An Early Look at the Indiana Pacers Rotation
By William Furr
This is a best guess basic view at which Indiana Pacers we’ll see where in the quickly approaching 2016-2017 season.
With rosters starting to settle down, fans can finally get a look at what this year’s Indiana Pacers team and rotation will look like.
The addition of veteran guard Aaron Brooks brings the Pacers roster to 16 people, and the assumption is that Shayne Whittington will get cut from the roster before his contract guarantees to start later this year.
Point Guard
Starter: Jeff Teague
Backups: Aaron Brooks, Monta Ellis, Joe Young
This will be a crowded rotation. Jeff Teague is a former All-Star returning to health, Aaron Brooks was just signed presumably to soak up some minutes as a professional scorer and capable ball handler.
This will be the first time the Pacers have had a ‘pure’ point guard running the show in quite some time, and will hopefully create a more efficient offense.
Monta Ellis played significant minutes as the lead guard last year, and Joe Young looked good again in this year’s Summer League. However at the moment it’s likely Young will be the odd man out yet again this year.
There is still the question of how well Teague and Ellis can share the court, but we won’t have an answer for that until we see them playing together.
Shooting Guard
Starter: Monta Ellis
Backups: Rodney Stuckey, C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Aaron Brooks
Monta Ellis and Rodney Stuckey are both creators who can get buckets out of thin air, but neither is helping the Pacers spacing. They can make mid-range shots, but are reliable outside scorers.
C.J. Miles could get some minutes at the 2 in bigger units, and GRIII has been flashing a capable shot from behind the arc. If he can consistently shoot at least league average from deep, he becomes a much more intriguing rotation prospect.
We may even see some uber-small lineups with Jeff Teague manning the point while Aaron Brooks comes on and the two oversee a nominally two-point-guard offense where one guy becomes more of a spot-up shooter. It probably won’t happen much, but there isn’t much other way to add shooting to the floor, especially when Miles misses games. (Same thing could happen with Joe Young to add quickness if he breaks out this year, although there isn’t much evidence that he can make shots yet.)
Small Forward
Starter: Paul George
Backups: C.J. Miles, Glenn Robinson III, Jeremy Evans, Georges Niang
There’s not much depth here. With Solomon Hill gone, Paul George’s scraps should fall to C.J. Miles, unless the Pacers think there’s a player in Jeremy Evans that hasn’t been discovered yet.
I am expecting to see some ultra small Teague-Ellis-Stuckey lineups at some point this year, in an attempt to maximize the glut of players the Pacers employ at the 2.
The Pacers could also go for some bigger lineups as well, but if last season is any indication, don’t expect Paul George to play power forward very often.
Perhaps we’ll see Miles play power forward in smaller lineups like we did last year, but that proved to have a limited use as C.J. got worn down guarding larger opponents.
Power Forward
Starter: Thaddeus Young
Backups: Lavoy Allen, Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Jeremy Evans, Rakeem Christmas, Georges Niang, C.J. Miles, Paul George, Who Knows
There’s a lot of duplicity with the Pacers power forward and center spots, as all of the Pacers true bigs have played both positions at some point or another.
Young should add a dimension the Pacers have not seen before as a legitimate small ball power forward, but the Pacers will likely go with a more traditional 4 when he’s not on the floor to pair with Al Jefferson.
The Pacers also may play some mammoth Jefferson-Turner lineups as well. Lavoy Allen will likely see some spot minutes as the Pacers fourth big.
Georges Niang may fit in here somewhere as well, or at the 3 if he can defend … anybody, but it is yet to be seen if he’ll be wearing a Pacers or a Fort Wayne Mad Ants jersey more often this season.
Center
Starter: Myles Turner
Backups: Al Jefferson, Lavoy Allen, Rakeem Christmas
The Pacers seem comfortable with Myles Turner growing into the 5 spot, and secured Al Jefferson as a backup. Big Al won’t help much on D or when running the floor, but the man can score against anyone alive, and should buoy the 2nd unit that struggled so much to score the ball.
If Turner can stay out of foul trouble, big minutes are his. It’s doubtful there will be anyone in the middle for the Pacers other than Turner or Jefferson for any long stretch of time, barring injury.
Next: Looking Ahead at the Indiana Pacers Defense
Of course, all of this could change depending on how coach Nate McMillan plans to approach his game planning. The talk has been for the Pacers to go smaller and faster, but there are plenty of big bodies at the team’s disposal as well.