Indiana Pacers: Staff predictions for the 2020-21 season
By Luke Parrish
MVP of the Indiana Pacers
Bauer: This might be an outside the box answer, but to me, it has to be Nate Bjorkgren. He’s going to have to be the catalyst for a possible Oladipo reconciliation, a Myles transformation, and/or just generally improving everyone’s play through a more creative offensive scheme.
Moser: Malcolm Brogdon. Over the past season, Brogdon asserted himself as one of the key voices in the locker room. We know he can be a leader, and this season Brogdon has the tools to make a tremendous impact both on and off the court. I think this season we’ll see The President make an impact and set Coach Bjorkgren and the rest of the team up for success.
Black: The answer has to be Nate Bjorkgren. Even just looking at the numbers, it was evident that Nate Mcmillan was severely limiting the potential of this team by completely ignoring the modern game of hyper-focusing on threes, layups, and free throws, and it was a big reason the Pacers weren’t as efficient of an offense as they should have been with players like Brogdon, Sabonis, and T.J. Warren.
I think getting someone from a coaching staff that by year two of Nick Nurse’s tenure had become one of the more efficient offenses in the league, we see a great philosophical change with how our offense, and even the defense, is played.
Braaksma: This may be an unpopular opinion but I’m going to go with T.J. Warren. He is our best scorer, the dude doesn’t miss. Along with that, he developed into a pretty good defender last year. If he is balling, I feel like it gets the whole team going. Also in Kevin Pritchard’s press conference, he said that they are going to try and get him into a leadership role which just adds to his value.
Parrish: T.J. Warren is the MVP for Indiana, in my opinion. He was the leading scorer last season and gave them life in the bubble. If he returns as the primary scoring option, he will be vital for their success.