INDIANAPOLIS — Cole Swider wasn’t sure where he would be for training camp in 2024, yet he still knew he would be in a familiar situation.
During both of Swider’s first two seasons in the NBA, he had to fight to stick around on a roster through camp. His rookie year was in Los Angeles with the Lakers, and Swider was on a two-way deal at the time. Last year with the Miami Heat, Swider was impressive during preseason action and had his Exhibit 10 contract converted to a two-way deal. He has exited training camp in a better spot than he entered it twice.
This year, Swider shared that he had a few teams that were interested in his services. Yet he chose the Indiana Pacers, and he hopes to repeat his early-practice success from past campaigns. The 25-year old has been with his new team for two months now, and he is starting to get acclimated to a new system and roster.
“Your conditioning has to be at a high level… Overall, just just getting adjusted to it,” Swider said of his adjustment to the Pacers high-paced style. That way of playing is actually what guided Swider to Indiana as opposed to another franchise — he believes he can fit in well in the up-tempo style. “It’s been great… Just learning how to play with each one of these guys, it’s going to keep on being a learning experience, but it’s been a good one.”
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Swider’s high-level pitch to teams is that he’s an elite shooter. From beyond the arc, he’s lethal, and he is working on being a better shooter when moving. He plays a low-turnover style and keeps the ball moving while finishing well around the basket.
Head coach Rick Carlisle sees it the same way. “Cole’s a third-year guy who’s established himself as a specialist,” he said earlier this week. “[He’s] been a great addition. He’s a guy competing for the 15th [roster] spot. This is an opportunity.” Carlisle has already seen the 25-year old fitting in during training camp.
Prior to joining the Pacers, Swider had a few relationships with members of the team. Through his agency, he knows Jarace Walker and Kendall Brown somewhat, and he has been playing against Andrew Nembhard for years — since they were juniors in high school. He met more of his teammates throughout the summer and in the players-only minicamp held in Orlando. He’s starting to fit in well and has done work with assistant coach Jim Boylen as well as center Myles Turner after practices.
Swider, a Syracuse product, likes that he joined an established program. His entire career has been with teams in similar spots, and he’s found a way to fit in before. This isn’t much different. It’s just like his past camp experiences battling for roster spots.
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“[Guys were saying] they have a solid core foundation. Rick’s been the head coach for a while
The Rhode Island native thinks his overall shooting ability will help him fit in with the team. In his view, he can replicate some of the things that Doug McDermott did for the Pacers last year as a movement shooter, though he will hope to be more accurate when letting it fly from deep. He hopes to be scrappy on the defensive end, too.
The outlook for Swider is fairly clear given his contract status. As Carlisle alluded to, he’s in the battle for the 15th roster spot. He and Kendall Brown are the obvious candidates for that slot, though in theory two-way contract players could sneak into the mix. The head coach noted that a few factors will influence who gets the final roster spot (if anybody), including general performance, compete level, how players manage game situations, and more. Someone will have to earn the final opportunity on the roster.
It could be Swider, who adds a shooting element hard to find at the back end of the team’s bench. He, and the rest of the players competing for roster spots, have been going hard in camp so far.
“I’ve been in this position every single year of my career. So this isn’t anything new,” Swider said of his battle to make the team. “Just want to continue to improve and try to earn my spot here.”
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For his career, Swider has averaged 2.0 points per game. He has 25 appearances under his belt, He’s now angling to join his third team and knows exactly what it will take to be a part of the squad come opening night, and he will try to prove it across the rest of training camp and preseason play.
New Orleans Pelicans (4-13, 15th in the Western Conference) vs. Indiana Pacers (7-10, ninth in the Eastern Conference)
Indianapolis; Monday, 7 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Pacers -5.5; over/under is 228
BOTTOM LINE: New Orleans heads into the matchup against Indiana as losers of four straight games.
The Pacers are 5-2 in home games. Indiana ranks fifth in the league with 17.0 fast break points per game led by Bennedict Mathurin averaging 4.5.
