NBA: 10 relative unknowns entering defining seasons in 2019-20

3. Aaron Holiday, Indiana Pacers

As a rookie, Aaron Holiday was pressed into service in the rotation when Victor Oladipo got injured and Tyreke Evans turned into a dumpster fire for team chemistry.

Holiday responded by being what can be charitably described as “not completely worthless.” He shot 40.1 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from long range.

Trouble is, that’s only good for an eFG% of .483, and among the 338 players who played at least Holiday’s 646 minutes, Holiday ranked tied for 270th.

Then again, he was tied with DeMar DeRozan and the guy immediately above him in the rankings at 269th was Victor Oladipo.

Oladipo might just be a better comparison than people realize; as a rookie, the Pacers’ superstar shot 41.9 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from 3.

The problem is that Oladipo is a lockdown defender. Holiday … is not.

Oladipo posted an 0.7 VORP as a rookie on the strength of his defense. Holiday posted a minus-0.1 VORP because he couldn’t guard my dead grandmother.

The Pacers were third in the NBA in defensive rating in 2018-19. A guy who is a below-average shooter and can’t guard anyone isn’t going to stick on Indiana’s roster as he enters his team-option years on his rookie contract.

This is the year that Holiday either steps up and shows he belongs or gets relegated to the scrap heap like so many mid-first-rounders who just never panned out.

But with Malcolm Brogdon a fragile glass cannon ahead of him on the depth chart, Holiday will almost assuredly end up forced into the spotlight to sink or swim.

The Pacers are the biggest wild card in the NBA this year and Holiday is another joker in a deck seemingly full of them.