INDIANAPOLIS — The Pacers have exercised the club options on the fourth-year rookie-scale for third-year wings Jarace Walker and Ben Sheppard, the team announced Tuesday on its social media accounts.
Walker is due $6.67 million this season and $8.48 million in the fourth year of his deal according to the sports business website Spotrac.com. Sheppard is due $2.79 million this season and $5.03 million next season.
The Pacers took Walker out of Houston with the No. 8 pick and Sheppard out of Belmont with the No. 26 pick in the 2023 draft. Walker, a 6-7, 235-pounder who was drafted as a power forward, has had a complicated time breaking into the rotation with the additions of Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin taking up the first- and second-unit spots at the 4. However, he’s worked on his perimeter skills so that he can play on the wing and he enters the season likely to be the team’s second-unit small forward. Last season, he averaged 6.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game in 15.8 minutes per game off the bench.
Though Sheppard was a less-heralded draft pick, he’s impressed the Pacers’ coaching staff with his energy and willingness to fit seamlessly within the system. He had limited minutes for most of the season as a rookie but broke into the second unit in the second-half of the season thanks in part to the season-ending shoulder injury suffered by Bennedict Mathurin. He turned out to be a critical piece to the playoff rotation and played rotation minutes for most of his second season as well. He averaged 5.3 points per game last season and 3.2 points per game in the playoffs but he shot 39.5% from 3-point range in postseason play and 47.1% from the floor.
