The Indiana Pacers brought Jay Huff in from the Memphis Grizzlies after Myles Turner’s shocking departure to the Milwaukee Bucks in the offseason. And, after a rocky start to his Indiana Pacers career, the Virginia alum has looked as advertised and is playing a big role on the team on both sides of the ball.
In his last seven games, Huff is averaging 12.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 3.3 blocks. He is also shooting 50.8% from the field and 41.5% from beyond the arc across that span. Furthermore, the 27-year-old currently leads the league with 2.3 blocks per game.
On paper, Huff was the perfect replacement for Turner. They are both stretch bigs who can protect the rim and run the length of the court. This is essential to the Pacers’ offense, which prioritizes spacing and pushing the tempo. Not to mention that Huff is two years younger and is on a way, way cheaper contract than the Texas native is.
Despite Huff’s emergence, the Pacers are 4-17 on the season and are just one game ahead of the Washington Wizards, who own the second-worst record in the NBA.
Of course, this isn’t Huff’s fault, and Indiana’s record for this season doesn’t mean much anyway. However, that’s going to be a different story next season when the team gets Tyrese Haliburton back and is ready to re-enter the title picture. By that point, the Pacers need to know if they can trust the North Carolina native to start on a championship-caliber team and play winning basketball, or if he is just a role player at best, and they will need to find an upgrade sooner rather than later.
Can the Pacers trust Jay Huff as their long-term starter?
The real answer is maybe. Maybe they can. But to not give a cop-out answer, there are reasons to think they can, so yes.
Huff has shown the good and bad sides of his game. At his worst, he is a slow big man who doesn’t provide much offensive value when his shot doesn’t fall and is a non-factor on defense outside of his shot-blocking (sound familiar?).
But on the flip side, he can truly impact the game on both sides of the ball at his best. He can shoot lights-out and is increasingly improving as a defensive anchor in Indiana. Huff often helps in double-teams and calls out switches and rotations. He is also looking much more versatile and mobile, which is exactly what the Pacers need out of him. And head coach Rick Carlisle confirmed as much.
“He’s made great progress, and he’s a terrific kid. He’s certainly been a big part of it with his ability to stretch the floor,” Carlisle said about Huff.
The thing is, though, we still don’t know which version of Huff is the real one. And that’s an important question he and the Pacers need to answer soon.
Huff has shown he can contribute, but can he do it for a full season? Can he do it in the playoffs? Can he do it against the best big men in the league on a regular basis? If he can, then the Pacers got a steal and may have found their Turner replacement. But if he can’t, then it’s back to square one, and Indiana will have to find a replacement for the replacement if it wants to compete for a title once again.
The season is young, but there are more reasons than not to believe that Huff’s turnaround is legit. He looks more comfortable and simply better each game, and it’s clear that his teammates have trust in him. And he’s fitting in without Haliburton, so imagine how much better he should be once the star guard comes back.
Huff needed an opportunity, and now that he’s gotten it, he’s making the most out of it. And if he can continue on this trajectory, then he may find himself as a starting center in the NBA Finals sooner rather than later.
