Indiana Pacers: Lighter late season schedule could threaten draft positioning

While they will never admit it, the Indiana Pacers are basically out of the running for the postseason. With them being nine games out of the last play-in spot in the East, all hopes for a playoff berth are virtually off.

However, as I’ve pointed out before, chasing wins the rest of the way may not benefit the franchise at all, especially with the 2022 NBA Draft housing a particularly strong pool of prospects. The Pacers are on track for a top-five pick as things currently stand, and they should already have their sights on the following campaign earlier than usual.

The Indiana Pacers’ relatively easier schedule to end the season may threaten their draft positioning

According to Tankathon‘s strength of schedule algorithms, the Indiana Pacers have the easiest remaining schedule in the league following the All-Star Break. From late February until the early portion of April, the Blue and Gold will play 22 more games, 12 of which will come against teams with losing records.

Of those 12, only five will be played at home, where the Pacers are 14-17. However, the seven remaining games are very winnable. Save for their road game in Atlanta, Indiana could carve out wins in Orlando (twice), Detroit, Washington, San Antonio, and Houston.

All these could factor negatively into the Pacers’ subtle pursuit of a top draft pick. With some of their key cogs like Myles Turner, Chris Duarte, Malcolm Brogdon, Isaiah Jackson, and heck, maybe even TJ McConnell and TJ Warren tabbed to return from injury after the break, fans could see more wins from this squad than they would have wanted.

Of course, Indiana can just opt to rest their injured players to recuperate for next season, but zooming in, doing so would not be so practical. The coaching staff has already expressed its intent to test Brogdon with Tyrese Haliburton. Same goes for Turner, who should be a good fit next to the new core. Even Warren may be compelled to return to the hardwood, especially with his free agency coming up. Duarte and Jackson only have minor ailments and shouldn’t miss any more time.

Winning is still the desired result for most (me included), but in certain circumstances, there is a bigger win to be clinched beyond the adding to the win column. This season has the Indiana Pacers on that exact situation, and their mellower late season schedule could challenge their rising conviction to build for the future by chasing a better draft pick.