Dear Indiana Pacers, this is the best time to bottom out in the standings

Tanking is almost never expressly admitted, but what goes beyond deliberate losing is the grand prize of having a solid chance at drafting a franchise’s next centerpiece. The Indiana Pacers are exactly in this position, and while they may deny doing it, this is arguably the best time for the franchise to bottom out in the standings.

Entering Sunday, the Pacers are 19-38, firmly in 13th place in the Eastern Conference and owners of the fifth-worst record in the association. As things currently stand, Indiana has the fifth-best odds at landing the top overall pick with a 10.5 percent chance, while they have 42.1 percent shot at a top-four pick.

With the Indiana Pacers clearly committed to their new core, the franchise must exercise patience and try to jockey for better draft positioning

Almost no one is pegging the Indiana Pacers to make a wild comeback this season and cudgel themselves back into playoff contention, even with the added ground and incentive of the play-in tournament to continue hunting for wins late in the season.

Alas, given the newfound depth of the East up top, it makes no sense for the Pacers to move heaven and earth to compete for a low playoff seed, where they will almost assuredly be sent packing before the thunder even reaches the surface by one of the conference’s best teams.

Hence, they must set their sights on the race for the top pick in the upcoming draft, where only four teams are ahead of them. Fortunately, the teams behind Indiana in the draft pecking order in the present are all actively chasing wins:

• The Sacramento Kings just traded for former Pacer and two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis, mortgaging their future and sending Indiana Tyrese Haliburton in hopes of snapping their 16-year playoff drought.
• The San Antonio Spurs never tank, and only have a putrid record due to COVID-19 hampering them at the midseason point. Their trade deadline moves suggest otherwise, but Gregg Popovich, Dejounte Murray, and co. seem poised to be a legitimate threat to nab one of the play-in spots out West.
• The New Orleans Pelicans are not incentivized to tank, since their first-round selection this year will convey to the Portland Trail Blazers in the CJ McCollum trade. They will be a key player in the play-in race, especially if Zion Williamson comes back this season.
• The Portland Trail Blazers will have a skeleton squad moving forward, but their penchant for unlikely and untimely wins this season hurts their chances at getting a top pick.

Granted, the Pacers do not necessarily have to beg for losses. As the three teams with the worst record have equal odds at the top prize, they only have to go nearer to that positioning to improve their chances. A reasonable target that they could leapfrog is the Oklahoma City Thunder, who only have one more loss than them and are sneakily competitive on most nights.

With a lost season behind them, it is time for the Indiana Pacers to double down on their commitment to the new core, focus on developing the young players and seize the golden chance to get even more assets for the future, instead of chasing wins given their ample distance away from the postseason. After all, this is the best time to lose and take a step back in hopes of getting a couple more moving forward.