Pacers Player Review: Was this Paul George’s last season with the Indiana Pacers?

Was this the last season we’ll see Paul George in an Indiana Pacers jersey? If so, he ended his time in Indiana with one of his best seasons.

Paul George is the biggest story for the Indiana Pacers just as he as been since he supplanted Danny Granger as the face of the franchise five years ago.

The difference between now and then is that he may no longer be with the Pacers going forward.

If this is Paul George’s last season in Indiana, it wasn’t the team’s best with him, but it ended up being his best season with the Pacers as far as points, field goal percentage and 3-point field goal percentage are concerned.

Indiana got swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, but the series was closer than one might imagine a sweep can be. That’s little solace to fans, but none the less a point worth looking at as the rest of the Eastern Conference got hammered in almost every game against Cleveland in the playoffs.

Pacers fans hope this isn’t a sad coda to an otherwise stellar career in Indiana, but there are plenty of signs that this might be where it ends.

Those same signs of a possible exit sparked strange ideas on what was wrong with Paul George as well in a season where he posted some of his best numbers. Some of that was growing bitterness toward PG, but there were changes to how he played.

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Despite the fact he had the most drives per a game since the NBA started tracking it in 2013, there was an idea he was somehow being passive for his own standards. While he doesn’t drive as much as many of the other top players in the NBA, he was doing that more often than any other season we have data for.

There is some truth to the idea he was taking more mid-range shots, or at least more of his points came from there, but this was the first season we can really say he was 100% healthy as last season seemed was a steady march to getting back from his leg injury.

Whether these changes are a continued adjustment to life after breaking his leg — he notably had the fewest dunks of his career in a full season — or a reaction to the team’s struggles to find rotations that allowed the offense to flow might take a bit more digging. There were differences to PG’s game this season, but it doesn’t appear related to effort.  Had he not missed six games, he likely would have eclipsed last season’s points total, which was his career high.

Paul George wasn’t lazy. The Pacers were a flawed team that stopped almost every player from performing as well as the could have, and that included the franchise’s star. He deserves credit and blame for the season’s outcome as he powered them through March, but Indiana’s inability to string together wins was a team-wide issue as much as it was his.

Significant Digits

23.7 points a game

Despite a lull around the All-Star break, Paul George finished up this season with high highest per a game average in his career. For all the talk on Twitter about Paul George being lazy, and noticeably some of those tweets are now deleted, his career highs in points and shooting percentages fly in the face of that idea.

5 free throw attempts a game

Five free throw attempts a game is his lowest average in three seasons, which drove a narrative that George wasn’t putting his all into this season. As mentioned before, he also scored a higher percentage of his points from mid-range. Is this is an adjustment to life post-injury or a product of the Pacers offense? Whether he’s in Indiana or not next season, we’ll know the answer as we see if this year as an anomaly or a real change in his game.

Paul George’s Season Summed up in One Archer GIF

If you followed the Indiana Pacers, you needed a sense of humor. Laugh so you don’t cry. And what’s funnier than Archer? Nothing. Nothing is the answer.

Sweatin’ Bullets

Sweatin’ Bullets is an 8p9s tradition started by Jonny Auping in which we offer standalone facts, observations, and commentary, often devoid of context or fairness.

• Paul George had a season-high 43 points in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 2nd, only the 5th time he’s scored 40+ points in a game in his career. While that’s only happened a few times, he’s scored 30-39 points 57 times in his career.
• Both of Paul George’s single-digit scoring games this year came in February, but Indiana won both games.
• PG was ejected three times this season, tying him for second place with Carmelo Anthony and Brandon Jennings, who earned one for getting into it with Joe Young.
• Paul George averaged 28 points a game in the playoffs, the highest of his career.

One Key Question

Will Paul George be with the Indiana Pacers at the end of next season?

The Situation: Paul George can and likely will opt out of his contract after this season, putting pressure on Indiana to sign him to an extension or trade him.

Best-case Scenario: Paul George balls out, the Indiana Pacers get to the top of the Eastern Conference and are a real threat to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He decides to stay and take on the King or at least take a shot as LBJ’s reign comes to an end.

Worst-case Scenario: Paul George wants out and the Pacers can’t get anything of value for him, leaving them to rebuild without the advantage of getting a jump start with young talent or picks.

Next: Who will the Indiana Pacers select at No. 18?

Prediction: Paul George is traded before the deadline in February. It sucks, everyone will be bitter, but all the signs point to PG starting anew with another team. Let’s hope the Pacers get some young talent or decent draft picks to assuage the pain.