Indiana Pacers: 3 things to be thankful for this season
By Luke Parrish
Front Office
The Front Office of the Indiana Pacers has done an incredible job over the past few offseasons. Going back to the trade of Paul George that landed Sabonis and Oladipo, Kevin Pritchard has given the Pacers a chance to compete. Trading an All-Star for two All-Stars is as good of a job as the Pacers could have wanted in that situation.
Fast forward to this offseason as the Pacers showed interest in Gordon Hayward in free agency but needed cap space to make a deal work. Rather than trading Myles Turner and more – rumors suggest the Celtics wanted T.J. Warren included in a trade – Kevin Pritchard refused to overpay for Hayward. The Pacers avoided paying Hayward the 4-year, $120 million contract that he received from Charlotte.
Drafting has not been excellent, with the exclusion of Aaron Holiday, but the Front Office has been superb in terms of dealing players and acquiring talent in the offseason. The signings of JaKarr Sampson, T.J. McConnell, and Justin Holiday last summer have set them up for success.
The 2019 offseason was one of the best in team history, in my opinion. The Pacers added Malcolm Brogdon and T.J. Warren through trades and signed Jeremy Lamb, McConnell, Holiday, and gave Brogdon a long-term deal.
Maybe the 2020 season will be the year Indiana finally gets over the hump.