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Assuming the Pacers keep the 13th overall pick in next week's NBA Draft, there's a pretty decent chance their first-round pick worked out at the Ascension St. Vincent Center on Wednesday. Indiana brought in a loaded group for its seventh pre-draft workout, including four prospects who were among the 20 players invited to the green room at the Barclays Center for the July 29 draft, a general indicator of who the league believes will be selected early.

That quartet included Oregon guard Chris Duarte, Gonzaga forward Corey Kispert, LSU guard Cam Thomas, and Stanford wing Ziaire Williams, each of whom could be viable options for the Pacers with the 13th pick.

"This was probably the most talented group I've been in in my 11 workouts," said Colorado guard McKinley Wright, one of two other participants in Wednesday's workout, along with Virginia forward Sam Hauser.

Each of the prospects that auditioned for the Pacers on Wednesday brings something different to the table, but the consistent theme across the group was their offensive potential.

Kispert is probably the most familiar name to Pacer fans, fresh off a standout senior season at Gonzaga where he was a consensus first-team All-American and led the Bulldogs on a spectacular run, nearly becoming the first team since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers to compile an undefeated record before suffering their lone loss of the year to Baylor in the national championship game.

Kispert was not a likely NBA draft pick entering college, but worked his way into the position to potentially go in the lottery thanks to steady improvement over each of his four seasons at Gonzaga. As a senior, he averaged 18.6 points and 5 rebounds per game while shooting 52.9 percent from the field, 44 percent from 3-point range, and 87.8 percent from the free throw line.

"I feel like my game grew the most as a playmaker," Kispert said. "I came into Gonzaga just kind of a standstill, spot-up guy. But being able to make plays off the dribble and find teammates and make the right reads is something that (I've) drastically improved year over year."

The most obvious fit for Kispert at the next level is in that spot-up role he occupied early in college career. He is arguably the best shooter in the entire draft class (though a few players at Wednesday's workout could stake their own claim to that title), having shot just under 44 percent from beyond the arc on an extremely high volume — nearly 400 attempts — across his final two seasons in Spokane.

But Kispert offers more than just the ability to stretch the floor, as evidenced by his evolution while at Gonzaga. At 6-7, he has good size and athleticism (his vertical was measured at 37.5 inches at the NBA Draft Combine) that also allows him to finish at the rim, whether that's putting the ball on the floor or making timely cuts.

"I'm in really good shape and can move without the ball a ton so I give a lot of room for ball-dominant guys and guys who need the lane to get to the basket," Kispert said.

In many ways, Kispert's skillset is reminiscent of current Pacer Doug McDermott, who thrives both from beyond the arc and finishing at the rim. Kispert could even be a potential replacement for McDermott, who is likely to receive a big payday in free agency this summer coming off a career season. The Pacers and McDermott have expressed mutual interest in a reunion, but if the team feels like they might be outbid, Kispert would offer a younger and more cost-effective option to fill a similar role.

McDermott has thrived the past few years playing alongside Domantas Sabonis, another former Gonzaga star. Kispert said he has developed a good relationship with Sabonis, who visits Spokane each offseason. While the Gonzaga connection makes for a good story, Kispert also seems to have the exact type of game that could be elevated playing alongside Sabonis, one of the league's best-passing big men.

Kispert tested the draft waters a year ago before ultimately deciding to return for his senior season. During the interview process, teams told him they wanted to see him improve defensively, particularly his lateral quickness, and do more with the ball in his hands. While he still has room to grow, particularly on the defensive end, Kispert's improvement in those areas have solidified his status as a first-round pick.

Duarte is one of the players who could give Kispert a run for his money in a shooting contest. The 6-6 guard shot 42.4 percent from 3-point range as a senior at Oregon, where he was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and an All-American after averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals.

Equally skilled spotting up or shooting off the bounce, Duarte offers significant potential as a shooter, but it's his grit and hustle that may be the most attractive to teams.

The Dominican Republic native came to the United States in high school and spent two years in junior college before joining the Ducks in 2019. While at Oregon, he displayed a willingness to put his body on the line on both ends of the floor, whether that was crashing the glass on jumping in passing lanes. Duarte led Oregon in both steals and blocks as a senior and was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.

As Duarte quipped on Wednesday, "the work never stops," a phrase that could effectively be his mantra.

Duarte said he hopes to show teams that he is a capable defender even against the NBA's better athletes and someone that can thrive both with the ball in his hands and playing off the ball.

The biggest knock against Duarte is something he can't do anything about — his age. Duarte turned 24 on June 13, making him the same age as Pacers guard Aaron Holiday, a player who spent three years in college and is now entering his fourth NBA season.

But even still, Duarte has clearly impressed teams enough to earn an invite to the green room, signaling a virtual certainty that he will be drafted in the first round. Given his journey, receiving that invitation was an emotional moment.

"It means a lot," Duarte said. "As a kid coming from the Dominican Republic, not a lot of kids make it out from there. It means a lot for me and my family and my people back home."

