Who Will Start for the Indiana Pacers?

With Lance Stephenson gone and Paul George on crutches, the Indiana Pacers starters will look different this year. The Five is gone and we now enter unfamiliar territory.

David West and Roy Hibbert are locks for the big-men spots. The questions all reside on the perimeter. Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com took a stab at predicting the Pacers starters, coming up with three credible options.

Let’s break down those perimeter options, plus one other.

George Hill, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles

Conventional wisdom suggests that this will be the go-to perimeter option. Hill will start and I believe Miles is also a lock. Looking at the other options, Rodney Stuckey has the most upside and given the difficulty this offense is going to have scoring, this threesome would give them one good penetrator/slasher (in Stuckey) plus two good three-point shooters to space the floor. And you also have Hill there to run the show and maintain some continuity with past seasons.

George Hill, C.J. Miles, Solomon Hill

This lineup, however, arguably provides better continuity. While Miles can log some small forward minutes, he is more suited to play the 2, particularly on the defensive end. Then you have the bigger Solomon Hill to defend the LeBrons, Durants, and Melos of the league. Can he do that? Of course not. Nobody can.

The downgrade from Paul George to anyone is going to be vast, though, so the real question is whether this potentially good defensive unit can be more of a difference maker than Stuckey or another more offensive-minded player could be on the other end. If Solomon can quickly step in and be a solid defender, then this bigger starting lineup would be the best way coach Frank Vogel could replicate the defense-first philosophy that has become Indiana’s identity.

George Hill, C.J. Miles, Chris Copeland

Hotchkiss included this option in his list, calling it the “Shooters Galore” option. It would be a neat look. I can’t see it happening, however.

Vogel has always considered Copeland a stretch four. At this point in his coaching career, he probably doesn’t have the luxury of being so rigid, and I do expect Copeland to actually get on the floor this season. It was bad enough watching the Pacers almost lose to the Hawks due to Vogel’s rotational stubbornness. If would be unfathomable for him to not find a way to get Cope out there this year.

But in the starting lineup? Putting Cope at small forward? Given his defensive struggles? I just don’t see it whatsoever.

C.J. Watson, George Hill, C.J. Miles

For Vogel, carting out two C.J.s and George Hill could be the comfort food option, and I think it has the potential to be the best.

This starting lineup would only feature one new Pacer (Miles) and give Vogel four guys he is familiar with. It would also turn Hill into a scoring threat and free him from caretaker duties, instead handing the main point guard duties to Watson, who is arguably the best traditional 1 on the team.

Hill is looking to prove doubters wrong and has never considered himself a point guard. Putting him off the ball — and going with what would equate to more of a “No Point Guard, Two Guard” lineup — may help him mentally. He would naturally be in more of an attack mode, and free to run more side pick-and-rolls with West. And having the two C.J.s spacing the floor should open things up for Hill as well as Hibbert on the block.

This would put Stuckey into the backup point guard role. But Vogel could also stagger the rotation some — as he did last year with Stephenon — by taking out Watson early and bringing in Stuckey. Hill then becomes the primary ball handler while Stuckey adopts the sixth-man scorer role, allowing him to come in and mimic the pseudo-point-guard-playing-the-2 style that Hill will establish.

This could set up a general mentality on the team where Hill, Watson, Stuckey and Miles are all just “basketball players” and position questions become less important. That could have some benefits — and some obvious drawbacks.

More than anything, however, it might help establish a teamwide idea that things like starter status and positions don’t matter. What matters is everyone contributing while they’re on the floor.

The Pacers starters — and reserves — are all going to have to produce almost constantly for this team to have any chance at sniffing the second round of the playoffs. The talent drop off from George and Stephenson to anyone left on the roster is immense, so they will need to replace the production with a lot from everybody rather than trying to find some magic five-man unit.