3 reasons the Indiana Pacers will return to the playoffs
By Luke Parrish
T.J. Warren will carry the Indiana Pacers
Entering the final year of his contract, T.J. Warren will do everything he can to earn a massive payday next summer. I was a firm believer that Warren was set to be the team’s MVP last season before his injury shut him down for the season but that arguably strengthened his case.
With Warren gone, the Pacers struggled to stay afloat all season with defensive struggles arising more and more as time went on. Domantas Sabonis is not capable of being a defensive stopper like Nate Bjorkgren expected him to be last season and that led to a ton of problems all season.
Warren was much better defensively in his first season in Indiana than many expected and getting him back on the perimeter will be huge for the Pacers. While he may not be an elite perimeter defender, he does more than enough to ease the pressure off of Myles Turner in the paint.
The real reward of getting Warren back is his ability to put the ball down and score from anywhere on the floor. I am curious to see how he pairs with Caris LeVert but the Pacers now have three very good scoring options offense with them and Brogdon.
Replacing Doug McDermott and Justin Holiday in the starting lineup with T.J. Warren should produce much better output than what we saw last season.