After one-and-done seasons, LSU's Cam Thomas (left) and Stanford's Ziaire Williams (right) both were invited to the green room at next week's 2021 NBA Draft. (Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images)

When it comes to pure scorers, you might not find a better player in this draft class than Thomas. The 6-4 guard led the SEC and ranked fourth in the nation in scoring as a freshman last season at LSU. Thomas averaged 23 points per game, an average that would have been nearly a point higher if not for a scoreless outing at Ole Miss on Jan. 9, when he exited early after injuring his ankle in the opening minutes of the game.

Thomas was a sensational scorer from start to finish in his lone college season. He dropped 32 points while going 5-for-11 from 3-point range in his first conference game against Texas A&M and played all 40 minutes and tallied 30 points in a narrow NCAA Tournament loss against Michigan.

Though he shot just 32.5 percent from 3-point range, Thomas' percentage was somewhat skewed by his high volume of shots (over seven attempts per game). He has the range and confidence to pull up from everywhere and projects to be an above-average shooter on a team where he isn't asked to carry as heavy a scoring load as he did at LSU.

Thomas' scoring isn't just limited to beyond the arc, as he has the ability to finish at all three levels. He showed a particular knack for getting to the free throw line in college, attempting nearly eight attempts per game and converting them at an 88.2-percent clip, another indicator of his true abilities as a shooter.

"The NBA is all about shotmaking now," Thomas said. "You saw in the NBA Finals, shotmaking was at a premium."

Thomas envisions himself initially coming off the bench and providing a scoring punch to the offensive unit. But like most score-first guards, he will need to prove his ability to contribute in other ways, particularly as a passer and defender.

Williams is the most raw of the four likely first-rounders at Wednesday's workout, but he also could have the highest potential ceiling. Measuring at nearly 6-10 in shoes, the lanky 19-year-old started 14 of 20 games in his lone season at Stanford, averaging 10.7 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.

Williams is an exceptional ballhandler, a particularly valuable skill for a player of his size, and a strong defender capable of making a significant two-way impact.

"I can play one through four," Williams said. "I'm a high IQ player, a guy that's always going to play for his team. And I'm just very versatile so I feel like wherever you put me on the court, I could be a threat."

Williams shot just 29.1 percent from 3-point range at Stanford, but with a few tweaks could develop into a threat from beyond the arc. He shot nearly 80 percent from the free throw line, suggesting that there is at least the potential to grow more comfortable from long distance.

A California native who graduated from the same high school (Sierra Canyon) as 2020 Pacers draft pick Cassius Stanley, Williams said he has followed the Pacers closely since the days of Paul George and would love to be selected by Indiana.

"I know it's a super-close franchise, all about the right things," he said. "We play together, we're going to play hard and play to win. It would be an honor to step into these gyms and these doors every day and be developed at a high level with the training staff, the coaches. It would be dope to be here."

For each of the four players who have been invited to the draft, excitement is starting to build.

"It's getting real, you know," Williams said. "Every day it's like, 'Damn, it's nine days away, eight days away?' I'm super honored to be in this position honestly. I never thought this would happen like this. But I've still got to finish out these workouts strong. It's not over yet. The 29th is going to be a special day, but you know that's where it all starts."

"It's going to mean the world," Thomas said about hearing his name called on draft night. "It's a dream turned into a reality. You watch them on TV so much and you're like that's going to be me. Now I'm really living it."

Virginia's Sam Hauser (left) and Colorado's McKinley Wright (right) are hoping to stick in the NBA after accomplished college careers. (Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images)

Hauser and Wright, the final two prospects at Wednesday's workout, are legitimate prospects themselves. Each earned invites to the NBA Draft Combine after decorated college careers.

The 6-8 Hauser may be Kispert's biggest competition as a shooter. He shot 43.9 percent from beyond the arc for his career and is the rare player who can say that he shot better than 40 percent from beyond the arc all four years he played in college (three at Marquette from 2016-19, the final season last year after transferring to Virginia).

"To do it four times in a row from behind the arc is pretty special," Hauser said. "I hope it can carry over to my NBA career."

Hauser was named to the All-ACC first team last season, when he led the Cavaliers in scoring at 16 points per game and also pulled down six rebounds. He narrowly missed out on the exclusive 50/40/90 club, posting a .503 field goal percentage, .417 3-point percentage, and .896 free throw percentage.

At the NBA, his shooting prowess alone could be enough to entice a team to select him, but he has focused on demonstrating good effort on the defensive end in pre-draft workouts to prove that he's not a liability on that end of the floor.

Though he spent just two years and played one season at Virginia, Hauser said he owes a great debt to Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett, who, like Hauser, grew up in Stevens Point, Wisc.

"He's a pretty well-known name in the state of Wisconsin and in my area," Hauser said. "When I was in the transfer portal, when he reached out, it was really awesome to hear from him. I'm glad I went to Virginia and got to play under him. He's definitely made a big influence on my life and will continue as I get older."

Wright, a 6-foot guard, left Colorado as one of the most decorated players in program history. A three-time first-team All-Pac 12 selection, Wright holds school records for assists and double-digit scoring games.

