by Rexwell Villas
The Indiana Pacers have seemingly made a decision on small forward Aaron Nesmith. The former Vanderbilt Commodores star has reportedly agreed to a three-year, $33 million extension deal with the Pacers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
“Nesmith is the 10th member of the NBA Draft class of 2020 to reach a deal on a rookie scale extension — with several more still negotiating ahead of the Monday night deadline,” adds Wojnarowski.
This move doesn’t move the needle much in the grand scheme of things in the Eastern Conference, let alone in the entire NBA, but for Nesmith, this will allow him to stay in the top basketball league in the world for years to come. Before Nesmith agreed to the said contract, the Pacers had their 2023-24 NBA season $5.63 million option club option on him picked up.
The Pacers acquired Nesmith via a trade with the Boston Celtics in 2022, one that also got Indiana Daniel Theis, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan plus a 2023 first rounder in exchange for former Rookie of the Year Malcolm Brogdon.
Nesmith showed some intriguing promise during his first season with the Pacers. In the 2022-23 NBA campaign, he averaged 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while seeing action 24.9 minutes per contest across 73 games — all career highs.
Although Nesmith had 60 starts last season, he is likely to start the 2023-24 campaign as part of Indiana’s bench, with guys like Bennedict Mathurin, Bruce Brown, Buddy Hield, Andrew Nembhard, and perhaps even Jordan Nwora in front of him. Nevertheless, he should be able to see significant minutes in the coming season.
Originally posted on ClutchPoints.