Indiana Pacers: Ranking 3 biggest free agency needs

2. The Indiana Pacers need a locker room boost

In recent seasons, the Indiana Pacers’ locker room has been average at best. After being models of resilience from 2017-2019, the team’s status off the court has been far from galvanizing, with last season even pointing to some surprising mishaps along the way.

The following campaign will be crucial as the Pacers’ young core aim to develop chemistry and kickstart a dash of familiarity, and having a veteran presence who can sort of piece the team together as they rummage through the high’s and low’s of a young team will be pivotal to their development.

However, signing a commemorative veteran to fill this role is not ideal. What Indiana needs is an established veteran who can command attention while being a ready contributor when needed. The pacers already have an in-house solution with Lance Stephenson, who is an important figure in the franchise’s culture and should be a lock to be re-signed to another deal.

Other realistic veteran options for the Pacers include JaMychal Green, Jeff Green, Trevor Ariza and James Johnson. All these players should come cheap, though enticing them to help lead a young squad could be tough. Also, it remains to be seen if he can remain a steady contributor even in spurts, but Paul Millsap could function in an 2018 Al Jefferson-like role for the Blue and Gold.