The Indiana Pacers and Canadian Olympic Team member Andrew Nembhard have come to terms on a new 3 year extension which will run through the 2027-28 campaign.
Nembhard will earn $59M over the lifetime of the contract, with Indiana declining his $2.2M team option in 2025-26 to allow the deal to kick in early. After being selected 31st overall out of Gonzaga back in 2022, the 24 year old has seen his role with the club grow steadily over the past few seasons.
The 6’4″ guard averaged 14.9pts/5.5ast per game for the Pacers during the playoffs this past season, as he played an integral part in his team’s Eastern Conference run. As a result, the club wasted little time in extending the Toronto native, as he officially became extension eligible on Monday this week.
Nembhard is part of a young Pacers core which includes the likes of Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin, and Aaron Nesmith amongst others. With his playing time hovering around 25 minutes a night, the Canadian guard was an effective role player off the bench for Indiana.
However, when Haliburton was forced to miss games 3 & 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, Nembhard stepped in seamlessly, averaging 28 points and 9.5 assists per game. That offensive outburst caught the eye of many front office executives around the league, who began keeping tabs on the Sophomore in the event that Indiana couldn’t work him into their lineup regularly.
That appears to be a moot point now, as Nembhard will now earn an AAV of $19.67M after this year, and figures to play a more prominent role in the team’s rotation.
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