Pascal Siakam Explains Why Pacers Believe This Roster Can Bounce Back

The Indiana Pacers carry 17 players into Wednesday's opener at the New Orleans Pelicans, and their ages run from 21 to 34. Johnny Furphy is the youngest. T.J. McConnell is the oldest.

Tip-off at Smoothie King Center is set for 8 p.m. ET. Indiana is coming off a 19-63 season and a 1-3 preseason.

Pascal Siakam is 32 and starting his 11th NBA season. On Tuesday, he said he is "tired of training and practices" and ready for the games.

Every team in the league has something to prove and an identity it wants to form, as Siakam sees it.

"I think we have a good mix of youth and veteran leadership," Siakam said. "And I think that, yeah, obviously we didn't play the way we wanted last year. So we have goals, we have aspirations. And I'm excited about the potential, going out there and showing what we can do."

"But again, everyone is excited at this time of the year, right?" Siakam continued. "So it's a matter of who wants it the most and who's gonna be going as hard as they can to achieve their goals, 'cause everyone has the same goal at the beginning of the year, so. I'm excited about our group though."

McConnell is entering his 12th season in the league and his eighth with Indiana, which signed him in July 2019. He sat out all four preseason games without a disclosed reason.

Two more veterans arrived over the summer. Kelly Oubre Jr., 30, signed with the Pacers on July 7, and Larry Nance Jr., 33, signed two days later. Both entered the NBA in 2015.

Siakam and Ivica Zubac, 29, came into the league a year after that. Indiana traded for Zubac on Feb. 5, and the preseason gave him his first minutes with Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton.

Obi Toppin and Quenton Jackson are both 28, and Jay Huff is 29.

Siakam has been with Indiana since January 2024, when the Pacers acquired him from the Toronto Raptors. He averaged 24.0 points in 62 games last season and made his fourth All-Star team.

Braden Smith is a 23-year-old rookie guard out of Purdue. Indiana acquired his draft rights from the Chicago Bulls on June 24, and he tied for the team lead with five assists in the Oct. 13 preseason game at Oklahoma City. Haliburton has likened Smith's passing to McConnell's.

Jarace Walker is also 23 and in his fourth season. The Pacers got his draft rights from the Washington Wizards in 2023, and he was inactive for the 128-127 overtime loss to Milwaukee that closed the preseason.

Ben Sheppard, 25, was the 26th pick in 2023. Furphy, 21, tore his right ACL in February.

Haliburton and Andrew Nembhard are both 26. Nembhard, the 31st pick in 2022, had 11 points and seven assists against the Bucks in the preseason finale.

New Orleans went 26-56 last season. Bennedict Mathurin, whom Indiana drafted sixth in 2022, joined the Pelicans in August on a two-year, $16 million contract.

Indiana opens its home schedule Friday against the Dallas Mavericks at 7 p.m. ET.