Pacers not ready to lose young forward yet, sign him to 2-year deal and waive veteran guard
INDIANAPOLIS — Jeremiah Robinson-Earl apparently did enough on two 10-day hardship exception contracts for the Pacers to decide they couldn’t lose him yet.
The Pacers will sign the 25-year-old forward to a two-year, non-guaranteed contract with a team option for next season and waive veteran point guard Monte Morris to make the space on the roster, a league source confirmed to IndyStar on Thursday.
Robinson-Earl and Morris were both added to the team in November in response to the slew of injuries that have decimated the Pacers, who are 2-13 after reaching last season’s NBA Finals. Robinson-Earl was first signed Nov. 1 on a 10-day hardship exception, as teams are allowed to go above the roster limit of 15 standard contracts and three two-way deals if they have four players who have missed at least three consecutive games and are expected to miss two additional weeks beyond that. He signed a second 10-day contract Nov. 11, but by rule one player can only sign two 10-day deals so the Pacers had to make a decision on his future before Friday.
Morris was not under such a restriction as he was under a non-guaranteed contract for the rest of the season. However, Robinson-Earl has proven more necessary for the Pacers’ roster, especially with forward Aaron Nesmith out approximately four more weeks with a left knee sprain and forward Johnny Furphy and Obi Toppin also out.
Robinson-Earl provided depth at the small and power forward positions and has been especially effective on defense and on the glass. The 6-foot-9, 230-pound former Villanova star is averaging just 5.2 points per game on 36.4% shooting in 10 games and he’s made just 4 of 18 3-point attempts (22.2%), but he’s averaging 6.2 rebounds per game and has six steals in 10 games.
Morris, meanwhile, has struggled to get on the court since point guards Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell returned from early season injuries. He’s averaging just 3.0 points and 1.5 assists per game in six appearances. He didn’t play in Wednesday’s win over the Hornets and he played less than 7 total minutes combined in losses to the Pistons and Raptors.
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