Which Former Indiana Pacers From Last Season Do They Miss the Most?

The Indiana Pacers lost six different players from last year’s roster over the summer via trade or free agency.

Change was the only sure thing this summer for the Indiana Pacers has Larry Bird shook up the roster with several trades and free agency moves.

George Hill, Jordan Hill, Solomon Hill, Ian Mahinmi, Ty Lawson and Shayne Whittington all found new homes over the summer. Three of those six players are certainly missed by the Indiana Pacers.

Here’s who and why.

George Hill

Indiana is missing George Hill more than any of the other six players. They’re happy with Jeff Teague, but George’s defensive versatility is something that made the Pacers more dynamic.

George Hill an elite defensive point guard. Monta Ellis was able to slide to the point and guard the opposition’s point guard, but Hill guarded shooting guards regularly. For instance, James Harden was often Hill’s assignment and he always did a solid job containing the Rockets’ superstar.

Now, Monta Ellis doesn’t have that ability and has to guard much bigger players. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Hornets exposed that problem last Monday.

That wasn’t completely why the Pacers brought Monta off the bench a few nights ago, but it definitely played a role.

George is now with the Utah Jazz and has been playing the best basketball of his career, averaging 20.4 points and 5 assists a game. They also miss George Hill’s consistent three-point shooting as he continues to shoot over 40% from beyond the arc.

He is currently injured with a sprained thumb, but is still contributing from the sidelines, as Jody Genessy reported via Twitter.

Ian Mahinmi

There is a reason why Larry Bird tried to re-sign Ian Mahinmi this offseason and that was his defense. Unfortunately, Ian was out of the Pacers’ price range.

While the Pacer have 20-year-old Myles Turner replacing Mahinmi as the starting center, they miss Ian’s positioning on defense, as well as being a compliment to Turner when the then-rookie played power forward at times.

Turner is still very young and an amazing rim protector, but doesn’t fully know where he needs to be on the floor defensively at times. The Pacers also miss Mahinmi’s post defense. Myles Turner needs to put on a lot of strength for him to guard opposing bigs in the post like Mahinmi did.

Solomon Hill

There’s no question, the Indiana Pacers miss Solomon Hill and his defense. Solomon was easily one of the Pacers’ best on-ball defenders over the last two years.

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He was a guy who could switch on to Paul George’s man and do a heck of a job on him. Solo keeps guys in front of him and communicates on defense.

The Pacers also miss Solo’s versatility. On offense and defense, playing Solomon Hill at the four was a success for the Pacers. He was able to guard opposing stretch fours very well and also made it hard for the opposing bigs to guard him, especially when he caught fire from three late in the season and into the playoffs.

Considering Indiana had the chance to keep him at a low price had they exercised the team option on him, his absence is one of the more frustrating as well as preventable.

All three of these guys are missed. They showed that putting together a roster is all about fit. They were perfect pieces to what the Indiana Pacers were doing.

Next: The Indiana Pacers Offense Isn’t Enough to Overcome Their Defense’s Shortcomings

Now, we can only hope that the current roster fits well and gels.