A four-year starter, Wright averaged 15.7 points and 5.7 assists per game as a senior, both career highs. He also significantly cut back on his turnovers from 3 per game as a junior to a career-low 2.1 as a senior, something NBA teams told him he needed to do when he went through the pre-draft process a year ago.

After receiving that feedback, Wright took a unique approach, asking Director of Operations Bill Cartun to clip together all his turnovers from his junior season and he watched the footage frequently throughout the year to try to learn from and limit his mistakes.

"I got the feedback from a lot of NBA teams," Wright said. "They knew how well I could play and they wanted to see me cut down on my turnovers. In this league you can't have high turnovers. That was my focus. I really wanted to focus on taking care of the ball."

Wright said his biggest emphasis this time around is demonstrating growth as a shooter. He shot under 33 percent from 3-point range over his four years in college, but believes he has made significant strides over the past few months.

Knowing the role he would be asked to play, Wright has studied other undersized guards like Ish Smith and believes he could have a similar impact. The 6-foot Smith went undrafted in 2010, but has played 654 games over 11 seasons in the league.

"I think I can come in and help a team right away," Wright said. "Be that true point guard, be that guy that can create shots for others. Being a great locker room guy, defending at a high level, just being that high energy guy day in and day out."

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Wednesday's Workout Filled with First-Round Talent

People remember the iconic Afro most of all, the sculptured mound of hair that topped off his 6-foot-9 frame and made him look like a 7-footer. They remember the dunks, too, because his vertical jump was extraordinary for someone so tall. The sight of him sprinting down the court with his hair blown back by the breeze and executing an acrobatic breakaway dunk lives in the memory of veteran Pacers fans.

What people should remember most about Darnell Hillman, though, is the discipline. The team-first approach. The charisma. And, certainly, the significant contributions to six Pacers teams.

"Darnell was special guy to have on your team," says Slick Leonard, who coached each of those six. "He had a great attitude."

The Pacers teams for which Hillman performed include the 1972 and '73 ABA champions as well as the four that followed, the last of which marked their entry into the NBA. But he played for several more front office teams as well, all the way from Dec. 3, 1999, his first day in the community relations department, until last week when he retired about a month shy of his 71st birthday.

Retired from what exactly is complicated, because his role didn't fit conventional corporate classification. His last official job title was "Associate Director of Camps, Clinics and Alumni Relations." But he was more than that. In fact, the title under his photo in the most recent media guide took a shot at encompassing everything by identifying him as "Associate Director, Community Ambassador."

Call him whatever you want, Hillman was a grinder in a non-glamorous role in the front office just as he had been as a player. He might have seemed flamboyant with the well-groomed Afro he says extended 13 1/2 inches from his skull and all those hang-time dunks, but his game was blue collar. A power forward who could fill in at center, his primary assets were rebounding and blocking shots. He averaged 10.6 points and 8.4 rebounds over his six seasons with the Pacers, peaking at 13.9 and 9.2 in the 1974-75 season when a rebuilt team made a surprising run to the ABA finals.

Hillman started 244 of the 395 regular season games he played for the Pacers and 29 of the 72 playoff games. He never made an All-Star team and his best-remembered individual feat is winning an NBA slam dunk contest sponsored by CBS in 1977. But he helped teams win games. Helped them win championships, too.

Hillman was selected by the Pacers as part of a preliminary three-round draft conducted before the ABA's All-Star Game in January of 1971. The choices were supposed to be kept secret to give ABA teams a head-start negotiating with players before the NBA could get around to its draft, but the names leaked out immediately. Hillman was a second-round pick and described in Indianapolis newspapers articles as a "sleeper" and an "unknown" because he had spent the previous two years in the Army.

He turned out to be one of the savvier selections in franchise history. The Golden State Warriors took him with the eighth overall pick in the NBA Draft and were under great pressure to sign the local product who had attended San Jose State for two years before being drafted into the Army. The Pacers, however, won the bidding war.

Hillman, along with fellow rookie George McGinnis, joined a stacked team that had won the ABA title in 1970 and finished with the league's best record in '71. His Army background turned out to be a major asset, as his confident but ego-free approach meshed well with his teammates and his work ethic and respect for authority impressed his coach.

"He was flashy, and he could jump, but he played the game with a lot of discipline because he knew what his shortcomings were," says Billy Keller, who played on all three ABA championship teams. "That makes you a much more able contributor."

Hillman contributed plenty, regardless of how he was used. While his season averages never stood out, he usually answered when opportunity knocked.

As a rookie, he had 10 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots off the bench in a victory over Florida. According to the story in the Indianapolis Star (headlined Darnell a Daring Darling as Pacers Win), he also forced several misses by intimidating shooters.

He had 20 points and 21 rebounds against Pittsburgh later that season and had two double-doubles in the second-round playoff series with Utah.

He had a career-high 24 rebounds along with 18 points against San Diego in the 1972-73 season and came up big several times in the playoffs as a starter when Brown was limited by a sore back. He had 13 points and 19 rebounds in a Game 5 victory over Utah in the second round and 17 points and 18 rebounds in a Game 4 win over Kentucky in the championship series.

