Thaddeus Young talked with Hoops Hype’s Alex Kennedy last week and spoke as if he wants to return to the Indiana Pacers.
As of right now, we don’t know what Thaddeus Young’s future plans are. He has a $13.7M player option, but he hasn’t said definitively if he will remain under contract with the Indiana Pacers or opt out and become a free agent.
But in his interview with Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype, he certainly sounded interested in sticking around.
He talked about the team’s future and his expectations for next season — as if he was remaining a member of the team — as well as the disappointment in coming up short against the Cleveland Cavaliers. With LeBron and company steamrolling the Eastern Conference’s top-seeded Toronto Raptors, it’s hard not to ask what would be happening if the Pacers had advanced.
As far as the future, Young believes the Pacers are set to be a much better team next season.
"You guys were one of this season’s feel-good stories, but this team should only continue to get better since the franchise’s cornerstones are still relatively young. Victor turned 26 years old today, while Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis are only 22. And the veterans – you (29), Bojan Bogdanovic (29) and Lance Stephenson (27) among others – are all in your prime. How good can this Pacers team be if you guys continue to develop and play to your full potential?TY: Man, I think the sky is the limit for us. As a team, we’re already pretty good, but I think we’ll be so much better entering next season because we’ll all have another year of experience under our belt and we won’t be a new-look team that just got together anymore. This year, we did our best to try to figure things out on the fly and get everyone on the same page, and it worked really well. But now that we all know each other and have played together for a year and have our chemistry down? Next year, it should be 10 times easier. There’s not much learning and acclimating that we’ll need to do; we can just pick up right where we left off and focus on getting better."
But as far as his current contract, he says he hasn’t made a decision. He says he is enjoying time away from basketball and will make a final decision several weeks from now. Assumedly, he gave Kevin Pritchard an indication of which way he was leaning when he did his exit interview, but we just have to wait and see.
Why the Indiana Pacers would want Thaddeus Young back
Young is part of the team’s current foundation. While his 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds don’t sound like much, his impact is obvious to anyone watching.
One of the ways he does that is he is near the top of the league in deflections, something Indiana often turns into points. That was one of the Pacers biggest advantages last season as live ball turnovers are more likely to be converted into points. It is worth noting Victor Oladipo is near the top of that list as well.
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He played a large role in shutting down Kevin Love and other Cavaliers in this year’s playoff series. It’s very clear not everyone can do that after watching what Cleveland is doing to the Raptors in the second round.
If you still need a number, consider the Pacers were eight points better per 100 possession when he is on the floor this season.
While his next contract might not be as lucrative, $13.7 million for his final season is worth it for his impact on the floor. Indiana built a winning team culture this season, and Young is part of that. If he seeks greener pastures, the Pacers would quickly need to find a replacement if they hope to keep that trend going.
Pritchard could find a worthwhile replacement as far as stats go, but considering how special last season was for the Pacers, replacing one of the starters could throw off that balance. However, with Oladipo’s attitude, Indiana might power through that change with the power of positivity.
Unless you are getting someone like Aaron Gordon, it’s hard to make a case for how Indiana could do better at the power forward position. Not impossible by any means, but replacing Young isn’t an easy task.
Next: 2017-18 Pacers Player Reviews: Lance Stephenson
We’ll have to wait to find out what Thaddeus Young wants, but he sounds like he wants to return to the Indiana Pacers.