Indiana Pacers Changing Eras in Large Fashion

Ever since the addition of David West in 2011, the Indiana Pacers have played under the smash mouth brand. The big, sturdy and sometimes unstoppable frontcourt of West and Roy Hibbert was a key part of Indiana’s two consecutive Eastern Conference Finals runs.

With the way the NBA’s game has changed to a faster style and spaced-out floor, the Pacers front office was forced to adapt and leave their once perfected smash mouth system behind them.

Larry Bird has seen the way the league is trending and knew his team needed to start going in that direction, hence the comments at the team’s end-of-year presser. He expected both West and Hibbert to be back next season, making it tougher to make the immediate adjustments to become that more fast-paced and spaced team.

When West surprisingly opted out of the remaining $12.6 million of his contract, Bird saw the opportunity to completely move on from this once admired frontcourt and traded Hibbert to the Los Angeles Lakers.

More from 8 Points, 9 Seconds

• 2 Studs, 1 dud from gut-wrenching Indiana Pacers loss to Charlotte Hornets
• Handing out early-season grades for Pacers’ Bruce Brown, Obi Toppin
• 3 positives, 2 negatives in Pacers In-Season Tournament win vs. Cavaliers
• 2 positives, 3 negatives from first week of Indiana Pacers basketball
• Should Isaiah Jackson’s days with Indiana Pacers be numbered?

West and Hibbert’s departure only leaves two remaining starters from the 56-win, ECF appearance team in Paul George and George Hill. Lance Stephenson, of course, played for the Charlotte Hornets last season and is now on the Los Angeles Clippers via trade.

Before West and Hibbert were officially off the team, Bird used Indiana’s 11th pick on Texas center Myles Turner. The reaction was mixed from fans on draft night, but with Turner’s potential and unique skill set, it was the right pick for the playstyle Bird and Vogel plan on playing with.

My first reaction to the pick was pretty sour. Turner never showed enough for me in his lone collegiate season to really believe he could be an integral part of a championship team. He could block shots, but this apparent offensive floor spacing he brought didn’t show in his numbers (27 percent from the college 3).

After seeing Texas fans talking about how head coach Rick Barnes often doesn’t utilize his talent right and that Turner was the second highest ranked high school prospect behind only Jahlil Okafor in 2014, I had some hope in the rookie.

And then, Summer League began and I like many fell in love.

You can’t make too much of numbers in Summer League, but Turner put his unique skill set on full display. On offense, he not only has a nice mid-range face up game, but can stretch the floor as a 3-point shooter as well. Turner has a nice stroke and can seemingly score from anywhere on the floor. He won’t give you too much scoring in the post aside from the occasional put-back dunk or layup, but his game looks very similar to LaMarcus Aldridge’s with his shooting ability and pick-and-roll play.

On defense, Turner has shown thus far that he can help replace the rim protection that Hibbert took with him to L.A.

At this point, it is anyone’s guess who will start at center. The starting job will probably be won in training camp. Turner looked good in Summer League but he is still just 19 and may benefit from a more limited role right off the bat. But if he shows he can make more of an impact than Ian Mahinmi (or Jordan Hill), he may just win the job.

Mahinmi can be productive, but he fouls quite often and all of a sudden can’t hit a free throw to save his life. If he can sure up those two things at all, his rim protection, rebounding and efficiency around the rim would be useful in the starting lineup.

The true headliner of the Pacers’ offseason was Monta Ellis, whom Indiana signed away from the Dallas Mavericks. As a part of Indiana’s new desired offense, pace is as important as anything. The Pacers were at their best in the Vogel era when Stephenson held main ball handling priorities and Hill played off the ball, more as a two-guard than anything. It’s fair to assume Indiana will play the same way with Ellis.

As the main ball handler last season, Hill had by far his best season. Hill, in the past, laid back more as a spot-up shooter and wasn’t the aggressive version of himself that made him so good last season. With Ellis likely to handle the ball more than any of Hill’s backcourt partners last season, he could definitely go back and not be the best version of himself. It is impossible to say that will happen for sure, though. He could have found his aggression and confidence last season and carry it over.

