
Yukimania is electric
The Pacers put an international passing marvel on their roster and the experience was everything they hoped it would be. It’s not immediately clear if there’s any future for Yuki Kawamura in the Pacers’ organization but even if there isn’t his time with Indiana was fun while it lasted.
The 5-7 point guard who led Japan in scoring at the 2024 Olympics in Paris brought juice to the game every time he checked in in Vegas. He proved to be a an obvious fit in the Pacers’ system on both ends, creating a breakneck pace on offense with kick-ahead passes and fighting through screens from significantly larger humans to harass ball-handlers on the defensive end. The Pacers found it so intoxicating that they frequently put Kawamura and Smith on the floor together, showing a willingness to deal with a lack of size in the backcourt and even shooting because they’re such good passers and they make the ball move and get it up the floor quickly for easy early scoring opportunities.
Kawamura, as he tends to do, threw an array of dazzling passes and frankly deserved more assists than he got. He posted 12 in Saturday’s win over the Pelicans to account for half his total of 24 for the event. He finished 11th in total assists at Summer League despite playing just 87 minutes. He had the most assists of any player who had fewer than 100 minutes. He recorded just two steals but forced a turnover by harassing a ball-handler into an 8-second violation and also drew offensive fouls for moving screens from players desperate to get him away from their teammates. He struggled to shoot the ball from distance, making just 1 of 13 3-point attempts. However, he was 10 of 19 from inside the arc with legit accuracy in the mid-range.
Presumably, the Pacers won’t want to sign two sub-6 foot point guards to two-way contracts, so if they sign Smith as expected, Kawamura is effectively out of the running for a two-way. He played on two-way contracts with the Grizzlies and Bulls in his first two seasons so he’d presumably rather have another than have to spend a season entirely in the G League. However, if the Pacers can get him to sign an Exhibit 10 deal to play with the Boom, he’ll be worth the price of admission in Noblesville.
Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Five things the Pacers learned in Summer League: Jalen Slawson, Braden Smith and more
Reporting by Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Dustin Dopirak, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
