Nembhard did not participate in Canada's latest FIBA World Cup qualifying window as he shifts his focus toward the upcoming NBA season.
Mara is set to contend with Jaylin Williams for the backup center job behind Isaiah Hartenstein during training camp.
Nesmith continued to establish himself as one of Indiana's most valuable two-way wings during the 2025-26 season, but injuries limited him to 45 regular-season appearances.
Sheppard continued to provide valuable depth on the wing during the 2025-26 campaign, carving out minutes with his perimeter shooting and defensive effort.
Walker took another step forward during his third NBA season, earning a larger role in Indiana's rotation thanks to his defensive versatility and improving offensive game.
Siakam remained one of Indiana's most productive players in 2025-26, providing consistent scoring, rebounding and veteran leadership during a rebuilding campaign.
McConnell continued to provide steady production off Indiana's bench during the 2025-26 campaign, serving as one of the league's most reliable reserve point guards
According to Bryan Toporek of Forbes, the Thunder's decision to part with Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort creates a clearer path for McCain to earn immediate rotation minutes.
According to Bryan Toporek of Forbes, Oklahoma City's offseason roster shakeup opened additional opportunities in the backcourt after the departures of Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins and Luguentz Dort.
Gilgeous-Alexander's outlook remains mostly the same despite Oklahoma City's busy offseason, according to Bryan Toporek of Forbes.
DraftKings. Ajay Mitchell should be in line for a solid workload tonight, as the Thunder will be without Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso and Isaiah Joe. Mitchell popped in the Thunder’s opener, scoring 16 points in just 15 minutes. With the Thunder so depleted in the backcourt, Mitchell should be in line for at least 20 minutes tonight. Coming off a game where he incurred an insane 39% usage rate, I like him to produce in the rare chance for him to get plenty of shots up in this offense.
Chet Holmgren scored 28 points over 38 minutes in the Thunder's season opener against the Rockets. While he was aided by the game going to double overtime, he did eventually foul out. The biggest reason he exploded in the scoring column was likely the absence of Jalen Williams (wrist), who will be out again Thursday. As the team’s second-best scoring option behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren is in a favorable spot to hit this over.
With Tyrese Haliburton (Achilles) out for the season and Myles Turner now on the Bucks, someone else on the Pacers will need to step up and take some of the scoring pressure off Pascal Siakam. Expect that to be Bennedict Mathurin, who averaged 16.1 points per game last season. Mathurin has never averaged more than 12.2 shot attempts per game, but that number should increase this season. He is also a good free-throw shooter, making at least 82.1% of his attempts in all three seasons of his career. The Thunder will be without two of their best defenders in Jalen Williams (wrist) and Alex Caruso (concussion) on Thursday, which makes me like this over for Mathurin even more.
Without Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam's usage/shot attempts should go up. As it is, he averaged 20.2 PPG last season and topped this number three times in the Finals vs. OKC obviously when Turner and Haliburton were still around. Our model ranks this as the second-best Over points play from this game (after SGA, but his is too high for me) and has Siakam at 22.7 points.
Rematch time from the Finals last June only now the Pacers don't have Tyrese Haliburton, who went down in Game Seven with a ruptured Achilles and will miss this entire season. We don't, however, expect Indiana to completely disappear, as the Andrew Nembhard-Bennedict Mathurin backcourt remains potent, F Pascal Siakam continues to perform at an All-Star level, and Rick Carlisle can rotate three bigs (Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, and James Wiseman) in the post. As for OKC, it wears a big target this season, as Houston reminded in the double OT on opening night. Play Pacers
