Pacers Overlooked
Everyone is talking about the large market teams in the NBA after free agency like the LA Lakers, Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics. There’s hype around Zion Williamson with the Pelicans and to some degree the Utah Jazz after trading for some key players and depth pieces. With that said, no one is really talking about the smaller market teams in this coming season such as the Indiana Pacers.
The System — Team Defense
The Pacers have a system they play and it works. Like the Spurs, they stick to this system that is defensively focused and do what their good at and don’t divert from the plan. This makes them real “pests” in the league that cause problems for anyone and the Boston Celtics saw that in the playoffs this year even without Oladipo. Yes, the Pacers were swept but every game was close because of this defensively focused system. Let’s also remember that this Pacers team took a LeBron led Cavs team to 7 games the year before in the first round with Oladipo stepping up. Scary stuff to go up against. Not an easy out considering the Pacers could be a 3–5 seed in the East this coming year.
Same Core — Oladipo Healthy
The Pacers lost some players in Bogdanovic, Collison, Joseph, and most likely Evans. That’s a big hit but the core of team in Oladipo, Sabonis and Turner are still there. That young core is still developing and understanding the game and system in Indiana. The new guys added T.J Warren from the Suns in a trade, Jeremy Lamb and the big pickup in Brogdon will contribute massively to this team. They are defensively focused as well. T.J will fill the offensive hole of Bogdanovic. He shoots 3’s and is only getting better. It’ll be interesting to see if he will be more of a one-two punch with Oladipo or if he will fall behind Brogdon as well. I doubt it but those options are good for the Pacers. Lamb is a solid defender, an okay 3 point shooter and can score a bit when someone’s having an off night. This depth is also great. Brogdon again gives you that offensive power but he’s very sound defensively as well. He can handle the ball and give Oladipo options and allow him to rest or move off the ball. All of these are sound pickups for Indiana.
Youth — Longevity
A large point here with this team now is that most of them are young. They are driven and motivated to do something special. They have either hit their prime or will in the next couple of years. This is such a bright point for the Pacers, it’s hard to overlook it. They could be a very active and high intensity team for years to come if they keep this core together and they will for at least a few years. Locking up Sabonis will be a high priority this year to keep this core together as most of these players have 2–4 more years on their contracts.
This team looks real good and as I said, they will be a pest and cause problems for many teams and that’s what they want. It’ll be interesting to see where their offence comes from this year and if they will be able to stay healthy going into the playoffs.
