Indiana Pacers Preview
Larry Bird: Out. Paul George: On his way out. Lance Stephenson: Possible point guard of the future? It’s the Indiana Pacers, baby!
Last Year:
The Pacers finished last season 42–40 and were able to make the playoffs as the Eastern Conference’s 7th seed. They were swept by Cleveland in the first round, but they hung surprisingly tight with the Cavs. Importantly, Paul George didn’t make an All-NBA team this year, meaning that he’s not currently eligible for the super-max contract extension reserved for the league’s most elite young players. Myles Turner continued his development and once again flew under the radar as a high caliber prospect. In his rookie year Turner was overshadowed by Kristaps Porzingis and Karl-Anthony Towns, and this year the hyper-skilled big man du jour was Nikola Jokic. Turner’s per-36 numbers mostly held firm as he saw an increase in minutes, and his shooting percentages improved across the board. If the Pacers end up moving George, this will be Turner’s team. It would be interesting to see if those shooting percentages hold up if Turner becomes the defense’s number one focus.
Draft From The Past:
The Pacers had the 18th pick in the draft and selected TJ Leaf, a big man out of UCLA. Leaf has good height at 6'10", but his wingspan is not particularly good for his height. However, Leaf has good speed for his size and moves gracefully. He and Turner are both bigs who are capable of running the floor in transition. Leaf showed a capable three point shot at UCLA, but he needs to gain more confidence in it. If he does, he and Turner can definitely play together. Leaf realistically can develop into a more athletic Luis Scola, though he’ll never match Scola’s lofty skinny headband numbers.
Free Agency Tinder Superlike:
The Pacers could have a lot of cap space, depending on if they decide to ship out George and/or not re-sign guys like Jeff Teague and CJ Miles. If they do move George, Indy should be looking at a youth movement. They should target guys like KJ McDaniels, who have shown flashes in previous landing spots and could maybe catch lightning in a bottle in Indy. A lot of times a guy just needs to end up on the right team before he can find success, like Zach Randolph eventually did with Memphis or Isaiah Thomas did with the Celtics. The Pacers should look to be that team for someone.
One Defining Stat:
Last season Myles Turner averaged over 14 points, over 7 rebounds, and over 2 blocks while shooting over 50% from the field and over 80% from the line. He became just the 10th guy in NBA history to put up that line, joining Larry Nance (the OG), Anthony Davis, Kevin McHale, Tim Duncan, Rich Kelley, Bob Lanier, Bob McAdoo, Yao Ming, and Amar’e Stoudemire.
How Far Away Are They?
The Pacers are not close. Their team led by George, Roy Hibbert, and George Hill feels like centuries ago. It’s been the curse of The Bachelor ever since Frank Vogel, George Hill, and Paul George appeared on an episode of the show during Ben Higgins’ season last February. Since then Vogel and Hill are gone, George is on his way out, and Ben and Lauren have broken up :(. The team needs to keep Myles Turner away from Rachel’s guys at this point (though the Pacers should maybe sign DeMario to a 10-day). Turner is the team’s future, a legitimately great prospect that the team should build around. In the weak East that only appears to be getting weaker with Jimmy Butler moving West along with potentially George and LeBron in the coming years, a quick rebuild around Turner is not out of the question. Indy should try to be bad this year in the hopes of getting a high pick in 2018 to pair with Turner. For now though, Naptown can go to sleep for a while.
The Up & Under:
The Up: Best case scenario, the Pacers keep George and Myles Turner makes a leap, garnering an All-Star selection. The Pacers go 45–37, getting the sixth seed in the East. The team pushes Milwaukee to 7 games before bowing out. Meanwhile, Lonzo Ball and the Lakers are terrible. George decides he wants to stay in Indy, and the team tries to find a third guy to put with George and Turner.
The Under: Worst case scenario, the Pacers trade George to the Lakers for Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, and the rights to Kyle Kuzma. None of them end up playing well, Stephenson as point guard somehow does not go well, and the team bottoms out, finishing 32–50 in 11th place in the East. In a panic, since Indy hasn’t bottomed out in a long time (they haven’t had a pick better than 10 since the 80’s), the team tries to win now by recapturing their previous magic. They sign Roy Hibbert and David West to max deals and decide to bring George Hill back to the team — this time with chartreuse hair. These signings send Turner to the bench where he becomes disgruntled and demands a trade. On top of all of this, David West starts a brawl when the Pacers visit a local soup kitchen as part of NBA Cares. Georges Niang offers West some crab bisque when he knows that West is trying to cut seafood out of his diet. The brawl results in the entire team being suspended, as the NBA consolidates to 29 teams and the Pacers are phased out.