The Pelicans have gone 1-7 away from home. New Orleans averages 14.2 turnovers per game and is 3-4 when turning the ball over less than opponents.
The Pacers are shooting 48.7% from the field this season, 0.2 percentage points higher than the 48.5% the Pelicans allow to opponents. The Pacers average 103.8 points per game, 14.3 fewer points than the 118.1 the Pacers allow to opponents.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Pascal Siakam is averaging 20.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists for the Pacers.
Brandon Ingram is scoring 22.9 points per game and averaging 5.8 rebounds for the Pelicans.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pacers: 4-6, averaging 111.7 points, 38.9 rebounds, 26.1 assists, 9.0 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 47.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 115.5 points per game.
Pelicans: 1-9, averaging 100.2 points, 42.7 rebounds, 23.0 assists, 7.8 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 42.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 114.7 points.
INJURIES: Pacers: Aaron Nesmith: out (ankle), Andrew Nembhard: out (knee), Isaiah Jackson: out for season (calf), James Wiseman: out for season (calf), Ben Sheppard: out (oblique).
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Pelicans: Zion Williamson: out (hamstring), Yves Missi: day to day (shoulder), CJ McCollum: day to day (thigh), Herbert Jones: out (shoulder ), Dejounte Murray: day to day (hand), Jose Alvarado: out (hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Washington Wizards are still in the loss column after falling to the Indiana Pacers 115-103 inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Sunday evening.
The Wizards remained competitive throughout the game, especially after the first half when they led by two points going into halftime.
However, the Pacers pulled ahead in the second half and were able to cruise to a double-digit victory.
The Pacers had seven players scoring in double figures, including a team-high 22 points from Pascal Siakam. Myles Turner had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
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The Wizards were sorely missing their leading scorer in Jordan Poole, who was ruled out prior to the game with a hip injury. That put Kyshawn George into the starting lineup, where he scored 15 points while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out five assists.
All five starters scored in double figures with Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr scoring 17 points apiece for the team-high.
With 11 consecutive losses, the Wizards remain at the bottom of the NBA standings, but there are some positives that the team will walk away with.
The Wizards will look to snap their losing streak back at home on Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls.
Make sure you bookmark Washington Wizards on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!
It’s a day that ends in the letter ‘y,’ so Indy Star sports columnist Gregg Doyel is acting strange online. Thankfully, this scenario has nothing to do with him acting creepy towards WNBA star Caitlin Clark, but instead, centers around the Ohio State Buckeyes blowing out the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday.
For anyone who may have forgotten, Doyel stole the show during Clark’s introductory press conference with the Indiana Fever by making the scene all about himself in one of the strangest moves ever seen in a media setting.
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Doyel introduced himself to Clark by saying “Real quick, let me do this,” before reportedly forming a heart with his hands, a gesture Clark does towards her family after games.
Clark replied by very awkwardly asking “You like that?” before things got even weirder.
“I like that you’re here. I like that you’re here,” Doyel responded. “Yeah, I do that at my family after every game, so it’s very cool,” Clark replied.
“Okay, start doing it to me, and we’ll get along just fine,” Doyel replied back.
Long story short, Doyel later apologized for his creepy actions but was ultimately suspended by the Indy Star for two weeks.
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Naturally, each time he shares his opinion on social media nowadays, he gets chirped into oblivion and Saturday was no exception.
Doyel took serious offense to Ohio State scoring a touchdown with 35 seconds left in regulation to ultimately cap off its win over Indiana 38-15. He specifically didn’t appreciate Ohio State quarterback Will Howard celebrating the nail-in-the-coffin touchdown by putting out a fake cigarette to mock Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti.
Doyel taking offense to a 23-year-old college quarterback celebrating a monumental win over an undefeated Indiana team is odd behavior, and folks in his mentions were sure to point out that fact.
Ohio State virtually guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff with the win over Indiana, and the Hoosiers should be safe as well, barring a colossal loss to Purdue to close out the regular season.
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