The Indiana Pacers saw their 2018-19 campaign come to a disappointing end, as they were swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the Eastern Conference Playoffs. Despite that fact, the Pacers had several bright spots along the way, including the emergence of Domantas Sabonis.
Sabonis, now 22 years of age, became an important member of Indiana's rotation this season, and it could be argued that he deserves a bit more playing time.
Pacers president Kevin Pritchard knows Sabonis is looking for a bigger role with the team, and it sounds like he's open to the idea:
“He’s just a nice guy and a good human being,” Pacers president Kevin Pritchard told Scott Agness of The Athletic during Wednesday's postseason presser. “I think he wants a bigger role and we have to figure out how to get him a bigger role.”
At 6-11 Sabonis, can play the four or the five position, and his accuracy at range causes headaches for opposing bigs. He made 74 appearances with the Pacers this season (five starts), racking up averages of 14.1 points on 59.0 percent shooting from the field (52.9 percent from beyond the arc), 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 24.8 minutes per outing.
With Sabonis leading the charge, Indiana's bench unit stayed near the top of several statistical categories for much of the season, including points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage.
Whether or not the Pacers will actually give Sabonis more playing time next season remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds like both sides are interested.
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