The Indiana Pacers had a lot of options before the Free Agency, but kept their successful core from last season together for the most part. Tyreke Evans also signed a small coup, which does not harm the flexibility of the franchise for the coming summer. Can the Pacers in the East surprise again?
After a surprisingly good season last season with fifth place in the east and a narrow play-off defeat against the Cavs, the Pacers held the team together to a large extent. The summer’s biggest commitment was Tyreke Evans (formerly Grizzlies), who signed for a year and $12.4 million.
Center also hired Kyle O’Quinn (Knicks) for a season, receiving a 4.5 million Mini-Midlevel Exception from the Pacers. Doug McDermott was also a shooter from the Dallas Mavericks, collecting 22 million dollars over the next three years.
In the draft, the Pacers pulled a point guard with Aaron Holiday at position 23, and Indiana also picked 50 Alize Johnson with Pick. The Big signed for three years to the minimum, with only the first season guaranteed. Darren Collison and Bojan Bogdanovic’s contracts were only minimally guaranteed before the Free Agency, but the team let the deadlines pass and the players now collect their full salary. Thaddeus Young also withdrew his player option for 13.7 million.
For Lance Stephenson, however, the Pacers had a team option of $4.4 million, which was not drawn. Born Ready joined the Los Angeles Lakers a little later. The option for backup guard Joe Young (1.6 million) was not exercised either, Al Jefferson was dismissed, as was forward Alex Poythress. Glenn Robinson III (to the Pistons) and Trevor Booker, who is still looking for a new team, are also gone.
Finally, coach Nate McMillan was rewarded for his good work. The ex-Sonics coach signed an extension for several years in Indy a few days ago.
Indiana was more flexible from the playoff teams than almost anyone before this off-season. If Bogdanovic and Collison had been fired, the franchise could have freed up to $50 million in cap space for the summer. However, General Manager Kevin Pritchard chose another way, probably because none of the stars was really available for the Small Market team.
But this is nothing new in the Hoosier State, which is why the orientation of the summer was understandable. We want to build on the good season, which came as a great surprise to many. With Victor Oladipo and Myles Turner, the organisation has two players who form the foundation. Turner can sign a rookie extension until the start of the season, otherwise he will become a restricted free agent next summer.
Despite some shifts in the roster, the core has remained together and has been meaningfully supplemented, with Evans even a small coup succeeded. With the Grizzlies, the former Rookie of the Year flourished again and could now relieve Oladipo in particular with the playmaking. O’Quinn and McDermott are solid role-players, even though Dougie McBuckets may have paid a little too much.
With the exception of this agreement, however, everything is geared towards the summer of 2019. After that, only Oladipo, McDermott and the two rookies are under contract, which is why the Pacers could have more cap space than any other team (66 million). The difference to other teams with similarly good conditions is that Indiana are absolutely competitive also in this season. With the departure of LeBron James, the Pacers could also sense their chance and at least have outsider chances at a conference final.
The Pacers benefited in the past season from Oladipo’s performance explosion and an otherwise homogenous squad. However, the weaknesses were only partially addressed during this offseason. Evans is in principle the Stephenson replacement, but first has to prove that the season in Memphis was not a flash in the pan.
There’s still a hole on the wing. Bogdanovic may have fought bravely in the play-offs against LeBron, but the Croatian will certainly no longer be an above-average defender. Even worse is the reputation of his backup McDermott.
However, it will be necessary that one of them is almost always on the field, because otherwise coach McMillan has too little shooting. The Pacers were among the top 10 in the outside odds, but only in 25th place in a converted triple, another problem was working on their own board, where neither Turner nor Domantas Sabonis have their strengths. Whether Backup O’Quinn will suffice for this remains to be seen.
The fact that the Pacers remained relevant last season had a lot to do with Victor Oladipo’s name. The Guard, who failed in Oklahoma City, not only supplied the Pacers with points, but was also the link between the fans and the team. Oladipo, who played for Indiana in college, never tired of stressing that this is his home.
The basketball-mad Indiana has a real hometown hero in her ranks and the audience in the playoffs was euphoric as well, leading LeBron to the brink of his first play-off defeat in the opening round.
Oladipo, who fought an enthralling duel with the King, was of course the main credit for this. If he can confirm his form, the Pacers could once again be the stumbling block for potential contenters in the East.
The Pacers had many options before the summer, but the decision was made for continuity. The strong pre-season is to be built upon and the weakness of possible contenters is to be lurked for. On paper, this team could actually be better, especially now that more potential playmakers are available.
Equally important is that the Pacers have not lost the flexibility for the coming summer. On the contrary: hardly any team is going to the Free Agency 2019 with such good conditions as Indiana. Whether a star can actually be won is questionable, but with Oladipo you have a halfway dazzling figure.
Arguments for this can already be collected in the coming season when it comes to playing for the home advantage in the East. The competition with Boston, Toronto, Philadelphia, Milwaukee or Washington is big, but it cannot be excluded that this uncomfortable Pacers team will surprise again.
The grade: 2