After the Pacers failed to clinch the championship at home in Game 6, Leonard told reporters he planned to return Brown to the starting lineup in Game 7 in Louisville to get more scoring. Brown, however, showed up late for the game after driving himself to Freedom Hall from Indianapolis, so Hillman got a last-minute reprieve as a starter. He played 44 minutes and grabbed 13 rebounds, both team highs, in the Pacers' 88-81 victory.

"He was always ready when he was called upon," Keller says.

In his later seasons with the Pacers, when the team was in rebuilding mode, Hillman stepped up his scoring. His career high of 35 came against Denver. He added 16 rebounds to his stat line that night. He had scored 32 in a game at Utah earlier that season.

Hillman gets a massage from teammate Billy Keller. (Photo Credit: Frank McGrath)

Hillman and Keller were a lot alike, both in their whatever-you-need roles with the Pacers and their personalities. They were the two players of that era most eager to connect with fans at planned events, often the first to arrive and the last to leave. They were, perhaps, the team's most popular players — Keller because he was an Indianapolis native and short (5-foot-10) and Hillman because of his dunking ability and world class Afro.

"Darnell and I would show up early for things and a lot of times be the last to leave," Keller says. "Just being friendly, wanting to stay and visit...fans appreciate stuff like that. Once they got attracted to him for whatever reason, his personality took over. Darnell could relate to everybody."

That made him a natural for his job in the front office. Many NBA teams hire former players to serve in a community relations capacity, mostly just to make appearances and sign autographs. Hillman's involvement went far deeper than that. He directed youth camps and clinics, participated in reading programs and represented the franchise at golf outings throughout the summer.

Hillman reached out to the public at games, too. He was aware that escalating ticket prices had sent many an "average fan" higher in the Fieldhouse and made it a point to circulate in the upper levels to mix with them.

He was an absolute superstar with kids, though, especially at camps and clinics. His Army discipline got their attention and his natural charm won them over.

Hillman leads campers in a drill at the 2019 Jr. Pacers Hoops Tour visit to Fort Wayne. (Photo Credit: Frank McGrath)

"We always said he ran it like a boot camp," says Kelli Towles, the Pacers' Senior Director of Community Relations. "Darnell was very old school. He made them tuck in their shirts and they could not put their hands in their pockets. If they did, he made them turn their pockets inside out. He said, 'There's no walking in my gym.' If they had to get a drink they had to run there and run back.

"Initially kids were afraid, but by the end of the camp they loved him. They realized he was doing it for a purpose, and they could laugh and joke with him. And the parents were appreciative of the way he approached the discipline. I can't count the number of times I saw him pull a player aside who maybe was acting up and he would say, 'I see potential in you!' He would help them make a change in their mindset and by the end of the camp they were behaving much better. He really had a gift for dealing with kids."

It wasn't all about basketball, though. Sometimes it was just fun and games. How many slam-dunk champions do you know who would lay on the court and play Cookie Monster with the kids?

For that matter, how many do you know who would go to this much trouble:

In 2016, a young Pacers fan named Evan Leisure was to undergo heart surgery at Riley Hospital. A request was e-mailed to Hillman, asking if any of the players could drop by for a visit. The team was out of town around the time of the surgery, so Hillman put a gift package together and personally delivered it to Leisure.

Hillman visits Evan Leisure at Riley Hospital. (Photo Courtesy of Nancy Rayl)

Hillman's job evolved into also serving as the Pacers' alumni director, dedicated to maintaining relations with former players and/or their spouses. He was the contact for players wanting tickets to a game, the one to organize appearances by former players at FanJam each October, the one to drop by and say hello when the daughter of a former player who was with the team for a brief period 50 years earlier attended a game.

"He was always that middle guy," Keller says. "Anytime I needed something Pacer-related I called Darnell. I would imagine 99.9 percent of the guys did the same thing. And he was always very cooperative in getting your request filled. I'm not sure there was ever a time I requested something of him that he didn't produce for me. He was reliable, and if he couldn't do it he'd tell you up front.

Hillman was his own transportation committee, too. Before every home game the past few seasons, Hillman met Leonard in the underground parking garage at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in a golf cart and drove him to the radio broadcasting porch with an assist from an express elevator. Hillman returned in the cart near the end of the third quarter to take Leonard back to his car.

That gave Hillman time to interact with fans who might be passing by. He was an attraction of his own for older fans who witnessed his career. If they asked if he can still dunk, he might say, "Too much snow on the mountain," referring to his age-revealing gray hair. If someone had a child who was too shy to talk, he would have a small gift handy, such as a ball that lights up when bounced. But he demanded something in return.

Hillman was equally at ease engaging with the military members who were honored at games. As an Army veteran, he could relate.

When you get right down to it, he's the most versatile player the Pacers have ever had if off-court activities are included in the assessment. Replacing him seems nearly impossible without making it a group effort. It might require a lot of alterations to replace someone who wore as many suits as Hillman did.

Hillman's retirement party a few weeks ago was relatively subdued, thanks to the pandemic. It started with a small gathering of fellow employees on the outdoor deck at Rick's Boatyard, a half-dozen or so, and gradually grew to about 18 as word got out among employees. Distancing concerns ran out the clock, but speeches were made and a retirement gift — a new set of golf clubs — was delivered.

