Indiana Pacers: How the franchise’s history of success should be used to retool the future roster

In exactly two weeks from today, the Indiana Pacers will have the opportunity to retool their current roster by trading some of their key players after another disappointing season.

However, there is a possibility that they wait to make significant changes till the offseason, but all signs point to them making at least one-to-two moves by the 3:00 PM ET NBA Trade Deadline on Feb. 10.

With multiple injuries to the projected starting lineup all season long, the Indiana Pacers are a team looking to retool their current roster.

Moving Forward

It’s easy to sit back and realize the Pacers need to make changes with their roster, but the type of changes that need to be made can be a difficult task to achieve.

I wanted to look back at some of the most impressive teams in Indiana Pacers history, to compare and contrast what their roster build was like and how the Pacers can model their team build.

Leadership

The first thing that I think this team needs to address is the lack of a locker room leader. For the past few seasons Malcolm Brogdon has supposedly taken on that role, but it has not resulted in a positive outcome.

If you look back to Reggie Miller’s Indiana Pacers, you see the leadership from Reggie Miller and how the team gravitated towards how he led not only on the court but off the court as well. Often times the leader is the team’s best player, but there have been times when that’s not the case.

When David West signed with the Indiana Pacers in free agency, the team did not just get an All-Star power forward, but they got a veteran leader to help get the up-and-coming Pacers over the hump.

Danny Granger was a leader on that team as well, but injuries sidelined him and he was eventually traded in one of the most hated Pacers trades of all time. With the emergence of Paul George, it was clear that George was the future and the current face of the Indiana Pacers.

However, Paul George needed the veteran leadership of a David West to help get this Pacers team to be a top contender in the Eastern Conference.

If you go back to the end of the Reggie Miller era, Jermaine O’Neal was considered the teams’ best player overall, but they also had a young defensive stud and former Defensive Player of the Year in Ron Artest, who considered himself to be in the same tier as O’Neal.

O’Neal and Artest both struggled with whose team it was, but Reggie was still viewed as the leader of the team despite the decline in his overall game. Reggie has openly discussed how even though O’Neal and Artest respected Miller and his position with the franchise, they failed to listen to his advice and that it caused tension in the locker room.

Last season, it was reported heavily that the players were frustrated with one another. J Michael highlighted that current members of the team were dissatisfied with the “special treatment” that both Domantas Sabonis and Malcolm Brogdon were receiving.

Kevin Pritchard had to intervene multiple times to address the team and try to sort out the mess that was created.

While the coaching staff this season seems to have more respect from the roster than last year under Bjorkgren and his staff, the team still has yet to find a player who has a respected voice, similar to what David West and Reggie Miller meant to their respected teams.

Kevin Pritchard in his end-of-season press conference last year addressed this issue and mentioned a less popular name with the fan base, and that was center Al Jefferson.

When the Pacers traded away Paul George and acquired Domantas Sabonis in that deal, Pritchard and the front office talked with Jefferson about his role and how he would be the third-string center behind Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.

The veteran Jefferson accepted the role and was a respected voice in the locker room. Jefferson has been back to Indianapolis since stepping away from the game and has had nothing but love and praise for both Myles and Domantas’ game.

So this current core desperately needs a leader. It doesn’t have to fall on the shoulders of the best player either. Rick Carlisle was fortunate to have Dirk Nowitzki and Vince Carter in Dallas help carry the leadership torch.

The Pacers need to consider using money in free agency on a veteran who can come in and help establish a leadership role inside the locker room.

A Go-To Wing

If you think about the top players in Pacers’ history, two names that often come to mind are Reggie Miller and Paul George. Other names that come to mind are Danny Granger,  Jermaine O’Neal and for the newer fans, Victor Oladipo.

The majority of these players are wing players, with O’Neal being the exception. The Pacers already have solid pieces in play on the current roster, they just need a go-to guy.

Domantas Sabonis is the Pacers’ two-time All-Star but his game isn’t predicated on putting the ball on the floor and creating his own shot. He can do that at times, but it’s not the best part of his game.

The goal when moving Oladipo was for LeVert to become this player. At times, especially last season in the month of May, we saw LeVert wear this hat and succeed.

However, in the 2021-2022 season, LeVert has been dealing with injuries and has been inefficient in producing in clutch moments, as the team is 2-13 in games decided by four points or less.

During the Pacers Eastern Conference Finals run in the 1990s, Reggie Miller proved time and time again that he was a go-to guy. He scored 8-points in 9-seconds to lead the Pacers back against the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the East Semi-Finals at Madison Square Garden.

He then scored 25-points in Game 5 of the 1994 East Semi-Finals against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden to give the Pacers a 3-2 series lead.

A few other times Miller stepped up in crunch time was Game 4 of the 1998 Eastern Conference Finals, as hit a three-point shot over Scottie Pippen to even the series against Chicago at two games a piece.

He had a masterful performance in the 2000 NBA Finals where he scored 40-points against the Los Angeles Lakers to help extend the series to a Game 6. Lastly, Miller banked in a prayer from three to send the Pacers into overtime against the New Jersey Nets, where they ended up losing in that extra period.

