The Pacers look to speed things up and race back into the playoffs with the return of their injured star and the departure of their former defensive anchor.
Last Season’s Record: 38-44
Key Additions:
Monta Ellis
Jordan Hill
Myles Turner
Chase Budinger
Key Departures:
David West
Chris Copeland
Luis Scola
Roy Hibbert
2015-16 Season Outlook
Things fall apart. Do you remember when Roy Hibbert was the darling of advanced defensive metrics in the NBA? How about when Paul George seemed primed to elevate his level of play from team star to NBA superstar? Or perhaps crazy Lance Stephenson blowing away expectations and blowing in LeBron James’ ear?
It really does seem like it was a long, long time ago that Indiana pushed the James-led Heat to the very brink in the NBA playoffs. After that series ended, the Heat advanced and almost everyone in the write and blogger world that surrounds professional basketball expected the Pacers to take the next step and dethrone James and Co. the following season. But, that never happened.
Teammates let off-the-court issues cause disruption. Hibbert threw up some major red flags in going from functional, high-upside future All-NBA center to a large, non-operational John Deere combined with zero ability to ever run a good pick-and-roll, or rebound, or score at all.
And then there was the Team USA basketball camp in Las Vegas. And the terrible misfortune of the freak accident that was Paul George snapping his leg, effectively ending his 2014-15 season before it even began.
Despite all of the turmoil that effectively derailed the momentum the Pacers had worked so hard to build under head coach Frank Vogel, Indiana still has the benefit of playing in the Eastern Conference. So, it all came down to a single game at the end of the regular season and the Pacer loss in that game kept them out of the playoffs.
There were problems, naturally. Some of the problems had to do with the quickly deteriorating relationship with Roy Hibbert. There seemed to be no reconciliation in the cards for team and player, so the Pacers opted to send Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers. This could have been a desperation move or simply an attempt to move an unhappy player in a situation where Indiana was trying to minimize the loss they were about to take by losing Hibbert. Another, possibly more likely scenario is that the Pacers saw that Hibbert didn’t want to be there anymore and was a complete void of the beautiful skills he once demonstrated. It will be great to follow Hibbert on his LA journey and hopefully he can get back to the joy of playing the game that seemed to be missing at the end of his time in Indiana.
Hibbert wasn’t the only subtraction during the offseason; David West elected to pass on the chance to cash some big checks in lieu of chasing rings. West opted to not get paid by the Pacers, instead going to San Antonio to join the Pop Empire along with LaMarcus Aldrige. That will also be fun to watch, though a much different situation than what will unfold for Hibbert and the Lakers this season.
Lest the Pacers be forgotten in this tale of exoduses, the future looks intriguing in Indiana. The proclamation seems to be a change of pace, going smaller. If this was the plan all along, they were all the better for moving Hibbert and losing West.
The biggest challenge for Vogel will be getting his star, George, to buy into playing at the four this season. So far, George’s reaction to the proposed change has not been positive. If George doesn’t come around on this, Vogel is going to be fighting double the battle of trying to make coaching adjustments and dealing with a star player who is publicly resistant to the system he is trying to implement.
George won’t be the first star small forward that a coach has tried to turn into a power guy, but there is real skepticism in George’s own words: “I don’t know if I’m cut out for the four spot… It’s still something I’ve got to adjust to or maybe not. Maybe it’s something we can go away from.”
Beyond the questions of George’s ability and desire to do battle with bigs night in and night out, the Pacers do seemed to have acquired a group of role players meant to help George through the transition. The acquisitions of guard Monta Ellis and forward Chase Budinger could be complimentary to George in spreading the floor. Budinger brings the ability to shoot from distance with a lesser degree of success than players like J.J. Reddick and Kyle Korver, but still requires attention of his defender and cannot be left open for potential double teams. Ellis is a bit more challenging, depending on what he plans to do with the ball. Ellis had earned a reputation as a shoot-first ball-manipulating guard, but Monta can be a difference maker. In the Mavs sole playoff win last season, Ellis was +26 with 31 points on 13-for-21 shooting. The caveat for Ellis? He only managed three assists, which was worse three of his other games in that series. And another caveat, if you can have more than one, is that this is a one-game sample, taken out of the 85 total games that Ellis played between the regular season and playoffs last year. There weren’t many other +26-type games to be found.
If Vogel really plans to pick up the pace and play small, running out new acquisitions Ellis and Budinger with George Hill and Paul George could possibly work. Or it could go horribly wrong. In that case, rookies Myles Turner and Rakeem Christmas could be gifted with the present of considerable playing time in their first season.
There is also the acquisition of Jordan Hill. Lavoy Allen and Ian Mahinmi provide some depth, but the job at center will be Hill’s to lose. Jordan Hill emerged as an offensive option for the Lakers in 2014-15 with a line of 12.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. He had the lowest FG% of his career, 45.9-percent, but he also averaged 11.1 shots per game, which is 3.9 shots per game higher than any other season in his career.
The Pacers took a hit this offseason, but the moves seem to align with the new direction that the front office and coaching staff see the team moving, going small. If the plan works, the Pacers should return to the playoffs and could slot in as the third best team in the Central Division, vying for that spot with the upstart Milwaukee Bucks. Should things break bad, Indiana will likely become a familiar face at The Lottery Mafia. Have faith in a weak Eastern Conference. Have faith in Paul George. This team only missed out on the playoffs last season due to criteria and managed to win 38 games without its star player. They are good for at least three or four more wins this season.
Projected Record: 41-41
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