A telling moment arrived when Karen Atkeson, the Vice President of Player Relations, asked Hillman to step out to the parking lot. Nate McMillan was waiting there to offer his congratulations, having driven from downtown following practice on the day before the team was to leave for Orlando to resume the season. Hillman technically wasn't part of the basketball staff but had generated that kind of respect.

It would have been a much larger celebration under normal circumstances, but perhaps it was more appropriate that Hillman go out in a subdued fashion. He had come came to the Pacers as a "sleeper," unknown to fans in Indiana, and he had played in the shadows of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers.

Hillman, though, left with the greatest distinction of all: best teammate.

Have a question for Mark? Want it to be on Pacers.com? Email him at askmontieth@gmail.com and you could be featured in his next mailbag.

Mark Montieth's book on the formation and groundbreaking seasons of the Pacers, "Reborn: The Pacers and the Return of Pro Basketball to Indianapolis," is available in bookstores throughout Indiana and on Amazon.com.

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Indiana Pacers. All opinions expressed by Mark Montieth are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Indiana Pacers, their partners, or sponsors.

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Hillman was a Slam Dunk in the Front Office, Too

Domantas Sabonis is in Los Angeles trying to recover from plantar fasciitis and apparently won't be walking through that Orlando bubble door anytime soon to rejoin his teammates. That means the Pacers will have to make do with what they have for the foreseeable future, which means some changes are in order.

The most obvious is that Aaron Holiday replaces Sabonis in the starting lineup and everyone adjusts accordingly in a smaller lineup. Myles Turner moves from four to five, T.J. Warren moves from three to four, and Malcolm Brogdon stays at point guard but plays off the ball more.

Nobody is pretending the loss of the team's only All-Star selection this season is a good thing. Sabonis is the leading rebounder by a wide margin, the leading scorer by a slim margin, and an able and willing passer who lubricates the offensive flow. It was telling that the first words out of Nate McMillan's mouth on Monday when asked what the team will miss because of Sabonis' absence were, "Oh, man."

The Pacers' starters, however, looked sharp through lengthy stretches in Sunday's exhibition victory over Dallas and will look for silver linings, both in Tuesday's final exhibition game against San Antonio and the resumption of the regular season on Saturday against Philadelphia.

"We do have guys who can supplement and do different things that Domas didn't do," Brogdon said. "Our goal is not to replace him; we're not going to be able to do that. But now we can have more shooting on the floor, now we can have more ballhandlers, more penetration. We can spread the floor a little better so we can play to different strengths."

The Pacers have no choice but to play small-ball because Sabonis isn't the only centerpiece missing. Rookie Goga Bitadze, who was having a rude introduction to the NBA's brand of basketball but could have brought valuable size to the lineup, is still a couple of weeks from joining the team in practice, according to McMillan. That leaves forwards JaKarr Sampson and TJ Leaf to fill the role of backup center.

The greatest factor in the success of the revised lineup likely will be the chemistry between Brogdon and Victor Oladipo. The potential certainly is there for them to be one of the Pacers' better backcourt combinations. Brogdon was the NBA's Rookie of the Year three seasons ago and Oladipo was an All-Star two seasons ago. Both are complete players who have embraced their backcourt partnership, but they are barely beyond the nametag stage of their acquaintance.

They have played in the same game just 10 times this season and started seven. The Pacers lost the first three but won the next four as they looked more and more like a couple rather than blind dates. They were particularly compatible in the exhibition victory over Dallas when Brogdon finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists while Oladipo had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.

The Pacers will need all of that and more when the games get real in Orlando.

"Time on the floor is the key," McMillan said. "We can't speed that up.

McMillan was hoping to do that when practice began in Orlando, but Brogdon sat out the first few workouts while coming off his quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19. McMillan paired the two in practice scrimmages as quickly as possible, though. It amounts to a crash course. Kind of like speed dating.

"(Sunday) I thought we took a huge step," Brogdon said. "Tomorrow I think we'll take another big step. It's just understanding each other's games and building that confidence.

"The more pace I play with, the better Vic is going to be. Vic is a great player on his own, but if he has a point guard who can play the same tempo as him and get the ball up the court fast, give it to him in the right spots in transition, and then when we get in halfcourt make sure we design plays for him so he's getting downhill and using his speed and athleticism, he's going to be at his best."

McMillan said the starters will play 24-28 minutes against the Spurs, but he will make a point of having them in the game in the fourth quarter. They sat out the final period against Dallas, leaving the reserves to hang on to a lead...No significant injuries resulted from Sunday's game and everyone other than Sabonis and Bitadze should be available. Sampson suffered back spasms after the game but practiced on Monday. "I'm good," he said. "It's a cold gym down here and I have to do a better job staying warm on the bench."

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Backcourt Chemistry Key to Smaller Lineup

The Pacers were doing this before the NBA season was shut down. Now they're doing it again in the second set of preseason games as the league regenerates the season.

They're teasing you, making you ponder all the what ifs, whetting your appetite for more. But, sorry, you'll just have to keep waiting.

