Indiana Pacers: Predicting individual stats for the starting lineup next season

Indiana Pacers Starting SG: Caris LeVert

After arriving in the Circle City via trade, the Indiana Pacers managed to secure another franchise cornerstone with explosive scorer Caris LeVert. While a scary bout with cancer prompted a lengthy waiting game, the 26-year-old turned heads with his game, especially later in the season after shaking off rust due to a sizeable layoff.

Ultimately, he also tallied a career-high in scoring, finishing his first year with the Pacers at 20.7 points per game. Not to be ignored as well is his all-around game, racking up 4.6 boards and 4.9 dimes per outing, the latter of which was amplified by a late season stretch where he played as the de facto point guard.

Next season, LeVert will easily be one of the team’s primary scoring options, thriving in pick and rolls and in bailout opportunities. Ideally, his numbers will still improve, especially if he takes the alpha scoring role when leading the bench unit with minutes between starters tactically staggered.

Projected 2021-22 stats: 33.4 MPG, 21.5 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 5.2 APG on 45.2/36.3/81.9 shooting