Adding Ellis could take away from what Hill could be, but what could Ellis be? This is a guy that has scored in the upper-teens, lower-20s for a long time. He could also be the perfect pick-and-roll partner for Turner. If Ellis does take away from Hill on offense, Hill has more of an arsenal to work with anyway. Ellis is a limited shooter. If he holds the ball, Hill is a slasher (as is Ellis) and can set up on the perimeter. Ellis is best suited to run the offense, while Hill–a natural shooting guard–can play off the ball with the best of them.

Ellis is also a rather weak defender, whereas Hill could use his saved energy from the other end to defend the crap out of the opposition’s best guard.

What happens with George, meaning at what position he starts at, could determine where the following players play as well: Jordan Hill, Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles and Chase Budinger.

Until we find out where George starts, the players just mentioned won’t have a position set in stone, either. Reports indicate George will start at power forward.

Our own Jared Wade concurred with Buckner’s reports, saying he was hearing George at the 4 was “supposedly a done deal.”

If PG starts at PF, Mahinmi might lose playing time. The starting lineup would look something like GHill-Ellis-Budinger/Miles-George-JHill, with a second unit of Stuckey-Solomon Hill-Budinger/Miles-Lavoy Allen-Turner. If PG starts at SF, Solomon Hill loses time. Lineups would be something like Hill-Ellis-George-Hill-Turner/Mahinmi and Stuckey-Miles-Budinger-Allen-Turner/Mahinmi. Trading Damjan Rudez for Budinger only makes sense if Buckner’s reports are correct. Rudez might not have had a huge role on next season’s team, but Bird wouldn’t trade a cheap shooter for someone more expensive that would have the same small role.

Even if George does stay at small forward, Budinger is locked in to be at least the backup 3 with the possibility of starting there should George move.

Indiana is really loaded at positions 1-3. What they have there gives them a lot of flexibility to do whatever they wish with the frontcourt. What the front office did with the guards and wings was more pace than space, as Ellis, Stuckey and Budinger have never consistently been able to knock down the 3-ball. They are scorers nonetheless, but not necessarily from range.

The space is just as important as the pace, and in today’s NBA, actually more important. The weird thing about the Pacers is that they will probably cook up starting lineups with more shooting in the frontcourt than the backcourt. Jordan Hill has a mid-range game. Turner seemingly does, too. In small samples, Allen has knocked down shots from 10-16 feet (although he is much more useful around the rim as an offensive rebounder). Mahinmi plays around the rim, but he probably will come off the bench. And then of course Paul George.

You can criticize the things Bird did this offseason. He tried convincing Hibbert to leave and when he didn’t, Bird traded him for next to nothing. Maybe he didn’t get the best personnel available. Personally, I think the front office constructed the roster the best way they could. With the new-found money from West and Hibbert’s departure, they signed and re-signed two good ball handling guards. They traded a possible bench warmer for a potential big part of the rotation. They signed and re-signed two big men to help transition the frontcourt into what it needs to be.

Signing Hill to a one-year, $4 million deal was by far the best value signing of the summer for Indiana. Him and Mahinmi are essentially on the same deal as Ian’s last season will also pay him $4 mil., and I see this season as a competition between the two for a future contract. If Hill can score from mid-range and rebound at a high level and at least defend competently, he should win that competition. While Mahinmi can’t shoot, having an efficient scorer around the rim who can block shots and rebound i.e. DeAndre Jordan is just as important in an uptempo offense as shooters. Mahinmi could beat out Hill if he can play high minutes without fouling much and regain his free throw shooting touch (shot over 60 percent every season before last), but Hill’s skill set still might be superior.

This might not be a championship team, but it is at least heading in the right direction. Whether they can make a deep playoff run or not, there is more talent than we have seen in at least a couple years and should be a fun watch this season.

Next: Pacers to Wear Hoosiers Hickory High Jerseys this Season