Their 118-111 victory over Dallas in Sunday's exhibition game at HP Field House in Orlando bore a strong resemblance to a...to a...well, for now let's just say a really good team. They started slow defensively (nothing new there) by allowing the Mavericks 37 points in the first quarter and the end-of-bench guys struggled to maintain the lead the final half of the final period, but between those ends they showed the means to win a lot of games.

Myles Turner made his debut after sitting out Thursday's exhibition opener and looked sharp. Better than sharp, really. Invigorated, perhaps. He finished with 15 points on just eight field goal attempts, grabbed eight rebounds, passed out a few assists, and blocked two shots. All in 24 minutes.

Victor Oladipo looked every bit as good as he did when the season was stopped in its tracks, scoring 16 points while hitting half of his eight 3-point shots, grabbing seven rebounds, and passing out three assists.

Malcolm Brogdon, who missed the early practices in Orlando after being quarantined for two weeks because of a positive test for the coronavirus, played a well-rounded game with 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

And, oh yeah, T.J. Warren. The Pacers' leading scorer led the scoring once again with 20 points, hitting 8-of-15 shots. It was a typically quiet and efficient game for him, going nearly unnoticed while filling in the cracks of the offense by knocking down his usual assortment of mid-range shots.

Something was missing, though. Seems like something — more precisely, someone — is always missing from the Pacers this season, just not the same someone. Right now, it's Domantas Sabonis, who left the NBA bubble in Orlando a couple of days ago for his offseason home in Los Angeles to ramp up treatment for his plantar fasciitis. His return is indefinite and he's likely to miss the early games when the regular season resumes, but the Pacers are hopeful he'll return at some point.

The Pacers had their anticipated starting five in just five games of their 65 games this season. The group has been seen together so infrequently, in fact, that their "Intended Starters" might as well be a fantasy team. Or a mirage. It has been sighted on rare occasions but then poof! It's gone, and you don't know when it's coming back.

Those four games, though, were intriguing. The Pacers lost the first one with that group in the starting lineup, against Brooklyn. You kind of have to forgive that one, being the first time and all. They won the other four, defeating Milwaukee, New York, Portland, and Cleveland. All five starters scored in double figures in three of them, and the low scorers had eight points in another one. The most recent of those games was the victory at Cleveland on Feb. 29, six games before the lockdown, when the scoring totals for the starters ranged from 19 to 30 points.

It could be, should be, a balanced unit that can win a lot of different ways. It could be, should be, a strong defensive team and one that's exceptionally difficult to defend. But we'll (still) just have to wait and see. It's a puzzle that is agonizingly difficult to put together because pieces always go missing. All of the starters have been injured at various points of the season, missing anywhere from three games (Sabonis) to 52 (Oladipo).

But when they do get together, they seem to find harmony awfully quickly. That showed even in Sunday's victory over the Mavericks among the four "Intended Starters," as each scored between 15 and 20 points. With Turner and Oladipo in particular having encouraging performances, one couldn't help but wonder what could happen inside that Orlando bubble if Sabonis were in the mix, too.

"We can be as good as we want to be," Oladipo said. "We have a lot of talent. A lot of guys can do a lot of great things here. At the end of the day we have to buy into each other and continue to support each other. When we get Domas back we can do special things."

Until Sabonis returns, Turner will return to the center position. Whether Turner is better suited to play forward or center is debatable given how well he was adjusting to playing alongside Sabonis when the season was suspended, but he's going to be a center at least for a while. He looked the part for most of Sunday's game.

There had been reports out of Orlando he was showing improved post play, but Sunday's game offered inconclusive evidence. The ball went to him on the game's first possession, but he missed a turnaround jump shot. He missed all three of his post-up scoring opportunities in the first half, in fact, but opened the third quarter with a turnaround shot over Dorian Finney-Smith that drew a foul and led to a 3-point play.

"I have to learn to be more patient," Turner said. "Every time I touched the ball, I rushed a little bit. That was a little more because of excitement and nerves from being back. I know it's something we're going to have to use, especially when teams start switching and (I'm going against a smaller defender). It's something I'll continue to improve on."

That element aside, Turner has shown improvement throughout the practices in Orlando. He was active against the Mavericks on both ends. He took the ball to the basket aggressively from the perimeter and hit his only 3-point shot attempt and more often than not switched off effectively on the perimeter on defense.

McMillan said Turner wanted to play more than 24 minutes on Sunday, but the training staff said no. That alone seems to reflect his refreshed mindset.

"I really like what I've seen from him since this restart," McMillan said. "He's come back and seems to have matured even more since that four-month layoff. He has a great spirit about him."

So, it seems, does Oladipo. Amid all the ongoing uncertainty over whether he will play when the regular season resumes — he still says he has no decision and no target date for one — Oladipo looks and sounds engaged with his teammates.

He was in his former All-Star form after the starters were reinserted midway through the second period. He hit a 3-pointer in transition, hit a long 3-pointer a couple of possessions later, then threw a beautiful one-handed pass off the dribble from one foul line to the other to Holiday, who fed Warren for a layup.

