Dec 31, 2021

Getty Images Five Indiana Pacers players have entered the NBA’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols in recent days. Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle shared that guard Jeremy Lamb had tested positive for COVID-19 just before his team took on the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday. “He has entered health and safety protocols,” Carlisle said of Lamb roughly an hour and a half before the game. Carlisle found out he would be without the bench shooting guard earlier that day. The ensuing Thursday, Indiana announced that three more players were entering health and safety protocols: Malcolm Brogdon, Isaiah Jackson, and Chris Duarte. None of them were present at practice that day. “We’re obviously talking about staying masked and being safe and doing everything possible to protect each other and protect our families, their families,” Carlisle mentioned at said practice. The coach missed time earlier this season in health and safety protocols. “Day-to-day, we’ve all got to be light on our feet and hope for the best.” How long each of those players will be away from the team isn’t perfectly clear. The NBA recently lowered the isolation time requirement for players in health and safety protocols to a minimum of six days, but that is contingent on the player being asymptomatic and returning multiple negative COVID-19 tests. ESPN reported that that number could change again and be lowered to five days . Without knowing the symptom status of each individual, it isn’t possible to pinpoint exact return dates, but early next week would be the earliest day many of these players could return. Carlisle explained that Pacers assistant coach Mike Weinar returned from his COVID-related absence after just six days earlier this month, so that timeline has happened within the organization prior to these players entering health and safety protocols. MORE FOR YOU “The ten days goes by weirdly slow and weirdly fast,” Carlisle detailed. He entered protocols before the NBA changed the minimum number of isolation days from ten to six. As of practice on Thursday, Carlisle had not yet spoken to the three newest players who had entered health and safety protocols. Justin Holiday, who spent ten days in the protocols after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this month, did share some notes about his experiences. “The only thing I’ve told them is I was just bored,” Holiday said. He pointed out that being away from the team and watching games from home allowed him to look in the mirror and see things about the Pacers from a fresh perspective. “At the end of the day, we don’t want them to be gone that long, and they don’t want to.” Less than 24 hours after practice ended, Carlisle reveled that Pacers forward Kelan Martin tested positive for COVID-19 and would be entering health and safety protocols as well. That meant one-third of the Pacers roster on standard contracts has to be away from the team. If asymptomatic, Martin can return in the middle of next week. The NBA doesn’t want games to be postponed because a team doesn’t have enough available players to field a team. As a result, they are requiring franchises with more than one player in health and safety protocols to sign replacement players to 10-day hardship exception contracts. Once two players on one squad enter protocols, the team has to sign a replacement player, and every time a new player enters the protocols after that, a new replacement player must be signed. Because the Pacers have five players in health and safety protocols, they need to add at least four replacement players. On Thursday, they took the first steps toward doing that by bringing Nate Hinton to the team. Hinton spent time with the Pacers during training camp and in the preseason, where he appeared in three games for the blue and gold. Last season, he played for Carlisle as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. Indiana Pacers guard Nate Hinton (14) in action as the Indiana Pacers played the Cleveland Cavaliers ... [+] in an NBA preseason basketball game in Indianapolis, Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. (AP Photo/AJ Mast) ASSOCIATED PRESS “I love him,” Carlisle said of the guard. “I think he’s one of the best competitors I’ve ever seen for a young player in this league, and this is a great opportunity for him.” Hinton’s teammates are happy about having him back with the group. “It’s good,” forward Martin said about having Hinton, who scored three points in 23 minutes for the Pacers in the preseason. “He has a lot of energy. He’s a good player, can shoot it. He’s a good defender, he’s familiar with the coaching staff... he’s a good piece for us,” Martin added. “It’s been a great little opportunity, so due to the circumstances, I’m just thankful that I’ve got to have this opportunity,” Hinton shared. He’s been working out in Indianapolis since the G League showcase ended. He played for the Pacers G League affiliate, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, this season. The following day, the Pacers added another replacement player by signing Ahmad Caver to a 10-day hardship deal. The 25-year old guard has been in the Memphis Grizzlies organization in recent years, and the Pacers need him for perimeter depth. Indiana still needs to bring in at least two more hardship players. “We’re in the process of continuing to fill the roster,” Carlisle said Friday. “I'm not sure how much more info I can give you right at this moment.” The Pacers may not need any of their replacement players in actual games. They had been playing without Brogdon and Lamb due to other injuries prior to those two entering protocols, and Jackson hasn’t been in Carlisle’s rotation all season. Duarte and Martin’s minutes will need to be replaced, but two-way guard Duane Washington recently received playing time for the blue and gold, so he will be a candidate to fill out the rotation before any of the new guys would see the floor. Washington is starting for the Pacers on Friday. But having extra bodies, especially during a time when every NBA team’s roster situation is extremely fluid, is helpful. The Pacers are the perfect example of that, with new players entering health and safety protocols in three consecutive days. The team will have to continue monitoring this situation going forward to both field a roster and comply with league rules. Follow me on  Twitter . Check out my  website .