Pacers Sign Important Starter To Multi-Year Extension

The Indiana Pacers announced a significant move for their future by signing point guard Andrew Nembhard to a contract extension on Wednesday. The two sides agreed to a three-year, $59 million contract extension that will keep him in Indiana through the 2027-28 season.

Drafted 31st overall in 2022, Nebmbard has become a promising young guard who has been an integral part of the Pacers' backcourt, showcasing his playmaking abilities and defensive prowess.

He averaged 9.2 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while shooting 49.8% during the regular season. He upped his performance in the postseason, averaging 14.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists on 56% shooting, helping the Pacers to an Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

This extension signifies the Pacers' commitment to building a competitive roster around their emerging talents and securing Nembhard as a key piece of their long-term strategy. Indiana also signed forwards Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin to contract extensions this offseason, keeping much of its 2023-2024 roster intact.

Pacers 2024-2025 Win Total

Right now, the Pacers are 66/1 to win the NBA title and 25/1 to win the Eastern Conference on BetMGM. I wouldn't recommend making either of those bets, but there are other markets worth looking at for Indiana fans.

The Pacers' win total for the upcoming season opened at 46.5 wins, which is tied with the Cavaliers, Grizzlies, Suns, and Kings. Only the 76ers, Magic, Knicks, Timberwolves, Bucks, Nuggets, Mavericks, and Celtics are expected to win more games.

Indiana finished with a 47-35 regular season record last season after winning only 35 games the year prior. It's fair to expect the Pacers will have enough success in 2024-25 to improve in the win column for the second straight year.

They traded for Siakam midway through the season, which shook up their rotations and caused them to drop quite a few games. That's often expected when an organization makes such a significant move, something that likely won't take place next year. It took Indiana a while to integrate Siakam into its system and for the team to learn how to play a different style alongside its newly acquired piece.

Injuries also caused both Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton to miss a significant amount of time. Siakam sat out 12 games as a member of the Pacers, with the team going 6-6 without him. Haliburton also struggled with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss 19 games throughout the year and Indiana went just 9-10 without their star player on the floor.

Add in the fact that their roster was fairly young, with Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and Bennedict Mathurin still needing plenty of time to develop, and winning 47 games was a significant accomplishment.

It's hard to predict just how many games the Pacers will win in 2024-25 without knowing what their schedule looks like. The length of road trips, the number of back-to-backs they'll have, and strength of schedule will all play a factor in predicting whether or not they'll be able to hit the over. But based on talent alone and the expectation that they'll be able to build off a successful season, I would feel comfortable betting on them to surpass their current total of 46.5 wins.