Indiana Pacers Season Review: Grading T.J. McConnell in 2021-22

The Indiana Pacers lost T.J. McConnell for nearly the entire season before the new calendar year turned. While losing McConnell hurt the team in the short term, a change was needed and his absence allowed for growth opportunities for other young players.

McConnell played in 27 games for the Pacers this season and started in seven of those games. He also averaged 24 minutes a game in that time.

T.J. McConnell’s season stats: 8.5 PPG, 4.9 APG, 3.3 RPG, while shooting 30.3% from three and 48.1% from the field.

What went right for McConnell throughout this down season with the Indiana Pacers?

Returning from injury late in the season.

McConnell missed 55 games this season but was able to return for the last three games of the season after a dramatic roster change during his absence.

Prior to his injury, McConnell had his best game of the season against the Utah Jazz, leading the Pacers to a win with 21 points and 8 rebounds. He was 10/14 from the field.

One of my favorite plays from that matchup was this rebound into McConnell hitting his signature fadeaway mid-range jumper. He was hunting his shots against the Jazz which is big anytime he is in rhythm off the bench.

His hustle on the court makes him so fun to watch, so not seeing him for nearly the entire season was unfortunate. When he plays, the Pacers have a solid backup guard that can defend well for his size and has a go-to shot that he can consistently make.

His decision-making is also top tier for his role. Driving into the lane and knowing how to read the defense to either score or create for another teammate is quite valuable for just $9M a year.

Yes, McConnell was able to return from that wrist surgery and see what sharing the floor with his new teammates in Tyrese Haliburton and other two-way rookies.

Ball movement wasn’t prevalent for the full duration of the season for the Pacers, but this was encouraging to see from the new group in their first game back.

Washington Jr. and Haliburton will be on the roster next season and getting game reps with those players were at the very least helpful in knocking off the rust.

In the three games he played in his return, McConnell averaged just over nine points a game and over five assists, with a game-high of six points in his second game back.

One thing that really stood out, was McConnell took seven threes, converting on three of them, in their final game against the Brooklyn Nets. He will need to work on his three-point shot if even just a slight improvement, that will help this Indiana Pacers second unit immensely.

He finished the season shooting 30% from behind the arc. If he can get that number to stay there or even bump it up to around 34% on at least one attempt a game, that would be a huge boost.

Nonetheless, T.J. is a great guard who simply couldn’t see the floor due to his surgery. I will be interested to see what he brings to next season’s roster.

What went wrong for McConnell this season?

The Injury itself.

He had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist on Dec. 7th which is not ideal for a team wanting to win games.

Missing 55 games is basically missing a whole season and with that brought the worst Pacers season since the 1980s. There were many factors as to why that was the case, but McConnell being out certainly was one of them.

He struggled to find his rhythm after returning from injury. His shot wasn’t on point from the mid-range and his timing was off as to be expected.

Going into the offseason, several members of the team have already been back to the Indiana Pacers’ practice facility to work out, including Haliburton and McConnell.

McConnell has three years left on the four-year deal he signed last offseason.

Hopefully, this team will be able to get back to full health in 2022-23 and land another key contributor in the draft that can help catapult this rebuild forward.

Grade: C+