This season is not what the Indiana Pacers expected from Tyreke Evans

Tyreke Evans and the Indiana Pacers appear to be in a situation full of friction.

It feels like just yesterday was July 2nd, 2018, the midst of the most gripping time of the NBA offseason. That’s when everybody is refreshing their Twitter feed every two seconds waiting for breaking news by Adrian Wojnarowski or Shams Charania. This was also the date the Indiana Pacers signed Tyreke Evans.

It was a tweet by a source not many people, including myself, had heard of. It caught everybody by surprise.

After this particular report came out, there were people celebrating like they just won the lottery — the group who believes everything on Twitter. And there were people like me, who were hopeful but skeptical.

After confirmation from Wojnarowski, Pacers’ fans were hooting and hollering as if LeBron James just signed a max deal to play in Indiana (seriously, Pacers’ fans seemed more excited about Evans than Lakers’ fans did about James).

Evans was brought in to be a compliment for Victor Oladipo. He was supposed to be the guy to put Indiana on another level offensively and be a much-needed scoring presence off of the bench, a la Lance Stephenson. It made sense to be excited, he did average 19.4 points, 5.2 assists, and 5.1 rebounds in his prior season with the Memphis Grizzlies.

Fast forward eight months and Indiana is on another level. Oladipo has played just 36 games this season, and Indiana sits at the fourth seed, just behind the 76ers with a 44-25 record. The question is: Where is Tyreke Evans? They have been this good without him.

To keep things simple, Evans has not had the season anybody has envisioned. While he has shown flashes (A 23-point game against the Miami Heat when Oladipo had just eight, for example), he has not been a consistent scoring threat or facilitator he was brought in to be.

Evans averages just 9.9 points, 2.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.7 turnovers. He has the worst assist to turnover ratio of his career at 1.39.

No, Evans has not been a liability for the Pacers, but he has not been much of difference maker. And that sentiment has been magnified since Oladipo got hurt with a torn quadriceps tendon. Since Oladipo’s injury, he has averaged 6.7 points per game, which has hardly put a dent in replacing Oladipo’s production.

There was speculation to whether or not Evans would positively impact the locker room and the positive culture the Indiana Pacers are known for. So far, he has basically been a net neutral in that regard. It appears that he gets along with all his teammates, but in light of him currently missing games for personal reasons, who knows exactly how the off-court fit is going.

In the midst of his absence, his brother sent out a tweet about Tyreke Evans’ stint so far with the Indiana Pacers. They prompted some red flags.

The last thing the Pacers need right now in a tough stretch while trying to secure the third seed is drama in the locker room or anything to cause a collapse in the chemistry. It is unknown if Evans’ current situation is having an effect on the locker room, but missing him on the court is certainly a problem in this run of tough games.

Luckily, Tyreke Evans is on a one year deal, which means if any animosity is created, the team and Evans can cut ties in just a few months. Given what Evans’ brother tweeted, it is hard to see Tyreke with the Pacers next season, and no team wants a player who does not want to be there.

Sometimes, players do not fit on certain teams or in certain roles. Unfortunately for the Indiana Pacers, that is the case with Tyreke Evans.