While the Pacers have yet to see someone perform at such a high level in the clutch over the past few seasons, Victor Oladipo had multiple game-winners or go-ahead shots in his short-lived Pacers career. Paul George had some phenomenal moments in the early 2010s facing off against LeBron James’ Miami Heat teams where he scored 37-points to extend the series to 6-games.

With all of these examples, you can see how having a dominant go-to wing player resulted in the regular season and postseason success. The Pacers have not won a playoff game since Victor Oladipo led them to a close 7-game series against the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018.

Statistically wise, you can see how well the Pacers wing players performed. Reggie Miller averaged 23.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists from 1990-2000, Paul George averaged 19.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists from 2011-2017, Victor Oladipo averaged 22.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in the 2018 playoff run against Cleveland.

Here is how he projected starting frontcourt of the current Pacers roster has faired in the playoffs. Domantas Sabonis has averaged 11.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 11-playoff games, Myles Turner has averaged 11.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks in 26-playoff games, and in just four-games T.J. Warren has averaged 20.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in his only appearance in the playoffs, where the Pacers were swept by Miami in the bubble.

Looking at the backcourt, Malcolm Brogdon has averaged 12.2 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 24-playoff games and Caris LeVert has averaged a team-best 20.7 points, 5.9 assists, and 5.2 rebounds in 9-playoff games with the Brooklyn Nets.

The numbers look solid for Warren and LeVert but they have yet to play a game together, because Warren has missed the last 117-games for the Pacers (68-games last season, 49-games this season, and counting).

This is part of the Pacers’ problem in getting back to the playoffs, but when you trade for players with an extensive amount of injuries, this is the risk you take.

Rumors have strongly suggested that LeVert will be moved by the NBA Trade Deadline and T.J. Warren is entering unrestricted-free-agency this summer, without having played in over a year’s time. The Pacers desperately need to find a go-to-wing.

Defense

Going back to the 1997-1998 season, the Pacers took Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. That season, Indiana had the 5th best defense in the league, and it is agreed upon by many reporters and beat writers to cover the Pacers during that time, that this was the best-assembled Pacers team in NBA history.

In the 2000 NBA Finals run, the Pacers were tied for 12th in defensive rating. When Rick Carlisle took over for Isiah Thomas in 2003, the Pacers finished with the 3rd best defensive rating. The next year was impacted by the brawl, but the Pacers recovered their defensive identity by finishing with the 4th best defense in 2005-2006.

Under Frank Vogel, the Pacers were 1st in defensive rating in both 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. With the core of Paul George, Geroge Hill, Roy Hibbert, and David West, they were never lower than a top-1o defensive team, even the year Paul George missed the majority of the season with a broken leg.

When Nate McMillan took over, the Pacers finished: 15th in defense in 2016-2017, 12 in defense in 2017-2018,  3rd in defense in 2018-2019, and 6th in defense in 2019-2020.

Since then, the Indiana Pacers have ranked 14th in defense under Nate Bjorkgren and are currently 21st in defense under Rick Carlisle.

The Pacers’ best teams have always been in the top half of the league in defense. When the Pacers moved on from Nate McMillan they let their top defensive coach Dan Burke go. Burke had been with the team since Larry Bird was hired in 1997-1998, but Pritchard felt that the team needed to go in a more modern direction.

In Burke’s first season with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team finished with the second-best defense. That was to no one’s surprise. The Pacers have missed Burke’s defensive impact, but feel that Lloyd Pierce can help get the defense back on track.

For the Pacers to get back to their defensive ways, they will need to acquire players that are more defensive-minded, especially on the perimeter. Speculation is that Myles Turner, the leagues’ leading shot blocker, will be moved either by the NBA Trade Deadline or in the offseason. This will be a big loss for the Indiana Pacers defensively, as Turner has been the anchor of the defense for the past 6-years.

Rick Carlisle does like the defensive promise of rookie Isaiah Jackson, but he will have to continue to grow as a player in multiple areas. T.J. Warren has shown defensive upside in his one-full season with Nate McMillan and Dan Burke, but with the injuries and a new system, we have yet to see how that will impact his play.

There are potential players that could be acquired via trade to help improve the defense, and Indiana can also look to the upcoming NBA Draft to see if there are any defensive-minded players they can target with their first-round pick.

Great defenders don’t grow on trees, but the Pacers have to do their best to upgrade their defense if they want to win a playoff series in the 2022-2023 season.

Overall

The Indiana Pacers should look back to see how their franchise has succeeded in previous years. Reggie Miller took this Pacers team from a bottom-dweller in the Eastern Conference in the 1980s to becoming a powerhouse in the 1990s.

Reggie Miller led the Indiana Pacers to multiple Eastern Conference Finals appearances and an NBA Finals appearance. Rick Carlisle knows the type of worker and leader Reggie was on and off the court, and he should be looking for that player to be added to his roster.

Indiana needs to find a leader, a go-to wing, and find their lost defensive identity. Hitting on all three of these before the start of next season won’t be an easy task for Kevin Pritchard, Chad Buchanan, and the Indiana Pacers front office, but it is the only way this team can become a playoff contender.

Rick Carlisle has a well-respected coaching staff and the experience to lead this team back to playoff contention. It is now up to the front office to find the necessary pieces for this team to overcome the struggles they have had in the last two seasons.