Indiana Pacers: 3 players who may see increased roles next season
By Josh Wilson
T.J. McConnell is always fighting the odds and ready for more minutes
T.J. McConnell has had to prove his worth in this league every step of the way. While he has some significantly guaranteed money for the first time in his career after the Pacers signed him to a two-year, $7 million contract, he’ll be a free agent after next season and once again has every reason in the world to get out there and prove his worth.
McConnell has always battled for himself and his team, and this season has been no different. He’s proven his heart and hustle to the Pacers and shown why he deserves a significant role in the rotation.
Most players of his size can’t be trusted with massive amounts of responsibility, but McConnell is different. Always looking for ways to fight over his setbacks and struggles, McConnell has an unrelenting motor and a will to win.
McConnell has played 18.9 minutes per game this season, a career-low for him. His defensive rating (110) looks quite bad but might be a product of the lineups around him and not his own personal defense (he has a defensive box plus/minus of 0.2 which is not great but net-positive for Indiana).
According to FiveThirtyEight’s player projections, McConnell figures to take a slight step back next season before hitting a steep decline for his next contract. According to their 2015-16 projections for McConnell, though, he was expected to produce 0.1 wins above replacement this season (he has produced 0.8 WAR this year).
McConnell is typically the anomaly when it comes to predictive analytics. I’d predict he has a strong season next year. While he needs to work on protecting the ball (he has the team’s highest turnover percentage) he’s always shown the tendency to do what his team needs to win.