{"id":104731,"date":"2024-11-02T21:41:05","date_gmt":"2024-11-03T01:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=104731"},"modified":"2024-11-02T22:30:07","modified_gmt":"2024-11-03T02:30:07","slug":"pacers-time-enrique-freeman-step-up-isaiah-jackson-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/11\/02\/pacers-time-enrique-freeman-step-up-isaiah-jackson-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time For Pacers Rookie To Step Up Amid Isaiah Jackson Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Just months after the Indiana Pacers\u2019 postseason run was hamstrung by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/halibty01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyrese Haliburton<\/a>\u2019s hamstring injury, they\u2019ve lost two centers <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/24\/pacers-james-wiseman-sustains-potential-season-ending-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">to Achilles injuries<\/a>. Only about a week ago, it was 2020 No. 2 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wisemja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">James Wiseman<\/a>. Today, it\u2019s 2021 No. 22 pick <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksis01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaiah Jackson<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson sustained a torn right Achilles while playing against the New Orleans Pelicans on Nov. 1, per ESPN senior insider Shams Charania. The 22-year-old is expected to miss the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Indiana Pacers C Isaiah Jackson has sustained a torn right Achilles tendon, league sources tell ESPN. Another Pacers big man lost this season to a non-contact Achilles tear. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZQApu3OmZS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ZQApu3OmZS<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ShamsCharania\/status\/1852862342666871064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">November 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>With Jackson on the final season of his contract, his injury almost couldn\u2019t be any more untimely. The silver lining is that Jackson could be back at full strength prior to the start of the 2025-26. Because Jackson will be a restricted free agent, chances are that he could re-sign with Indiana, albeit at a discounted rate. For example, after <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/11\/hawks-lose-starter-saddiq-bey-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">tearing his ACL<\/a> in March, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/beysa01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Saddiq Bey<\/a> managed to ink <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/10\/wizards-sign-20-million-forward\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a three-year contract<\/a> with the Washington Wizards in July.<\/p>\n<p>Not every player has Bey\u2019s luck. Nonetheless, with Jackson\u2019s age, productivity, skillset, and familiarity with the Pacers, there\u2019s reason to believe he could be just as fortunate.<\/p>\n<h2>It\u2019s Time For Pacers Rookie Enrique Freeman To Step Up Amid Isaiah Jackson Injury<\/h2>\n<p>Without Wiseman or Jackson available, Indiana could give <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/freemen01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Enrique Freeman<\/a> an opportunity to be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/turnemy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Myles Turner<\/a>\u2019s backup before they <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/24\/nba-best-centers-remaining-in-free-agency\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">turn to a free agent<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As the 2024 No. 50 pick, Freeman\u2019s rookie status would make many teams hesitant to promote him to a regular rotation role. However, Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has demonstrated a willingness to go to the end of his bench if need be.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Freeman isn\u2019t <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/08\/1-question-for-each-indiana-pacers-rookie\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">an ordinary rookie<\/a>. As a four-year starter for the Akron Zips, the 24-year-old is seasoned in a sense, possessing a level of awareness, physicality, and professionalism that tends to escape one-and-dones. He isn\u2019t trying to be anything other than himself when he steps into the court.<\/p>\n<p>And Freeman\u2019s a winner.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Enrique Freeman - Akron - 2023-24 NBA Draft Scouting Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T79SHVswYOw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what allowed him to go from a college walk-on to the 2023-24 MAC Player of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what it\u2019s called when he takes advantage of his activity and broad shoulders, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/12\/pacers-mainstay-knows-exactly-where-james-wiseman-helps\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">bruising for boards<\/a>. It\u2019s what it\u2019s called when he patrols the paint, trying to ensure that his opponent gets nothing easy. When he\u2019s on offense, that\u2019s why he\u2019s playing off of his teammates and trying to make plays for others.<\/p>\n<h3>Will He Get A Promotion?<\/h3>\n<p>Freeman has only played 16 minutes this season. Nonetheless, he was on the court for 119 minutes in the Summer League and 65 minutes during the preseason. In that time, he demonstrated all the aforementioned traits, which are will help him stay on the court.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Enrique Freeman Preseason Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VVEGCkbd_Yw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That being said, at 6-foot-7, Freeman is often going to be undersized. Despite his 7-foot-2 wingspan, there are certain matchups where he might just be overmatched physically. However, Freeman can stretch the floor out to three-point range. As a result, Indiana could try to force this matchups into uncomfortable situations as well.<\/p>\n<p>If all goes well, the biggest problem will be deciding what to do about his contract. As he\u2019s on a two-way deal, he can only play 50 games with the Pacers. Yet, if he becomes a reliable rotation player, they\u2019ll obviously want him to stick around more than that and may have to convert his deal to a standard contract.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Just months after the Indiana Pacers\u2019 postseason run was hamstrung by Tyrese Haliburton\u2019s hamstring injury, they\u2019ve lost two centers to Achilles injuries. Only about a week ago, it was 2020 No. 2 pick James Wiseman. Today, it\u2019s 2021 No. 22 pick Isaiah Jackson. Jackson sustained a torn right Achilles while playing against the New Orleans [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":104742,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1608,62,3],"tags":[49286,4299,2107,4745],"class_list":["post-104731","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pacers","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-enrique-freeman","tag-isaiah-jackson","tag-james-wiseman","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104731","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104731"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104731\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104731"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104731"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104731"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}