The NBA Playoffs have arrived, and the Indiana Pacers will once again be watching all of the action from home. But don’t let that fool you. This was a very successful season for the franchise. This wasn’t the year to push all the chips in. It wasn’t a season to judge success only on wins and losses. It was a year of development, and a year to start building something special. Mission accomplished.
After a 23-18 start to the season, it looked like the Pacers actually had a chance to defy all odds and make the playoffs. Injuries derailed those hopes, but that first half still gave Pacer fans a little glimpse into the future. For the season, the Pacers were 26-22 when both Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner played. No, that’s not a championship contending record. But that’s a very solid record for a team in year one of a rebuild.
Rookie Bennedict Mathurin looks like a future star, and has the work ethic to get there. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and other young assets solidified themselves as nice pieces to the puzzle moving forward. Myles Turner had a career year and received an extension, finally silencing “most” of the trade rumors that followed him around. Tyrese Haliburton is an All-Star and the franchise leader. And now? The Pacers have lots of draft picks, some cap space, and a hungry President who is ready to make some moves.
“I think we’ll be pretty aggressive in the market place,” Pritchard said on Tuesday. “We made some big offers at the trade deadline. Quite frankly, I’m a little itchy. We have this unique player in Tyrese who has maybe put us way ahead of schedule.”
Pritchard continued raising some eyebrows with other comments: “I want to be really creative about how we go after players. We have three 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks. I don’t want to bring in five new young kids into this organization.” He also said the Pacers draft room “will be nuts” this year.
Translation: Buckle up for a potentially wild off-season for the Pacers. This team badly needs a power forward, and multiple guys that can defend on the perimeter. It’s nice to have several pieces in place and some assets to go with it.
The NBA Draft Lottery will take place on May 16th, and that will be the first key date for the offseason ahead. The Pacers tied for the 7th worst record in the NBA, and have a 29% chance of moving up into the top-four. If they don’t move up from the “random” lottery, they’ll likely have the No. 8 or No. 9 pick as their first selection. As Pritchard indicated, fans shouldn’t expect them to keep all five of their picks.
Maybe they end up with picks 9, 26, 29, 32, and 55 in the draft, and they trade two or three of these picks to move up. Maybe they’ll trade several picks for an established player. There will be a lot of scenarios in play, and that will make it a very exciting summer. Ideally, this team brings in one or two proven veterans via trade or free agency, and also does whatever is needed to bring in one more top young player from this draft. If that happens, they’ll be in a great place heading into next season.
I’m ready for playoff basketball to return to Indianapolis next season. For Kevin Pritchard and the front office: Time to make it happen. The stage is yours.
Tyler Smith covers the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Hoosiers for IndySportsLegends and is a frequent contributor to the Journal Review and is the sports director at New Hope Christian Church.
The NBA Playoffs have arrived, and the Indiana Pacers will once again be watching all of the action from home. But don’t let that fool you. This was a very successful season for the franchise. This wasn’t the year to push all the chips in. It wasn’t a season to judge success only on wins and losses. It was a year of development, and a year to start building something special. Mission accomplished.
After a 23-18 start to the season, it looked like the Pacers actually had a chance to defy all odds and make the playoffs. Injuries derailed those hopes, but that first half still gave Pacer fans a little glimpse into the future. For the season, the Pacers were 26-22 when both Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner played. No, that’s not a championship contending record. But that’s a very solid record for a team in year one of a rebuild.
Rookie Bennedict Mathurin looks like a future star, and has the work ethic to get there. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and other young assets solidified themselves as nice pieces to the puzzle moving forward. Myles Turner had a career year and received an extension, finally silencing “most” of the trade rumors that followed him around. Tyrese Haliburton is an All-Star and the franchise leader. And now? The Pacers have lots of draft picks, some cap space, and a hungry President who is ready to make some moves.
“I think we’ll be pretty aggressive in the market place,” Pritchard said on Tuesday. “We made some big offers at the trade deadline. Quite frankly, I’m a little itchy. We have this unique player in Tyrese who has maybe put us way ahead of schedule.”
Pritchard continued raising some eyebrows with other comments: “I want to be really creative about how we go after players. We have three 1st round picks and two 2nd round picks. I don’t want to bring in five new young kids into this organization.” He also said the Pacers draft room “will be nuts” this year.
Translation: Buckle up for a potentially wild off-season for the Pacers. This team badly needs a power forward, and multiple guys that can defend on the perimeter. It’s nice to have several pieces in place and some assets to go with it.
The NBA Draft Lottery will take place on May 16th, and that will be the first key date for the offseason ahead. The Pacers tied for the 7th worst record in the NBA, and have a 29% chance of moving up into the top-four. If they don’t move up from the “random” lottery, they’ll likely have the No. 8 or No. 9 pick as their first selection. As Pritchard indicated, fans shouldn’t expect them to keep all five of their picks.
Maybe they end up with picks 9, 26, 29, 32, and 55 in the draft, and they trade two or three of these picks to move up. Maybe they’ll trade several picks for an established player. There will be a lot of scenarios in play, and that will make it a very exciting summer. Ideally, this team brings in one or two proven veterans via trade or free agency, and also does whatever is needed to bring in one more top young player from this draft. If that happens, they’ll be in a great place heading into next season.
I’m ready for playoff basketball to return to Indianapolis next season. For Kevin Pritchard and the front office: Time to make it happen. The stage is yours.
Tyler Smith covers the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Hoosiers for IndySportsLegends and is a frequent contributor to the Journal Review and is the sports director at New Hope Christian Church.
