Indiana Pacers: Is Goga Bitadze ready for rotational minutes?

The Indiana Pacers selected Goga Bitadze with the 18th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. Is Goga Bitadze ready for rotational minutes for the Pacers?

Goga Bitadze is a 6’11” Georgian center who was selected 18th overall in the 2019 NBA Draft by the Indiana Pacers. Bitadze made his professional basketball debut when he was 16 years old for VITA Tbilisi of the VTB United League. The twenty-year-old rookie has accomplished a lot of basketball success early on before joining the NBA.

Even though Bitadze is a professional ball-player overseas, that does not make him ready to take on everything that is the NBA. As the Pacers transition Bitadze into a more polished NBA big, will he be ready for regular rotational minutes?

The Pacers will be without starting center and reigning blocks champion, Myles Turner, for at least the next few weeks due to a right ankle sprain. With this key loss to the Pacers, could Bitadze provide solid outings while the team awaits Turner’s return?

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In the Pacers win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, Bitadze logged ten points, nine rebounds, and four blocks in 25 minutes of play. He showed that he can protect the rim and adjust well with the ball movement. Bitadze has active hands on defense and is always looking for a way to get his hands on the ball.

To go along with his great defense, another element to Bitadze’s game is his shooting abilities. In today’s NBA, centers need to be versatile enough to shoot the ball. This may have come as a surprise to most, but Bitadze has a very nice looking shot.

In the second quarter Friday night against the Cavaliers, Bitadze received a pass from Justin Holiday at the top of the key and beautifully set himself up for an open shot which Goga sunk through the hoop.

Bitadze also hit a wide-open 3-pointer in the fourth quarter to give the Indiana Pacers an 80-71 lead. The Cavs gave Bitadze the open space to attempt clean looks at the basket. While testing his shooting abilities, the Cavaliers paid price for it.

In the first game without Turner, the Indiana Pacers started Domantas Sabonis at center and TJ Leaf was handed the starting four-spot on Friday night. Leaf logged three rebounds while going 0-of-4 shooting from the field. The Pacers aren’t prepared, nor can they afford for a starter to record a scoreless outing.

As Nate McMillan is still trying to find the best working rotation for his Pacers team, it seems obvious he needs to package some scorers with every unit if he plans on staying in close games. Who knows, a combo of Sabonis and Bitadze could be a different kind of force for the Pacers, especially with the absence of Turner for a few weeks.

What has become well-known of this Pacers team is the lack of production from the bench. Through the first five games of the season, the Pacers bench has scored a total of 107 points, which ranks just 29th in the league.

Sabonis, arguably the team’s best player next to Malcolm Brogdon, is averaging over 36 minutes per game over the first five games of the season. Not only will the Pacers benefit from Bitadze becoming more reliable and involved, but Sabonis will benefit greatly as well.

In the foreseeable future, we should see different rotations that benefit the use of Bitadze more. Even when Myles Turner does return, the presence of three bigs who are capable of scoring the ball could be lethal for Indiana. The emergence of Bitadze in the rotation also allows the Pacers to have a legitimate big and rim protector on the floor at all times.