Player grades for each Pacers player at the halfway point

The A’s

A’s have significantly outperformed their expectations. This is all relative – a 10th man might get an A for the same performance a starter would rate poorly on. The guys who’ve performed the best relative to expectations are…

Bojan Bogdanovic: A+

Bojan Bogdanovic has somehow molded himself into a potential All-Star (he won’t make it, but he deserves and will get some votes) after playing the “shooter and nothing else” role prior to coming to Indiana. He was solid last year, but nobody could’ve anticipated what he’s done so far in the 2018-19 season. He’s shooting 50% on the year, 45% from deep, all while playing career highs in minutes and taking a career-high number of shots. His progress from just shooting to being a drive and kick menace AND a post threat hasn’t been talked about nearly enough. He’s probably put the Pacers on his back more times this year than Victor Oladipo has, and this team would be far worse for not having him.

Thaddeus Young: A

What can you say about Thaddeus Young? His stats are as unassuming as always, but he’s played himself into the All-Defense team discussion by just being everywhere. He takes charges, deflects passes, and gets his hands on any and everything near him. None of this is new, but he’s producing at an even higher level on the less glamorous end of the floor than he ever has. On offense, he’s been the guy he’s always been. There have been a few encouraging shooting games where he’s stretched beyond the arc, but his numbers from deep (and the line) are still pretty desultory on the year. Still, Thad has done everything that could possibly be expected of him. His free agency has been made much more interesting.

Domantas Sabonis: A-

Domantas Sabonis is a delight. He’ll be right in the thick of the 6th Man of the Year award race, as well as maybe leading the Most Improved Player field. Domas is nearly putting up a double-double nightly as a 6th man, averaging 14.9 points and 9.6 rebounds. His work in the pick-and-roll, passing, and feel for the game juices the offense whenever he’s out there.

He’s also continued to develop his skill on the glass. He’s inched further away from “good” and more towards “elite”. Sabonis has been asked to guard more on the perimeter than he ever was last year as he’s playing a good bit of power forward next to Myles Turner, and he’s performed that role as well as he could possibly be expected.

There are still 3 areas Sabonis struggles in that he could look to evolve and grow a bit: his willingness to shoot the 3 a bit more (he belongs in the paint, make no mistake – but 1 or 2 per game wouldn’t hurt him in the least), his ability to use his right hand for anything on offense (I’ve counted 3 right-hand finishes so far this season), and his rim protection (he’ll never be a great rim protector, but improved positioning and verticality should be an immediate goal).

Let’s move on to the next group of grades. This group has been good to very good, but could still improve as the year goes on.