Indiana Pacers: What does the future look like for the Pacers?

The Future for the Pacers

With all the uncertainty surrounding this offseason, the Pacers are faced with some major decisions. The most important being the head coach vacancy. Kevin Pritchard stated in his end of the year press conference that the last few playoff exits have “left a bad taste in his mouth and doesn’t want to be 4 and out each year.” The next head coach will have to do more with this team than Nate McMillan did, but the question is who is the right person for the job?

Mike D’Antoni has already been mentioned via Woj. The Rockets have yet to extend him and this season is the last year on his current contract. It makes sense for the Pacers to be interested as the Pacers have been one of the worst-rated offensive teams in the league for the past couple seasons and surely D’Antoni’s system would fix those problems.

Kenny Atkinson is another name being tossed around. Yes, he was fired this season from Brooklyn, the work he did with last seasons Nets team was very impressive taking them to the playoffs eventually losing to the Sixers. This may be one of the “ program builders” they are looking at. Atkinson does have the Spurs connection which usually helps at getting a job in the league. Personally, I’m not sure if he is a good fit if we are wanting to take the next step.

The Head Coach hire will be a huge part of this offseason and it could affect how the roster looks heading into next season. The Victor Oladipo rumors are swirling around that he doesn’t want to resign with the Pacers. In all honesty, it would be in his best interest not to resign this offseason due to the fact he would make more money with a good season regardless if he re-signs or not.

Conflicting rumors have come about that Justin Holiday may want to leave. Justin Holiday did have one of the best seasons of his career and could get a decent payday this offseason. Also, another thing to look out for is will the new head coach be alright with playing Sabonis and Myles at the same time or will they move on from one of them?

What I think will happen is that Pritchard will give this team one more chance at it. However, this will likely be the last chance they get as a group. Next summer this team could look a lot different from the possible departure of Oladipo requiring the team to shake things up. For right now, I fully expect to see this team back next year minus Justin Holiday depending on what happens with his free agency. All we can hope for as Pacers fans are that this next head coach is the right hire and can take us to the next level.