The Indiana Pacers made a couple major transactions over the days surrounding the draft. Here’s what happened, why it happened, how these pieces will fit together come next season, and what the team will have to do next.
The Indiana Pacers are brewing up something, alright.
You could say that last season was a disappointment for the Pacers, coming up a few plays short of advancing past the first-round against the eventual Eastern Conference finalist Raptors. That’s fine because Larry Bird shares your sentiment.
This offseason, Bird wanted to do something about it. He’s no stranger to a good (or bad) trade, but seeing the kind of action Pacers fans saw in the days surrounding the draft was a bit surprising — largely due to the magnitude of the deals and slightly less due to how positively received the transactions were to the general public.
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Bird made moves— starter moves. He said last season that he wanted to run a faster offense, but didn’t do what was necessary to fulfill the task. He lost the “traditional” frontcourt of Roy Hibbert and David West and replaced them with the revolutionary frontcourt of … last year’s bench big men and Jordan Hill. He drafted Myles Turner, of course, but for someone wanting semi-immediate change, a rookie project can’t be your only serious move.
He signed Monta Ellis last season, a solid player on a modest contract, but that move has seemed to create the greatest problem for the Pacers’ new offense (and possibly even more so defense) as it sits today. More on that later.
He tried his best, and the roster did change, but the results didn’t turn out the way he liked. He decided to go in a new direction, cutting ties with head coach Frank Vogel and promoting assistant coach Nate McMillan to see what he can bring to the table.
And as for this summer, if the last week has been any indication, he means business.
The Pacers parted ways with hometown hero George Hill and replaced him with new hometown hero Jeff Teague in a three-way deal involved with the Utah — a deal that rumors say couldn’t get done before the trade deadline this year.
Then, on draft day, rather than filling roster holes with their 20th overall pick, the Pacers traded it and a future second rounder to the Brooklyn Nets for Thaddeus Young — AKA the starting true power forward the Pacers longed for all of last season. They held on to their 50th pick, drafting Georges Niang, a stretch four before the night was over.
The puzzle pieces are being put together. Things are starting to make sense, and a picture is starting to form. Is that picture a championship contender? Right now, no, and there are a few more pieces left to put into place before that’s a conceivable thought. What exactly happened these past few days, though, and what pieces are left to take shape?
Next: Jeff Teague In, George Hill Out