Indiana Pacers Tweak Roster With Regular Season Looming

With preseason action over for the Indiana Pacers, it is time for the organization to cut down the roster for the regular season.

The front office made a handful of moves earlier this week; some with the intent of strengthening the team long term and others with the goal of improving the G League roster. Now, with the real games starting in under a week, the transactions were all about trimming the roster size.

NBA teams are allowed to enter the regular season with a maximum of 17 players - 15 on NBA contracts and two on two-way deals. At the conclusion of the Pacers battle against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday, their roster was at 20 (including a pair of two-way players). Three cuts needed to occur in order to have the roster at the correct size.

On Wednesday, those cuts were made. The Pacers announced that they waived Amida Brimah, C.J. Wilcox, and Walt Lemon Jr. Those three players were far and away the most likely to be waived given their talent level and contract situations, so the moves came as no surprise to Indiana fans.

Brimah impressed with his play for the Pacers in India. During his trio of preseason games, the Ghanaian center posted per-36 numbers of 9.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 4.6 blocks. He showed the defensive prowess that he will bring to his next team.

Wilcox and Lemon didn't get an opportunity to play in the preseason, but Kevin Pritchard and the rest of the Indiana brass has seen them up close before. Wilcox played for the Pacers during summer league in 2017-18, and he received a two-way contract soon after. An injury prevented him from playing out that deal, however.

Lemon spent two seasons with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Pacers G League affiliate. In 2017-18, he made the All-NBA G League Third Team after averaging north of 20 points per game. He has displayed his talent to the organization in the past.

All three waived players had an exhibit 10 clause in their contract, meaning they will receive a monetary bonus if they report to Fort Wayne this season and remain with the Mad Ants for at least 60 days. For Wilcox and Brimah, that bonus is $50k. For Lemon, the value is $15k.

Waiving those three players brought the Pacers' roster size down to 17, but it didn't stay at that number for long. According to Scott Agness of The Athletic, the team is bringing in Stephan Hicks.

While details of Hicks' contract have not been reported, it is likely that he has an Exhibit 10 deal similar to the players who were recently cut. Assuming he does, his bonus for reporting to Fort Wayne could be any amount between $5k and $50k.

Hicks received a 10-day contract from the Pacers this past season, he was with the pro club for a stretch of time in late January of 2019. He did not appear in a game. Prior to that, he suited up for the blue and gold during Summer League play in 2016, where he averaged 4.7 points per game in 3 games.

Hicks has spent four seasons with Fort Wayne already. This past season, he averaged 15.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in 32.6 minutes. Those gaudy stats made him worthy of the 10-day contract he received.

Hicks will be waived by the weekend so that the Pacers can get their roster size down to the legal number required for the regular season. But the Mad Ants will be happy to have Hicks, and his skills, back with their team.

Who knows if the Pacers are done making moves, but as phrased by ESPN Front Office Insider Bobby Marks: "Saturday is the last day to release a player and not incur a per day cap hit." With that date just around the corner, it is likely that once Hicks is waived the Pacers will be done finalizing their regular season roster.