Ranking the best Indiana Pacers free agent signings of the last five years
By Ben Boynton
David West, Bojan Bogdanovic and more highlight biggest recent signings in Indiana Pacers history. Which of these was the best?
With Indiana Pacers training camp opening on September 28, the team is now about a week away from beginning preparations for the 2019-2020 season.
The 15-man roster the team takes into the season this year will look different than last year’s squad, as just seven of the 20 players on the training camp roster were with Indiana last season.
The team was active in the offseason, acquiring players like Malcolm Brogdon, Jeremy Lamb and T.J. Warren.
While Warren was acquired via trade with the Phoenix Suns, Brogdon’s acquisition rests in a nebulous gray area between a free agent signing and a trade. The man they call “The President” came to Indiana as part of a sign-and-trade, so while technically he inked his new four year, $85 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, it was with the intention of coming to play for the Pacers.
Sign-and-trades are tough to categorize, so let’s consider it a free agent acquisition for the sake of this article. All financial terms discussed are per Spotrac.
Brogdon is by far the biggest offseason pickup in club history financially, as his deal is nearly double the size of the previous biggest contract handed out in free agency by the Pacers. Before this year, Monta Ellis was the biggest fish in the historical pond with his 4 year, $44 million pact signed in 2015.
It’s not the biggest contract in team history; Jermaine O’Neal’s 7 year, $126 million extension and Paul George’s 5 year, $91.5 million extension were both bigger deals but both players already played for Indiana before signing their deals.
As a franchise, the Pacers have not traditionally been a big player in the free-agent market. They’ve never signed a superstar free agent, and most of their acquisitions have been role players or guys past their prime.
Obviously Brogdon is his own player, but let’s take a look at some of the team’s recent big FA signings and see how they fared, particularly in their first season. They’ve been arranged from worst pickup to best addition.