That highlight forced a Dallas timeout, but Oladipo hit a 3-pointer off a called play on the Pacers' first possession after the break. Moments later, he drove to the basket, found no openings, and reached around and threw a one-handed pass from the baseline to Brogdon for a 3-pointer. He added another assist to JaKarr Sampson off penetration later in the period.

Late in the game, when the Pacers' mop-up unit was struggling to preserve the lead, he was out of his assigned seat cheering on his seldom-used teammates.

"I went out there and did some good things," he said matter-of-factly. "Just have to keep building, taking it one day at a time, reassessing after every day. Just continue to keep my mindset. Keep working hard, continue to stay hungry and continue to attack every day the best I can."

While it's difficult to read anything into that — and again, Oladipo has not yet committed to playing in the remaining regular season games and playoffs — his statements regarding Turner at least sounded like someone who wants to be part of the team.

After praising Turner for his positive attitude, recent level of play and importance to the team, Oladipo concluded:

"He's always had the talent. Always had it. Now I have to be there to make sure he never forgets how good he is and continue to lift all my teammates up the best I can. We just continue to take steps in the right direction so we can do something special."

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Plenty of Promise in Pacers' Performance

Pacers center Domantas Sabonis is back at his offseason home in Los Angeles to receive further treatment for his plantar fasciitis, and his status for the resumption of the Pacers' season is in jeopardy.

Pacers coach Nate McMillan said via a video conference call on Saturday that Sabonis would be out "indefinitely." He added a decision would be made "in another week or two."

That means Sabonis likely will miss at least part of the regular season, which for the Pacers returns on Aug. 1. He also will have to go back into quarantine for a couple of days if and when he returns to Orlando.

McMillan said Sabonis left the NBA "bubble" because he believed he would have access to better treatment in Los Angeles.

Sabonis is the Pacers' only All-Star from earlier this season as well as their leading rebounder (12.4) and second-leading scorer (18.5, just two-tenths of a point behind T.J. Warren). He has missed three games this season. The Pacers won two of them, but both were against Chicago, a non-playoff team with a 22-43 record.

For a while at least, it will be another adjustment forced upon McMillan, who has had his intended starting lineup together for just five games all season because of injuries.

"If there's anything good about this, we have been going through this all season long," McMillan said. "We have to make some adjustments with our starting lineup as well as our bench."

Sabonis' loss will be felt as much with the second unit as the starters. McMillan typically pulls him out of the game first among the starters and then reinserts him with the second unit. Sabonis has been a desperately needed rebounder for that undersized unit and a key element of its superior ball movement.

Myles Turner, who sat out Thursday's exhibition victory over Portland, could return for Sunday's scrimmage against Dallas and start at center. Rookie Goga Bitadze, however, has yet to practice in Orlando because of soft tissue damage. That leaves JaKarr Sampson and TJ Leaf as the only certainties at the position.

Sampson started against Portland and finished with seven points and four rebounds in 22 minutes. Leaf, drafted as a "four," came off the bench and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds in 18 minutes. He's undersized at the position at 225 pounds but believes he can play it effectively against most NBA centers.

"My dad (Brad, a Lawrence North High School graduate) told me at a young age, when you get rebounds other things are going to open up," Leaf said Saturday. "It's something I've always tried to carry with me. Just focus on that first and let the rest of the game come to me."

Leaf hit just 1-of-9 shots in the first scrimmage, partially because he had to adjust to shooting from different places.

"I missed some bunnies off offensive rebounds," he said. "I think that will come when I get my legs back."

Victor Oladipo's status for the remaining regular season games is uncertain, but he responded to the scrimmage with no issues. McMillan said Oladipo will play on Sunday.

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Sabonis' Absence Creates All-Too-Familiar Situation for Pacers

The Pacers got back to game action following a 4 1/2-month layoff on Thursday in a setting unlike anything seen before in the NBA.

Their 91-88 victory over Portland at HP Field House in Orlando was a good thing, as far as exhibition game outcomes go, but the primary takeaway was that Victor Oladipo played and plans to continue playing.

For how much longer, he's not ready to say.

Oladipo's status has been a primary storyline for the Pacers since he stated earlier this month he would participate in the practices but not the games in Orlando. He later adjusted his stance to say he would try to play when the regular season resumes but has yet to make a definite commitment.

"We'll see," he said after scoring eight points on 3-of-10 shooting while playing 19 minutes and 9 seconds against the Trail Blazers. "I'll be reassessing after every game. Nothing definite. We'll see how my body responds after today. Hopefully I'm able to play on Sunday."

The Pacers will take Friday off, practice on Saturday, and play Dallas on Sunday at 4 p.m. Their final exhibition game will be played on Tuesday against San Antonio, and their regular season re-opener will come on Aug. 1 against Philadelphia.

It appears unlikely Oladipo's status for that game will be determined until sometime after the final exhibition.

"I'm just trying to find the flow and get my rhythm back," said Oladipo, who played in 13 games before the season was suspended after rehabilitating his torn quad tendon. "That will come. Overall, I'm reassessing my body and knee after every game and will go from there. Not look too far ahead.

