One of the most noticeable things about the Indiana Pacers’ transition this season to smaller and faster has been the transformation of the front court. Not only did the Pacers turn over most of their front court — swapping out Roy Hibbert, David West, and Luis Scola for Myles Turner and Jordan Hill — they decided to cut numbers in that area as well.
Traditional roster composition dictates that teams keep five big men on the active, 13-man roster, but following training camp, Indiana decided against that. In order to facilitate the team’s “space and pace” transition, the Pacers brass chose to keep just four bigs on the NBA roster: Ian Mahinmi, Lavoy Allen, Turner, and Hill.