Taking stock of the Pacers and the summer

Indiana Pacers summer league — LAS VEGAS, NV – JULY 6: The Indiana Pacers look on during the game against the Houston Rockets during the 2018 Las Vegas Summer League on July 6, 2018 at the Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas, Nevada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

So what’s new? There’s been a little bit of change both for the Indiana Pacers and the NBA. Let’s talk it out. And, if you weren’t paying attention, time to get caught up to speed.

One year ago NBA soothsayers peered into their crystal balls — not realizing that they were as opaque a bowling balls and equally as prescient — and foretold that the Indiana Pacers would suck. They were wrong. Instead, the Pacers captivated a fanbase in need of a lift, inspiring tangible dreams for a bright future ahead.

That dream feels closer now. As close as the summer was short. It didn’t even take three full weeks before a volatile NBA landscape settled into shape. There will surely be signings and trades ahead, but few feel seismic. And Kevin Pritchard all but admitted that the Pacers have settled in too.

The 2018-19 Indiana Pacers: 2 Darren Collison, 3 Aaron Holiday, 4 Victor Oladipo, 5 Edmund Sumner, 6 Cory Joseph, 10 Kyle O’Quinn, 11 Domantas Sabonis, 12 Tyreke Evans, 13 Ike Anigbogu, 20 Doug McDermott, 21 Thad Young, 22 T.J. Leaf, 24 Alize Johnson, 33 Myles Turner and 44 Bojan Bogdanovic.

There they are. And baring slight alterations, there they will remain.

There is still at least one roster spot open for a minimum contract. Sumner is still on a two-way deal, it’s likely Elijah Stewart will take the other. All things considered Indiana’s roster turnover is both mild and substantial. Indiana is looking like it will retain the core (well, most of it) of a team that pushed eventual Eastern Conference champion Cleveland to seven games. And it’s not a stretch to say the Pacers could’ve won all seven of those games.

While some influential writers might disagree, Pacers fans should be encouraged. These Pacers are contenders in the East, and very much in the conference’s first-tier (along with Boston, Philadelphia and Toronto, more on them later).

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Look at where the team has improved.

It would foolish to assume that Oladipo, Turner, and Sabonis won’t evolve in some way (hopefully, for the better) between last year and next, but for kicks and giggles let’s assume that they won’t. Indiana returns seven of its top eight scorers, including all six who averaged double-figures. But the Pacers have supplemented those seven by three key additions.

Need more rebounds? O’Quinn snared 6.1 rebounds-per-game to Trevor Booker’s 4.5. Need improved three-point shooting? McDermott has made 77 more threes than Glenn Robinson III has attempted (both career numbers). Need a secondary playmaker? Evans tossed 269 assists to Lance Stephenson’s 235 while turning it over 15 fewer times.

Now sprinkle back in progress from Oladipo plus the centers and Pritchard has taken the team that (save for the Warriors) gave Cleveland their toughest series, and improved it. The Pacers will be very, very dangerous.