Indiana Pacers: 3 reasons Nate Bjorkgren should not be fired
By Luke Parrish
Bjorkgren did not get to pick the Indiana Pacers roster
Sure, he knew what the roster looked like when he took the job, but a shortened offseason and limited cap space did not help Bjorkgren shape the roster to his liking. I’m not exactly sure how much different his own version of the roster would look, and injuries certainly play into some of that as well, but Bjorkgren needs to get his type of guys.
Toronto thrived with two-way wings that developed into high-quality role players, most notably Norman Powell and OG Anunoby. Of course, Toronto also traded for one of the best wings in the NBA in Kawhi Leonard.
Running a two-big lineup with Turner and Sabonis has clearly not worked under Bjorkgren and that should not simply be blamed on him not maximizing those two. Two-center lineups are not the way to run an NBA team in today’s era and the Pacers need to come to terms with that.
Indiana is in a prime position to shake things up this offseason and bring in a completely new roster if Bjorkgren wishes to do so. They have the ammo to trade either a lottery pick or one of the bigs and bring in someone who can thrive on the wing. Malcolm Brogdon is another name to watch in the trade market.
If Nate returns next season, I would expect an entirely new look from the Pacers.