Establish a Legitimate Secondary Scorer

The Pacers are in need of someone to step up and assume the role of the team’s clear-cut secondary perimeter scorer role. The only real option for this is Tyreke Evans and while he hasn’t played well, there is a lot to unpack beyond just that single point, though.

Evans has received the opportunity to be Indiana’s second-leading scorer when he has actually been on the floor. His 26.5 percent usage rate and his average of 9.6 field goal attempts per game ranks behind only Victor Oladipo.

While that level of opportunity looks nice on paper, Evans is still only averaging only 19.7 minutes so far this season. For a player with the playmaking reputation that he has, it’s crucial that he turns his play around and that they are getting him on the floor more throughout games.

The main narrative surrounding the Evans signing was that he was going to help prevent defenses from being able to focus on Victor Oladipo so much. So far, that hasn’t been the case considering how the two have shared the floor for only 96 total minutes together.

One of the biggest topics surround the Pacers during their break has been the need to find more balance between Oladipo and the rest of the team. A great way to do that would be to establish Evans more with Oladipo to provide another impactful playmaking option.

It goes well beyond just declaring that Evans needs to get more playing time with Oladipo, though. Evans needs to get better during the time that he is leading the bench unit too. The lack of scoring efficiency and his unwillingness to dish the ball out to spot-up shooters that he has displayed need to end.

Evans is producing only 0.832 points per possession on scoring possessions. His efficiency ranks 121st out of the 128 players in the NBA that have recorded at least 150 scoring possessions. That level of scoring efficiency is simply unacceptable.

The sum of Evans’ lack of scoring efficiency is mostly made up of his struggles as a ball handler in the pick-and-roll and transition, his inaccuracy in spot-up situations, and his ineffectiveness as an isolation scorer.

The foundation of Evans’ struggles has been his poor efficiency on finishes around the basket. Overall, he has actually been relatively efficient on jump shots within the half-court since he is producing 1.019 points per possession on those attempts.

To put Evans’ struggles on finishes around the basket into perspective, these sequences have accounted for 41.3 percent of his shot attempts within the half-court and he is producing only 0.744 points per possession. His efficiency ranks last in the league by a 0.08 margin among the 93 players with at least 40 total attempts.

Instead of forcing bad shot attempts on drives to the basket, Evans needs to do a much better job of finding the open man on the perimeter. Doug McDermott and Cory Joseph have produced elite spot-up efficiency so far this season but both players are averaging only 1.9 of these possessions.

There is still plenty of time left in the regular season considering how we haven’t even hit the quarter mark yet. At some point, Indiana needs Evans to get back on track and be the offensive player that they thought that they signed over the summer.

Next Up: Maintain a Faster Pace of Play Like They Desire