No NBA player is perfect, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. In this love/hate series, we will review those attributes for each player on the Indiana Pacers. In this installment, we will take a look at Tyreke Evans.
The Indiana Pacers have never been the type of franchise to reel in big free agents. Indy comes across all-star caliber players either through the draft (Reggie Miller) or through trade (Victor Oladipo). But, this is a new time in Indiana. The Pacers are attractive because of youth and a charismatic star that people gravitate toward.
Tyreke Evans is not a franchise changing the talent, but he is a game-changing talent. Once the 4th pick of the 2009 NBA draft, Evans burst onto the scene as a rookie.
And burst might even be an understatement. He won Rookie of the Year over the likes of Blake Griffin, James Harden, and Steph Curry. His game-changing talent looked more like perennial all-star than potential 6th man.
Then his jump shot failed him. Then injuries piled up and Sacremento decided to move on. Unfortunately for Evans things didn’t get any better with the Pelicans. He went on to miss 126 games in 4 years with New Orleans which has forced him into back to back one year prove it type deals.
Although his stay in New Orleans was disappointing to say the least, Tyreke bounced back in a big way last year in Memphis. He once again flashed an all-star level skill-set while playing enough games to make his presence felt. He played his most minutes since 2014-15 and had the best true shooting percentage of his career at .561%.
So here we are, the once Rookie of the Year turned injury prone guard is still the game-changing talent he always has been, but can he finally find a home and not just another stop in his journey?