Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam garner many of the headlines, but one of the most underrated pieces of the Indiana Pacers success is Andrew Nembhard.
The Gonzaga product has become a force as a scorer and a distributor out of the backcourt.
Nembhard is a big reason why the Pacers have found playoff success, but he wasn’t always projected to play this big of a role in it.
Why did Andrew Nembhard fall to second round in 2022 NBA Draft?
Nembhard spent two years at Florida before transferring to Gonzaga where he played his final two seasons.
He averaged 10 points and 5.3 assists per game in college before being taken 31st overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Pacers.
The Sporting News gave Indiana an ‘A’ grade for their draft with Bennedict Mathurn, Nembhard, and Kendall Brown.
“Nembhard is a pure floor general who will have a long career in the league as a reserve guard,” TSN’s Kyle Irving wrote.
Reserve guard was the general consensus on Nembhard’s ceiling leading up to the draft. He was more of a floor general and a connector throughout his college career. Scouts questioned what tangible contributions he could make to a professional franchise.
“Lacks elite level speed and athleticism for the NBA game,” NBADraft.net wrote in its scouting report. “Jump shot only just recently came around and isn’t a major part of his game.”
He also battled a minor quad injury during the 2022 NBA Combine.
He pushed through it for testing but he missed the first day of scrimmages.
But it didn’t take Nembhard long to break the mold once he was given the chance.
He became a starter for Indiana his first season, starting 60+ games, the most for a rookie since 2001-02.
Only a few years into his career and Nembhard is finding his shot. He led Indiana with 23 points on 7-10 shooting (5-6 3pt) in their game one win over the Cavaliers in the playoffs.
Andrew Nembhard career playoff averages:15.3 PTS55.0 FG%51.1 3P%Andrew Nembhard career regular-season averages:9.6 PTS46.4 FG%33.5 3P%
23 PTS (7-10 FG, 5-6 3P), game-high +21 in Game 1 win over Cavs.pic.twitter.com/ZISb76QxYT
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) May 5, 2025
2024-25 was the first year that the guard finished the season averaging 10 points or more, but the future is bright for Andrew Nembhard.
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Who was drafted before Andrew Nembhard?
PickPlayerTeam1Paolo BancheroMagic2Chet HolmgrenThunder3Jabari SmithRockets4Keegan MurrayKings5Jaden IveyPistons6Bennedict MathurinPacers7Shaedon SharpeBlazer8Dyson DanielsPelicans9Jeremy SochanSpurs10Johnny DavisWizards11Ousmane DiengThunder12Jalen WilliamsThunder13Jalen DurenPistons14Ochai AgbajiCavs15Mark WilliamsHornets16AJ GriffinHawks17Tari EasonRockets18Dalen Terry Bulls19Jake LaRaviaTimberwolves20Malaki BranhamSpurs21Christian BraunNuggets22Walker KesslerGrizzlies23David RoddySixers24MarJon BeauchampBucks25Blake WesleySpurs26Wendell Moore Jr.Mavs27Nikola JovicHeat28Patrick Baldwin Jr.Warriors29TyTy Washington Jr.Grizzlies30Peyton WatsonThunder31Andrew NembhardPacers
