NBA salary cap exercise: What player would every team amnesty?

Indiana Pacers – Jeremy Lamb

If the bubble has shown us anything so far for the Pacers is they are resilient. Malcolm Brogdon missed the game against Philadelphia, Domantas Sabonis has left the bubble and the team still scored 127 points and beat the Sixers. This has been in large part due to their “next man up” mentality and in this case, that man is TJ Warren.

Warren has been a true to delight for anyone who believed in him on a lost Phoenix Suns team who eventually gave him away for cash considerations (the Sarver special). Dropping 53 points in game one and then following it up with 34 points (and 32 points in the third game) shows that he is ready for the stage.

This makes the missing Jeremy Lamb expendable. As is he is coming off a torn ACL Lamb’s place with the franchise had already turned into a more tenuous place. Signed last summer on a reasonable contract to bolster the team while awaiting the return of Victor Oladipo, Lamb is a solid bench player. For a team facing a payroll next season of $124 million two more years of $10.5 million per year for Lamb may be a luxury the team cannot afford.

Oladipo is going into the final season of his contract and is theoretically looking for a max extension should he want to stay with the team. While they are figuring out those details every dollar will be of the utmost importance. As Warren continues to assert himself and a variety of young players continue to develop Lamb may just end up being the odd man out.