The Indiana Pacers delightful 2017-18 season has long since ended, a fluorescently blinking caution light on LeBron James’ road to an eighth consecutive NBA Finals. But the journey for this Indiana team is far from over. The summer awaits.
The sweat had barely evaporated off of Victor Oladipo’s skin before he was firing off text messages to his trainer announcing that he was ready to work this summer to “take (his game) to another level.”
It’s the type of message a fan loves to see coming from their best player in the immediate wake of a game 7 defeat. The best season of his life — and best by a Secretariat-at-the-1973 Belmont margin — wasn’t good enough for him. There is a higher peak that Oladipo can summit. Or at least he believes that there is. If his transformative summer from a year ago can be any guide, then he’s probably right.
That’s a good launching point for this summer preview. The franchise’s most important player is striving to better his best. If that alone happens then the Indiana Pacers will be one of the three or four best teams in the Eastern Conference next season.
But that can’t be it, can it?
Oladipo taking the second leap does not magically fix the Pacers ineptitude when he missed games (0-7 without Vic in 2017-18). Nor does it guarantee that career years from key contributors (mainly Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison) are the beginning of a new normal instead of an aberration. It also doesn’t mean that Kevin Pritchard (who’s pulled the trigger on 17 trades in 4.5 years as the decision-maker in Portland and Indiana) will sit idly by sipping iced tea while twiddling his thumbs on his porch.
A summer of change lies ahead, if not for the Pacers then for the NBA as a whole.
Some moves will be seismic (LeBron’s next decision) while some will be inconsequential (whatever will Sacramento do with Bruno Caboclo!?). In between those two poles, volatile waters lurk. They will capsize some teams. Leave others adrift. But the opportunity is there too for the savviest few. If you can navigate these waters fluidly they can result in perennial success if not championships.
The most important piece is already in place: Oladipo seeking self-improvement. But what about the rest? Who should Indiana highlight as trade or free agent targets.
Which college players should realistically be at the top of the Pacers’ draft board. What about the current roster, where can Indiana internally improve on 48 wins. And what about the league as a whole, where will those big moves come from? In the story that follows, we will imperfectly do our best to read the stars and point out ways that this good Pacers team can become even better.
The Indiana Pacers current outlook
The tale of Indiana’s summer (like this article) begins with Victor Oladipo. To date — and this is a rough estimate — gallons of metaphorical and literal ink have been spilt chronically his brilliant season.
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He made a bunch of different “All” things: an All-NBA team, first team All-Defense, he was an All-Star. In summary he was pretty damn good. So, if it’s alright, we are not going to dwell on Vic too much here and instead focus on what’s around him
The toughest part of team building is locating a star player (check), the next step composing a roster that accentuates said star’s strengthens.
For instance it’s no coincidence that James Harden’s Rockets look for one-on-one matchups, nor that Golden State runs the flowing offense that a maestro like Stephen Curry would thrive in.
When we look at who Oladipo is, at his basketball core, he is an attacking guard. He’s lethal when driving the basket (he’s a 67% finisher at the rim), and when opponents have to overly commit to stopping his drives, at that point, is when his pull up threes (career-best 37%) can become a significant weapon.