Will the Indiana Pacers actually be better next season?
By Luke Parrish
With their disappointing 2020-21 season now behind them, will the Indiana Pacers improve next season?
Expectations for this season were quite high for the Indiana Pacers and they failed to meet them. After battling for a spot in the play-in tournament, their season has now come to an end with the future looking quite grim.
Fans can certainly point to a number of reasons for the down season, including an insane number of injuries and missed time across the roster. An early-season trade that shipped Victor Oladipo out of “his city” and returned Caris LeVert took a while to make a positive impact on the roster. Now, the rest of the future is up in the air.
Domantas Sabonis shined as expected, earning a second All-Star appearance and setting the franchise record for triple-doubles. Myles Turner, despite missing the end of the season with an injury, led the NBA in blocks per game and was his usual self on the defensive end of the floor.
We saw some bright moments from key rotation guys like Doug McDermott and Justin Holiday as they handled the perimeter shooting all season. They not only carried the bench unit, but they also stepped in as starters when necessary – which was quite often.
The real surprise of the season was Oshae Brissett. Brissett took the long path to the Pacers’ active roster after starting his season in the G-League bubble. After impressing down in Orlando, Brissett eventually got a deal with Indiana and made a sizeable impact.
Even with this season being as big of a letdown as we could possibly imagine, will the Pacers be better next season?