What Indiana Pacers Fans Should Root for This Year

Just like the Pacers, 8p9s is in training camp mode. Over the next few weeks, we will be welcoming some new contributors. Some will make the team and some will just get a nice workout. Today’s entry is from Noah Rollings, a college freshman from Indianapolis whose family has had season tickets since the team was playing at the fairgrounds.

If you would like to try out for 8p9s, email 8pts9secs@gmail.com.

If it seemed like it was just a year ago that the Indiana Pacers were talking number one seeds and championships, it’s because it was just a year ago. Sadly for the NBA fandom, especially Pacers fans, a lot has changed since then.

Roy Hibbert shriveled up in the playoffs. Paul George had the freakiest of freak injuries. David West got a year older. Lance Stephenson followed up blowing in LeBron’s ear with blowing in the wings of a plane headed straight for Charlotte.

Expectations for the Pacers have changed in a big way, and as a Pacers fan, you might be confused as to how you should feel going into the 2014-15 season. Well, I’m here to help!

I’ve gathered a list of things worth rooting for, to lead Pacers fans through the muddy waters of the upcoming season. Before we get to that, you need to come to terms with the state of the Indiana Pacers.

The Realities

• Paul George was the Pacers’ best player last year. Lance Stephenson was the Indiana’s assist and rebound leader in the regular season. Neither will play for the Pacers this year. No Pacers lineup without Stephenson or George played more than 28 minutes last season, per NBA.com.

• David West has never been a number one guy on offensive. In New Orleans, while he was an efficient and effective scoring option, he played second banana to Chris Paul. To expect him to be able to pick up the slack this year is unfair at best, especially when he’s alluding to retirement.

• Roy Hibbert has regressed offensively, and even before this regression he was an average offensive player — at best. He will make $14.8 million this season, with a player option in the summer for his final year, worth $15.5 million.

• Chris Copeland might be the Pacers starting small forward. I repeat, CHRIS COPELAND MIGHT BE THE PACERS STARTING SMALL FORWARD.

• Solomon Hill is going to be relied on for heavy minutes after spending much of his rookie season on long car rides to Fort Wayne. (He’s garnered high public praise from Pacers GM Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel. Vogel even said he believes Hill could be an “elite defender.” But let’s be honest: The sole purpose of those comments is for them to be used as evidence when Bird tries to sweeten a potential trade by saying “and I’ll throw in Solomon Hill. He’s gonna be good, we really like him. See what our coach, the most irrationally optimistic man in the world, said about him!”)

• Frank Vogel’s defensive scheme is based on having long wings who are able to guard and funnel their man down the lane for Hibbert to clean up. Having Chris Copeland in your wing rotation makes this incredibly hard to execute.

• Paul George broke his leg and is presumed to be out for the season. Ian Mahinmi is nursing a shoulder injury suffered during the FIBA World Cup. Unforeseeable small injuries will pop up throughout the season.

• After the 2014 All-Star break, the Pacers had the second-worst offense in the NBA, trailed only by the Philadelphia 76ers.

I can hear your weeps and moans, so I’ll cut things off there. You’re beginning to come to terms with the fact the defending Central Division champs aren’t going to be a very good professional basketball team this year.

It isn’t all doom and gloom from here on out though.

Here’s your guide on what to root for if you’re a Pacers fan dealing with the harsh realities of the 2014-15 NBA season.

1. The Pacers Lose a Lot of Games

The best way to get affordable talent is through the draft. Affordable talent is very important for a small market team like Indiana, who refuses to go into the tax.
The number one overall pick is the most valuable asset in all of basketball. Two number one picks just helped Cleveland get their hands on Kevin Love, a top-10 talent, who was second in the league in win shares last year.

While no one will be worse than the dumpster fire that is the Sixers, the Pacers would be lucky to be an average basketball team this year. As noted, the Pacers had the second worst post-All-Star break offense in 2014 — and that was with Stephenson and George. Quality scoring opportunities will be scarce with this team, and they’re going to lose a lot of games because of this. They will win a lot of lottery ping-pong balls though.

Luckily for the Pacers, this could be the right year to be a bad basketball team. As reported by Grantland’s Zach Lowe, the NBA Board of Governors will vote on rule changes to the NBA’s lottery process. In the new system, the four worst teams in the regular season would all have equal odds at the number one overall pick, approximately 12%, consequently increasing the odds of all other lottery teams across the board.

Also, instead of drawing just the top three picks in the draft, how the system is currently constructed, the top six picks would be drawn, giving the winningest lottery teams greater odds of moving up. This system will still reward being bad, but you won’t have to be Sixers-bad, making this system a perfect sweet spot for this Pacers team.

This is by no means a foolproof plan (see: the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats), but it gives the Pacers their best chance to secure a second franchise cornerstone to pair with Paul George. The average number one overall pick has career averages of 16.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.7 APG, per 82games.com.

If you’re a Pacers fan, you should root for the Basketball Gods to bring balance to the force, repaying this team for Paul George’s injury with a number overall pick. he Pacers will have a shot to draft their second star, or package it to acquire a player via trade.

