Indiana Pacers: Ranking their projected backcourt over the next 5 years

No. 2 Pacers vs. Cavs

Next, we turn to another team the Pacers are quite familiar with. Fellow central division occupant the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs won the Donovan Mitchell sweepstakes over the summer to form one of the best backcourts in the NBA. And the numbers certainly back up this claim.

Haliburton and Mathurin: 38.4 PT, 8.3 RB, 12.7 AST, 2.4 STL, 46% FG, 40% 3PT
Garland and Mitchell: 53.4 PT, 6.3 RB, 13.1 AST, 2.7 STL, 46% FG, 41% 3PT

The Cavs have the advantage in points per game (~15 pts) as well as assists, steal, and shooting efficiency. The only stat the Pacers do have a slight advantage on is rebounds, but it is a marginal difference at best.

So how about the other metrics? Well, both Garland and Mitchell are still relatively young and likely have some growth potential left in their careers. They don’t have lengthy injury histories to report and thus don’t lose much credibility in that regard.

Unfortunately, this one is not that close. The Cleveland Cavaliers clearly seem to have the advantage in the head-to-head comparison of backcourts over the next 5 years. That is not to say that Haliburton and Mathurin don’t take big steps in the next year or two and surpass the Cavs.