"Today was really big just to make sure we get our conditioning up. It was just fun to be out there and compete. I felt pretty good."

The game had the look of a preseason opener with occasionally sloppy play, but not even that much atmosphere. No fans were allowed into the building and players and coaches were distanced from another in the assigned seating arrangements. Oladipo compared it to a college scrimmage against another school behind closed doors.

McMillan adjusted by watching the game from his seat, rather than standing as he normally does.

"I want our guys to make more calls out there," he said. "That building is pretty quiet, so the opponent can hear the calls. I wanted our guards to get the feel of calling more sets.

"Once the game started, you really didn't think about it."

McMillan platooned his team in roughly three seven-minute increments over the 40-minute game. He started Oladipo, Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. Warren, Alize Johnson, and JaKarr Sampson, then brought Justin and Aaron Holiday, T.J. McConnell, Doug McDermott, and TJ Leaf off the bench late in the first quarter. Edmond Sumner returned with the starters in the second quarter, replacing Johnson.

The Pacers trailed 15-9 when the first shift was made with 2:53 left in the first quarter. The reserves fell further behind, 20-9, before mounting a comeback with an uptempo attack that had Portland's lead down to five when the starters returned with about five minutes left in the second quarter.

Justin Holiday, who led the Pacers with 16 points, hit two 3-pointers shortly after entering the game as did his brother Aaron, who finished with 13. Doug McDermott also was relevant to the surge, scoring seven points from late in the first period until midway through the second.

The second half starting unit, which included Edmond Sumner instead of Johnson, opened the third quarter with a 9-0 run that turned a 45-43 halftime deficit into a 52-45 lead.

Another surge pushed the lead to 64-51 and the Pacers were unthreatened until McMillan cleared the bench and the Blazers were able to take advantage of four late turnovers to get within three points.

Malcolm Brogdon, who hit three 3-pointers early in the second half, finished with 11 points, as did T.J. Warren. They both played the same 19 minutes, 9 seconds as Oladipo.

With centers Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, and Goga Bitadze sitting out with injuries, TJ Leaf had to man the middle for the second unit. He hit just 1-of-9 shots but grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

"This game was about our guys getting out there and working to condition themselves, play against a different opponent and get reconnected to each other on the defensive end of the floor, McMillan said.

It was most valuable of all for Oladipo, who will be in a constant mode of self-assessment before deciding whether to play on Aug. 1 and thereafter. Teammates have been complimenting his performance in the practices leading up to Thursday's exhibition, but he is withholding judgment.

"Everyone's praising me for being the best in practice because they remember what I looked like in January," he said, laughing.

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Oladipo Shows Promise, But No Decision Yet on Status

The game will last only 40 minutes, and warmup sessions will be conducted on a separate court so the game surface and surrounding area can be sanitized. The players will have to sit in assigned seats on the bench and wear masks when they're not in the game.

Amid such unprecedented circumstances, the Pacers will play a game tomorrow. Their 3:30 p.m. matchup with Portland at the HP Field House in Orlando will be their first game action since March 10. It's only an exhibition game, the first of three before the Pacers resume their regular season on Aug. 1, but it's a start.

A welcome one, too, given all the rust that has accumulated over the past 4 1/2 months.

Pacers coach Nate McMillan is not revealing his starting lineup and playing rotation until he gets the final report from his training staff on Thursday. Domantas Sabonis is out with plantar fasciitis and Goga Bitadze has not practiced because of muscle soreness, but all other players are possibilities.

"We'll play a lot of guys," was as close as McMillan got to tipping his approach.

McMillan considers Thursday's game — the only one that will run for 40 minutes instead of 48 — a test run for the NBA to determine how to conduct the regular season and playoff games that follow. But it will be important for teams to begin regaining the chemistry and conditioning they left behind when the season was suspended because of COVID-19.

"This thing is going to come quickly," McMillan said. "We only have 11 games to get ready for the playoffs and we have to take advantage of each game that we play."

Sabonis said his foot has been bothering him since he reported to Indianapolis in June for the mandatory practices. He participated in the first three practice sessions in Orlando but not since and has no timetable for a return beyond Thursday's game.

Neither he nor McMillan would comment on the performance of individual players in practice, but both said they have been impressed with the overall level of play.

"All of our guys have worked hard," McMillan said. "I've been somewhat surprised...of course we're not in the shape we need to be but all of our guys have come in and worked extremely hard. (Thursday) is definitely a day we need to play a game."

Sabonis said he thought the team was "practicing at a very high tempo" before he was injured, particularly during their 12-minute scrimmages.

"Everybody looks good," he said. "I can't single anybody out. It's an overall great feeling, that's why I want to get healthy and get out there."

Naz Mitrou-Long, one of the Pacers' two two-way players in Orlando (along with Brian Bowen II) singled out a few teammates in the recent practices.

"Myles (Turner) has definitely looked really good, but I'd be lying if I didn't say Vic (Oladipo) looked good, I'd be lying if I didn't say Malcolm (Brogdon) wasn't back to how he was playing at the beginning of the season," Mitrou-Long said. "T.J. Warren is a walking bucket, everybody knows that."