2. An Exciting Trade Deadline

While the number one overall pick is the most valuable asset in basketball, any draft pick is important to smart teams, whether it’s used to pick a player or as trade sweetener.

Unfortunately for Pacer fans, Larry Joe went all in last year. Indiana sent their 2014 first-round pick to Phoenix for Luis Scola along with the young and blossoming Miles Plumlee. Indiana dished out their 2015 second-round pick, as well, in the atrocity that was the Evan Turner trade. (I can hear you weeping again.)

The Pacers are without much upwards mobility, as far as talent is concerned, sans Paul George. Again, the best place for small market teams to get affordable, young talent with potential is through the draft. George will be entering his prime soon, and the Pacers need talent around him to let him maximize this window of his career.

Like the Pacers last year, there will be teams out there who feel they’re “a player away” and the Pacers have players fitting the mold teams are willing to trade for.
It is a very real possibility a team like Charlotte, which lacks depth and experience at the power forward position, will feel it could jump into the top tier of the East by making a mid-season move. David West perfectly fits the wily veteran role the Hornets need, giving them a tough player at the four who is able to enhance their scoring ability and defensive identity.

If the Hornets, or a comparable team, were to offer the Pacers a deal for West, it is a necessity it returns at least one future pick. A bloated short-term contract might be a bitter pill worth swallowing, depending on the conditions of the pick.

If you’re a Pacers fan, you should root for deals giving your team expiring contracts of overpaid players accompanying future draft picks, that will eventually turn into players your favorite team will overpay.

3. The Rest of the League To Be Good

So what if the Pacers will be miserable to watch? Cleveland has LeBron James, Kevin Love, and Kyrie Irving! That’ll be fun!

The Spurs are bringing back one of the most dominant championship teams in league history! Tim Duncan could win back-to-back championships for the first time, retire, and walk off into the sunset never to be seen again.

Phoenix has the Morris Twins and the Dragic Brothers! The Suns need to make a trade for Psycho T and bring in Baby Ben from Europe. Does Eric Bledsoe have a brother? Oh, a sister? Who cares! Bring her too! FAMILY POWERS!

Steph Curry just had two straight healthy years and is entering his prime. Derrick Rose’s long awaited return from injury is upon us. Washington’s youthful back court of John Wall and Bradley Beal continues to grow and will be competing for a top four spot in the East. Kobe Bryant is going to be a source for glorious quotes as he deals with being on a bad team.

If you’re a Pacers fan, you should root for great story lines from around the NBA and enjoy the great play of some of the other teams.

4. Missing the playoffs

Making the playoffs is probably the worst scenario for this team. Being the Atlanta Hawks of the late-2000s/early-2010s is a rough situation for a franchise: unable to get high draft picks to improve but too bad to make any serious noise in the playoffs. The Pacers would be fighting for an eight seed if everything falls right. Facing the Cavaliers or Bulls in the first round all but guarantees a swift exit for Indiana.

Being eliminated from the lottery would be devastating for this team. The only upside to losing Paul George for a season is being bad enough to draft a strong enough player to grow alongside him. If the Pacers make the playoffs, are eliminated in four games, and end up with the 15th pick in the draft, the season will be a far more dramatic long term failure than losing 60 games.
If you’re a Pacers fan, you should root for Indiana basketball to come to a close in April.

5. Growth and Development

Over the summer, the Pacers took a calculated risk by signing Croatian forward Damjan Rudez to a 2-year, $2.25 million contract. Rudez is known for his 3-point shooting, but in the NBA, he’s an unproven commodity.

Had fate fallen in a different direction and the Pacers continued to compete in the top of the Eastern Conference, it’s likely Rudez would have seen very limited playing time. As we saw last year with Chris Copeland, Vogel is hesitant to put defensive liabilities in at the wing positions, regardless of their offensive benefits.

The lack of depth on the wing will force Vogel into playing Rudez regularly, giving him the opportunity to prove himself and grow as an NBA player. There will undoubtedly be an adjustment period, but a situation like the Pacers’ current one is perfect for Rudez. If he’s cut out to play in this league, it will definitely be shown this year.

The same is true for Indy’s 2013 first-round draft pick, Solomon Hill. While it’s unrealistic to think Hill will an elite defender, as Vogel has suggested, it is very possible Hill could be good defender who can stretch the floor via corner threes. This is an essential role in today’s league.

While it’s unlikely Indiana’s franchise player will hit the hardwood at all this season, Paul George has a lot of growing to do. PG will be presented with ample opportunity to watch film and study the game. Vogel has mentioned George will be able to act as an extra coach on the bench and in practices, and it’s on George to embrace this opportunity and become a vocal team leader. From the sidelines, Number 13 will see, more clearly than ever, the franchise sits on his shoulders.

If you’re a Pacers fan, you should root for the future.

Things may seem rough now, but it’s better than the seemingly endless mediocrity the franchise faced after Reggie Miller’s retirement. The light at the end of the tunnel really is there. It’s a young, shining superstar preparing to hit his stride.