Pacers Roll Out Chaotic Starting Lineup Featuring Jay Huff and Kelly Oubre Jr.
Lineup alert: Pacers will start Haliburton, Nesmith, Oubre, Siakam, Huff on Monday. - @UnderdogNBA
The are rolling out a starting five on Monday that looks like a 2K simulation where you accidentally let the CPU manage your rotation. , Aaron Nesmith, Kelly Oubre Jr., Pascal Siakam, and Jay Huff are getting the nod.
Yes, you read that correctly. Jay Huff is starting at center for an NBA franchise in the year 2026. With Myles Turner nowhere to be found in this announcement, the Pacers are handing the keys to the paint over to a guy who usually only sees the floor when the arena is already halfway empty.
Then there is the Kelly Oubre Jr. experience. Oubre joined Indiana this season and has been objectively struggling, averaging a cool 7.0 points on 37.5 percent shooting over his first three games. Naturally, the reward for that kind of production is an immediate promotion to the starting lineup.
The rest of the group makes sense. Haliburton is healthy and running the offense, which is all that really matters for Indiana to function. Nesmith is also in the mix, apparently fully intact after his hard collision with Dallas rookie last week.
For anyone holding tickets on Monday's slate, this lineup drop is a massive curveball. Player prop markets are going to have to figure out what to do with Oubre and Huff suddenly logging starter minutes, which usually means someone is about to get burned on a rebounding total.
Indiana is sitting at 2-1 after hanging 136 points on the Brooklyn Nets. Now they take this experimental five-man unit on the road to face the Milwaukee Bucks. We will find out very quickly if this is a stroke of tactical genius or just a really weird night in Wisconsin.