October 21: The Pacers have formally announced their extension with Nesmith, confirming the news in a press release.
“Aaron Nesmith embodies our team’s selfless, fast-paced style of play while also playing a key role in defining our culture, all of which is a testament to his talent, dedication, and commitment to this organization and our fans,” president of basketball operations Kevin Pritchard said in a statement. “We look forward to Aaron’s continued growth and contributions to both our team and our community, and we’re proud to have reached an agreement that will keep him here in Indiana.”
October 20: The Pacers and starting small forward Aaron Nesmith have agreed to a two-year, $40.4MM extension, agent Mike Lindeman tells ESPN’s Shams Charania. The deal includes a trade kicker, Charania adds.
As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Nesmith will earn $11MM each of the next two seasons. His extension, which begins in two years, will pay him a projected $19.4MM in 2027/28 and $21MM in 2028/29.
Nesmith, who turned 26 years old last week, has developed into one of the NBA’s top 3-and-D players in Indiana. He was selected 14th overall in the 2020 draft and spent his first two seasons with the Celtics, who traded him to the Pacers in the 2022 offseason.
Over the past two regular seasons, the 6’5″ wing has averaged 12.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per contest, posting an excellent shooting line of .500/.423/.829. Nesmith played an integral role in the Pacers’ run to the NBA Finals earlier this year, appearing in all 23 playoff games (28.3 MPG) while averaging 12.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 0.9 SPG and 0.8 BPG on .472/.492/.861 shooting.
Charania, citing ESPN research, says Nesmith’s 49.2% mark from long distance was the best percentage of any player who has attempted at least 100 threes in the playoffs.
Nesmith was among a handful of players our Luke Adams identified last week as an under-the-radar veteran extension candidate. Two others from his list — Toumani Camara and A.J. Green — have inked new deals as well.
The maximum the Pacers could have offered Nesmith was a three-year deal worth up to $62.9MM — what he agreed to was the maximum he could have received on a two-year extension.
The deadline for veteran extensions for players on non-expiring contracts is at 10:59 pm CT tonight.
Dude, plays with constant energy. When he was with the Celtics someone described him as playing like a “deer in a Walmart”
He was erratic those early years, the COVID shutdown night have held back development of certain players, like Nesmith.
Good for him, he found a home with these PACERS.
“It’s a great time to be a role player”
Well deserved
He played well against Knicks in playoffs. He has looked much better in Indiana. Same old story. Some players take longer to show. He’s earned this payday.
I was at gm 7
Just plain wrong what happened to hali
40min away from the greatest run of all time
Lots of teams have been close to the greatest run of all time.
You just don’t remember any of them because it didn’t happen.
Iverson, Stockton, Barkley and others were close
HEAT’s run during the bubble…. easily among the best, had they won.
A 36-year old, just traded, Andre Iguodala was the highest drafted (9th overall) player on the HEAT’s roster.
Their fans remember ……
Ya’ll dont get it. Thats ok. Ya’ll aint indy fans. Ya’ll werent at gm 7. Ya’ll got no clue what greatest run means. It dont mean 96 bulls. Thats the greatest tm ever.
But this was the most amazing heart stopping unexpected under dog run ever. Pacers performed miracle after miracle
They didnt fall short, they didnt miss a shot at the buzzer, they didnt come up empty. Their superstar suffered a horrendous injury 40 minutes away from the championship. Nobody in nba history or any american sport can even comprehend this event cuz it aint ever happened
It’s not the greatest run ever – but it’s up there.
Aaron couldn’t make his threes with our Celtics but was coming around when traded. Turned out to be a good draft pick. That would have been Ainge I think.