WASHINGTON – The Indiana Pacers have a player availability puzzle to put together down the stretch of the 2025-26 season, and it involves all three of their players on two-way contracts.

Currently, the Pacers have Jalen Slawson, Ethan Thompson, and Taelon Peter signed to two-way deals. Thompson and Peter have been helpful at different points this season, and all three players are healthy right now. They each project to have a bigger role in the Pacers’ final outings of the season.

But they can’t all play in every game thanks to two-way contract rules, and the Pacers will have to juggle the availability of each player. Indiana has already played multiple games since the All-Star break with just one or two or their two-way contract signees available to play.

That’s because two-way agreements come with a limit – players on such contracts can only be active in 50 games per season (or a proportionate ratio of 50/82 games at the time of signing based on the number of days left in the season). The Pacers couldn’t get by without their two-way contract players at various moments this season due to injuries, with Peter being active for 23 of the team’s first 25 games and Thompson during every game from December 1 through January 17.

During those stretches, Indiana needed their two-way players to field a team or a rotation that actually made sense. It wasn’t a poor use of their active days. But that two-way usage early in the season now requires the Pacers to be strategic down the stretch of 2025-26. They have 22 more games this season but won’t be able to use their two-way talents in all of them.

Peter, a rookie selected in the second round of last June’s NBA Draft, had a rush of games to open the campaign, and he’s allowed to suit up 14 more times this league year. “He’s figuring out what being a professional basketball player is about,” Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Peter and his in-season growth earlier this month. “It’s about being who you are all the time, regardless of make or miss. Just keep playing, just keep staying aggressive.”

Thompson was signed on November 30, which permitted him to appear in 39 games this season. He’s only got 10 left – Thompson was effective right away with the Pacers and played often after his signing. He was named to the NBA G League Next Up game, effectively the G League All-Star game, for his performances this campaign.

Slawson signed his contract earlier today and is eligible for 13 appearances the rest of the way for the Pacers. So, with 22 games remaining, none of the team’s two-way contract players can be active for each remaining game. The team will have to figure out the best strategy when it comes to managing two-way player availability during the final months of the season.

Another consideration for the franchise is that two-way players, by virtue of their contract, can be transferred down to the G League at any time. Peter, Slawson, and Thomspon have combined for 64 appearances with Indiana’s G League affiliate team, the Noblesville Boom, this season. Once the Boom’s season ends – their final scheduled game is March 26 but the team currently holds a playoff spot – then the G League is not an option for two-way players.

So the Pacers have to figure out the best way to deploy, and evaluate, their two-way contract signees during March and April. It’s a lot to manage.

“We’re trying to save games for him,” Carlisle said of the Pacers decision to keep Quenton Jackson, who was previously on a two-way contract, inactive for a game earlier this month. “We want to conserve those games as much as possible.”

Jackson had his contract converted from a two-way deal to a standard deal earlier today, and Slawson filled his two-way slot. It was sharp business for the Pacers, but they lost some available two-way days as a result – Jackson had more than 13 games remaining, but Slawson gets fewer because of the day he signed his contract.

“Two-way guys, your life is a lot of unpredictability of where you’re going to be from day to day,” Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan shared in February.

If the Pacers want to keep their two-way talents around the NBA club as much as possible, their best course of action could be to keep two of the three active in every game and occasionally just have one of the three available. If the team can get to a spot in which they have 15 games left on the schedule and all of their two-way talents have 10+ games left in which they could be active, two of the three could play every night during the final 15 outings. Using all three at once could be difficult, though Indiana may choose to deploy each of Thompson, Peter, and Slawson on the second night of back-to-backs as they manage injuries down the stretch. Putting any of the trio in the G League for a few days is an option, too, but comes with injury risks.

Slawson has not appeared in a game for the Pacers yet this season. Peter is averaging 3.3 points per game while shooting 35.8% from the field while Thompson is posting 4.9 points per contest and knocking down 36.7% of his shots. The Pacers are 15-45 with three back-to-backs remaining and three games left against teams near them in the inverse standings.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Pacers plan to sign wing Jalen Slawson to a two-way contract. The 26-year old forward has spent the ongoing campaign with the Pacers G League affiliate franchise, the Noblesville Boom. It’s a one-year pact covering the rest of the 2025-26 season.

Slawson was a second-round pick back in 2023 and spent his rookie season with the Sacramento Kings. That campaign, the Furman product appeared in 12 games and averaged 0.7 points and 0.6 rebounds per game. Since then, he has bounced around between the Orlando Magic and Pacers organizations.

Most of Slawson’s time in the pros has come via the G League. With the Kings and Magic affiliate teams, the forward averaged between 12 and 13 points per game while being a solid passer and rebounder for his position.

That got him a training camp invite with Indiana last fall. Slawson spent all of the 2025 preseason on an Exhibit 10 deal with the Pacers, and he appeared in all four of the team’s tune-up games ahead of the regular season. He averaged 2.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game.

Slawson was waived just before the regular season, but the Pacers affiliate team owned his G League rights, and he’s spent the entire season with the Noblesville Boom. That’s where the 6-foot-7 forward has popped – he’s averaging G League career highs of 19.2 points and 5.4 assists per game for the Boom this season, including an improved 34.7% three-point percentage.

He’s been among Noblesville’s best players this year, and with the team losing many players to injury or overseas opportunities, he has recently become the G League’ club’s top option. Even with more responsibility and attention, Slawson has continued to produce.

Now, he gets a call up to the Pacers via a two-way contract. He’s eligible to be active for 13 of the Pacers final 22 games – two-way contract players are only able to appear in a maximum of 50 games in a league year, and that ratio of games gets prorated if they are signed mid-season.

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle had good memories of Slawson’s play for Indiana during the preseason. “ I think he’s an NBA player,” Carlisle said. “He’s had a good year with the Boom and this will be a great opportunity for him to play some games.”

Two-way contracts provide a salary that is half of the NBA’s rookie minimum, which would equate to $636k over the course of a full season. Prorated for the current day on the calendar, that means Slawson will make about $161k on his two-way with Indiana the rest of the season.

Two-way deals have no impact on a team’s salary cap, so the Pacers have no changes to their spending reality. They opened up a two-way spot by converting the contract of Quenton Jackson earlier this weekend.

WHITELAND, Ind. (WISH) — “The Zone” featured highlights from eight high school boys basketball games from across central Indiana on Friday.

Watch highlights of Beech Grove at Whiteland above.

Final Score: Whiteland 89 Beech Grove 61

“The Zone” airs each Friday at 11:08 p.m. Click here to watch ‘The Zone’ for basketball highlights on February 27, 2026.