3 reasons the Indiana Pacers will miss the playoffs next season

Will the Indiana Pacers ever make the two-big lineup work?

Indiana has reached the postseason with a two-big lineup of Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis but they have not advanced with them. With Sabonis missing the bubble in 2020 and Myles missing the play-in games in 2021, Indiana hasn’t really even had a chance to run both of them when it matters.

With their third head coach in as many seasons, we will see if the Pacers still try to make things work with both bigs in the lineup. There has been some speculation of a split that moves one to the bench – likely Turner – but that would also negate the need for both Goga Bitadze and Isaiah Jackson.

Turner and Sabonis are both making roughly $20 million per season for the remainder of their contracts, making them far too valuable to come off the bench. If they continue to share the floor, however, the Pacers will be extremely limited on both ends of the floor.

Rick Carlisle is going to have to sort things out in a hurry but Indiana needs to find a way to split the two bigs up. Whether through a trade or dividing their minutes, something has to change. The Pacers will struggle to beat good teams again in 2021-22 if they do not play a more modern lineup.