The Indiana Pacers are possibly one of the youngest teams entering this NBA season and this fact got me thinking, what’s one word to describe the mindset of the franchise? Growth is what the Pacers want most out of this season. Their young pieces are in place and they have a full season to form a foundation of chemistry.
An interesting season is ahead for the Indiana Pacers, and learning will be a major factor in calling this season a success.
Growth is going to be one of the biggest things the Pacers are going to be aiming to accomplish this year. This is the youngest we have seen this team in a long time and with the players staying over this summer and putting in work to build chemistry, I expect to see growth every game. Mistakes will be made and bad games will be had, but that is totally fine as this team has no expectations of performance. It is the first time in a while that an Indiana team has no playoff hopes headed into a season and the main goal for the year is just to build for the future.
The main aspect of growth I expect to see is the team chemistry between all the young guys. I want to see how much that shows in how excited our bench gets in celebrating the successes of the team. We saw bits and pieces of chemistry last year and with the young guys putting in work all summer there should be a huge improvement in this side of the game.
The second thing I expect to see is the growth and emergence of Myles Turner as a starting center and as a veteran leader. With Domantas Sabonis now gone this clears the paint for Myles to take the lead as the main big man. While there are trade rumors surrounding Myles Turner, this is nothing new for the 2015 1st round pick. Turner wanted his chance to have an increased role at center, now’s his chance to prove his talent at the 5.
While the Pacers do grow basketball here, they also grow and build within the community. With a bunch of fresh faces on the team, I’ll look for them to grow within the community of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana as a whole.
We saw it with Malcolm Brogdon and we are currently seeing it with Tyrese Haliburton. From the smallest of things Haliburton wearing throwback Pacers T-shirts to him bonding with locals and teammate Bennedict Mathurin at the re-opening of the Brookside Park courts being renovated.
“It was dope. I think the community really likes it a lot as well. You know, I think it has so many different aspects that make it look so beautiful, so amazing, and I think hopefully people can use that park for a long time moving forward.”
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) August 27, 2022
Tyrese on the Brookside Park courts🏀 pic.twitter.com/7C0UzxXHnn
Myles Turner has always been about giving back to Indy with his countless partnerships with IMCU (Indiana Members Credit Union) for each block he records a backpack is donated to a kid in need just recently using the W.A.R.M (Work as Role Models) initiative to give back to the homeless of Indianapolis. This is a just a few examples of the players taking part in helping the city and participating in festivities. The Indiana Pacers are in a major state of transition, probably one of the biggest in a long time. It is up to the players, how they react and adapt to this growth period in their careers.
With the season a month away I look forward to seeing how much the Pacers will grow both on court and off the court with the community as a whole.